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Auroradream26 said:
Thanks! Yes those are roosts thrown in there but they're out of the way to get to the chicks. I made it so it can be a broody coop, seperation/isolation coop, or seperated breeding pen. I told hubby I need 3 interchangeable signs saying "maternity ward", "brothel", and "infirmary" lol. The nonslip thing was something hubby had laying around that he got for lining his tool box drawers when he used to work in a garage. I threw that in there when I saw my first bornbabywas getting splayed legs. In my hurry to get them out of the coop I had forgotten about slippery floors. I'll do my best to secure that run. I definitely don't want to lose any more babies.

maybe I'll try that tomorrow. Any idea how long you need to keep the bandage on for it to work? Right now I'm using medical tape and the gap in between the legs is about the width of the tape. At first, the pure little thing was falling all over the place and stumbling like crazy. Now the little one seems to be figuring out how to get around all bundled up.

Cookie had already started teaching the babies to eat. Kinda surprised me since I thought they didn't start eating for 3 days. The one baby that hatched either last night or early this morning was standing in the food dish chowing away and then pecking at the water lol. I forsee a chubby chick! Anyways, wish me luck! Tomorrow is day 21 for Clouds eggs! (I think. Do you count day one as the day you give the hen the eggs or is day one the next day lol)
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I love the interchangeable sign idea! LOL

If you set her eggs on a Thursday she should hatch on a Thursday, though I have found broody hens often start a day early.
 
700

And right on time, 4 have pipped, 2 more are peeping, and the last one looks good, just hasn't started yet :)
 
I believe with the turkeys, we left them on only a few days (3-4). By that time we noticed the legs were correcting and their didn't seem to be a problem. The bandages were very easy to remove and didn't hurt the chicks.
 
Auroradream26 said:
700

And right on time, 4 have pipped, 2 more are peeping, and the last one looks good, just hasn't started yet :)
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I'm amazed at 1) how clean they are 2) you actually got a picture of them at this point

My broodies sit so tight and you are taking your life in your hands to touch them. I generally have no idea how things are after about two weeks unless a dead egg gets pushed out! I've never candled a broodies egg, either, I figure if they're bad, she'll push them out our abandon the nest.
 
lol, I kinda tricked her for a minute. I grabbed her wings and feet at the same time, right side, right hand, left side, left hand and lifted her straight up and set her on 3 fake eggs in the nest right next door to check and take pictures lol. She was happy with that then I just did the same thing to put her back. I just had to make sure that I put her feet in the right place. Cloud is easy to handle right now. She puffs up to 3 times her size but doesn't try to bite or anything though she will reach with her break as far as she can to try to reach her eggs and pull them under her when she is being moved. I think she'll be a great mommy.

speaking of mommy's, Cookie is doing a great job. Babies are starting warm under her, are hoping in the food dish and chowing down and one was scaling her wing to try to reach her back earlier lol. The little splay legged chick is doing well in his/her little shackles. I actually saw him taking little steps. I had to put a new bandage on this morning though since the one from yesterday left too much space between the legs.

The broody run is almost thrown together. It's definitely not beautiful but it's temporary until we can get more materials. Mostly just plywood and scrap wood walls for now. I thought we had more hardware cloth than we do. We're broke on top of it too so it'll have to do. I have some garden fencing that I'm going to lay around the outside I think to prevent diggers.

What's everyone's opinions on letting the chicks free range with their mother after about a week worth the main flock out too? Will that help everyone acclimate to each other? I'm kinda hoping to do that and that way Cookie can take the babies up into the main coop when she feels ready. Also, should I divide the broody run into two sections or can the mothers coexist in peace? The run is roughly 8' x 8'
chiques chicks said:
I'm amazed at 1) how clean they are 2) you actually got a picture of them at this point

My broodies sit so tight and you are taking your life in your hands to touch them. I generally have no idea how things are after about two weeks unless a dead egg gets pushed out! I've never candled a broodies egg, either, I figure if they're bad, she'll push them out our abandon the nest.
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Auroradream26 said:
lol, I kinda tricked her for a minute. I grabbed her wings and feet at the same time, right side, right hand, left side, left hand and lifted her straight up and set her on 3 fake eggs in the nest right next door to check and take pictures lol. She was happy with that then I just did the same thing to put her back. I just had to make sure that I put her feet in the right place. Cloud is easy to handle right now. She puffs up to 3 times her size but doesn't try to bite or anything though she will reach with her break as far as she can to try to reach her eggs and pull them under her when she is being moved. I think she'll be a great mommy.

speaking of mommy's, Cookie is doing a great job. Babies are starting warm under her, are hoping in the food dish and chowing down and one was scaling her wing to try to reach her back earlier lol. The little splay legged chick is doing well in his/her little shackles. I actually saw him taking little steps. I had to put a new bandage on this morning though since the one from yesterday left too much space between the legs.

The broody run is almost thrown together. It's definitely not beautiful but it's temporary until we can get more materials. Mostly just plywood and scrap wood walls for now. I thought we had more hardware cloth than we do. We're broke on top of it too so it'll have to do. I have some garden fencing that I'm going to lay around the outside I think to prevent diggers.

What's everyone's opinions on letting the chicks free range with their mother after about a week worth the main flock out too? Will that help everyone acclimate to each other? I'm kinda hoping to do that and that way Cookie can take the babies up into the main coop when she feels ready. Also, should I divide the broody run into two sections or can the mothers coexist in peace? The run is roughly 8' x 8'
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Each flock has dynamics which should be evaluated individually.... I was worried sick about the little ones being exposed to all of the big, bad adults the first hatch we had, and there was only about 14 adults (3 roosters and 11 hens) at tte time. DH and I spent hours out supervising and watching (actually we were basically oohing and aaahhhing over the cute chicks! LOL) but we spent the time watching how the adults acted with the little ones. We realized a couple of the hens were quick to peck them away from food but otherwise they were basically ignored and after realizing we didn't have any homicidal hens or roosters in the group we allowed the hen and chicks to spend a lot more time unsupervised with the flock.
Roosters or hens who have been intolerant of chicks don't get to stay here since we prefer to raise chicks with broodies.... by intolerant I mean showing a definite mean streak toward the little ones, not the occasional peck to teach them a lesson about food or personal space issues.

Now many, many broods later we just basically allow the hen a few days of peace and quiet so the chicks get used to following her vocalizations and then they are released back into main coop life with the only special treatment being a comfy nesting area at floor level for a few weeks until mama hen takes them up to the 'big bird' roosts. Free range time and location is totally up to the broody. Usually they go their own way with the chicks, but stay within easy vocal range of the other flock members. There is often a rooster hanging around the broody and her chicks, but not always. We do have a couple of really good 'baby daddy' roosters who routinely call the chicks for food they have found.
While the chicks are really little (under 2 or 3 weeks) try to avoid throwing out scratch or treats which can cause a major rush or competition in a small area. Make sure you spread it out over a wide area to avoid causing a stampede type situation which can result in chicks being tripped over and possibly hurt..
 
I really created a stir the other night by blocking off the nest boxes to stop the chickens from sleeping in them. We went out the close up the coop for the night and three of the chickens had decided to 'roost' up on our back steps! I picked them up and carried them over to the coop. I think I need to add another roost in the coop, I found one of the chickens roosting on the 'wall' - the side walls are made of pallets, and she was roosting one of the bottom deck boards, can't imagine that thin wood was very comfortable to stand on! lol
 
emorems0 said:
I really created a stir the other night by blocking off the nest boxes to stop the chickens from sleeping in them. We went out the close up the coop for the night and three of the chickens had decided to 'roost' up on our back steps! I picked them up and carried them over to the coop. I think I need to add another roost in the coop, I found one of the chickens roosting on the 'wall' - the side walls are made of pallets, and she was roosting one of the bottom deck boards, can't imagine that thin wood was very comfortable to stand on! lol
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I believe the average requirement is 1' of roost space per large fowl bird.... what I have found is that 'teenagers' tend to squabble a lot when getting settled in for the night, and the more timid ones prefer to run away from it rather than stay on the normal roost area. I have also seen that as the birds get a bit older they have most of their 'pecking order' squabbles figured out and the drama decreases drastically in the evenings. There are small spats, but not nearly as many as there are early on...now the squabbles do return when new birds are added into the coop, but they usually work out pretty quickly.
 

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