Pipd's Peeps!

[Crazy Maizie]

I've just taken them out and put them on the sand pile with the other chickens from the same coop and closed the coop.

I've thought about closing that coop. I was just trying this first. Only a few lay in that coop, but she has access to another one if she is smart enough. If she remembers, she can also go up to the eaves. Since I've been making her coop up at night she doesn't go up there anymore.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

@NagemTX after I posted, I went out and closed the coop door. She went straight for the door and stood there briefly. I think she knocked even. But, then jumped down and took a dirt bath. So far she's still in the run and hasn't gone into the other coop.

Edied about 2 hours after my first update.

Whelp, that worked until she remembered the other coop. Found her sitting on 4 eggs. Both coops closed right now. I guess she will be back in the crate tommorow.

 

[NagemTX]

@NagemTX after I posted, I went out and closed the coop door. She went straight for the door and stood there briefly. I think she knocked even. But, then jumped down and took a dirt bath. So far she's still in the run and hasn't gone into the other coop.

Edied about 2 hours after my first update.

Whelp, that worked until she remembered the other coop. Found her sitting on 4 eggs. Both coops closed right now. I guess she will be back in the crate tommorow.

Aww, I hope it works out for you soon!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Aww, I hope it works out for you soon!

I'm sure it will. I'm just being impatient. The coops have been closed since 3pm. She's not sitting anywhere - just running around like a regular chicken. So hopefully she will snap out of it soon.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Need some tips for breaking a broody silkie mix.
So far she's been in a dog crate for 4-5 days. Yesterday I put her in some cool water. Thought she might be ok, but as soon as she was back out of the dog crate she booked it to the nesting box. I set up a fan and put a bottle of ice in the crate hoping that would help to cool her down. She even free ranged for a bit, but then I didn't see her and yep - back to the nest box.
My cochin has been much easier to break than this and I'm just worried that the crate isn't good for her feet. While I know some people keep their birds on mesh, but she paces a lot while in there.
Now that I think about it, my muscovy are easier to break too.

Closing off the other coop was a good idea, too bad it didn't work out long term!

I don't use a wire-bottom cage with my broodies for precisely the same reason, I worry about their feet on that over a longer period of time. I just set them up in a cage on the ground with no shelter and no bedding, just dirt or wood floor, and in an area of the pen where there's a lot of chicken traffic so that she has absolutely no privacy while in it. My more stubborn birds will sometimes take more than a week in this setup to break, but they have nowhere to actually brood so eventually they do break.

Sometimes I have one that tries to brood despite being set up that way, so I counter this by moving the cage a few feet or so every time I'm out there, just so she can't really ever settle down to nest. You could try this even if she's pacing and not trying to nest, maybe that would unsettle her enough to break her? Hopefully you find something that works out to get through to her!

Some of them really are just so stubborn! I'm relieved to say my silkied Red Cochins, who used to go broody in the early summer and literally spend months in broody jail before finally breaking, must have aged out of brooding with any frequency, as I haven't had to break any of them in a year or two.

Crazy birds!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Picture of the day 64! Izzy, my Blue Orpington, who was very clearly sick of me trying to get a picture of her this morning.

And just one runner up, Rangi at my feet while I took the above picture, vying for my attention.

We're getting down to the wire, y'all... Just under 2 weeks until the semester starts!

Things have been a bit crazy here as I'm not only preparing for that, but also preparing the farm for the possibility that I might have to have someone else open or close pens for me on occasion. Hopefully things will calm down here soon, at least for a short while before and at the start of the semester.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Closing off the other coop was a good idea, too bad it didn't work out long term!

I don't use a wire-bottom cage with my broodies for precisely the same reason, I worry about their feet on that over a longer period of time. I just set them up in a cage on the ground with no shelter and no bedding, just dirt or wood floor, and in an area of the pen where there's a lot of chicken traffic so that she has absolutely no privacy while in it. My more stubborn birds will sometimes take more than a week in this setup to break, but they have nowhere to actually brood so eventually they do break.

Sometimes I have one that tries to brood despite being set up that way, so I counter this by moving the cage a few feet or so every time I'm out there, just so she can't really ever settle down to nest. You could try this even if she's pacing and not trying to nest, maybe that would unsettle her enough to break her? Hopefully you find something that works out to get through to her!

Some of them really are just so stubborn! I'm relieved to say my silkied Red Cochins, who used to go broody in the early summer and literally spend months in broody jail before finally breaking, must have aged out of brooding with any frequency, as I haven't had to break any of them in a year or two. View attachment 3918082Crazy birds!

Thanks for the suggestions. At least I have more ideas now. I hope she gives it up soon!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Picture of the day 64! Izzy, my Blue Orpington, who was very clearly sick of me trying to get a picture of her this morning.

View attachment 3918087


And just one runner up, Rangi at my feet while I took the above picture, vying for my attention.

View attachment 3918088


We're getting down to the wire, y'all... Just under 2 weeks until the semester starts! View attachment 3918091 Things have been a bit crazy here as I'm not only preparing for that, but also preparing the farm for the possibility that I might have to have someone else open or close pens for me on occasion. Hopefully things will calm down here soon, at least for a short while before and at the start of the semester.

I love all of your birds even if I don't reply to all posts. But, the ones that are like "what about me?" They are just the sweetest.

Ooh. I remember those days of upcoming classes. You will do just fine and I'm sure eventually everything will just fall into place as far as the farm goes.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Thanks for the suggestions. At least I have more ideas now. I hope she gives it up soon!

Opal and Kya, who have both already hatched and reared a brood of chicks each, are both broody again here. Even if I had more time to commit to letting them hatch, I really don't want chicks hatching out this late in the year! Shoot, they wouldn't even be a month old by the time we started getting frosts and cold nights!

I love all of your birds even if I don't reply to all posts. But, the ones that are like "what about me?" They are just the sweetest.

Rangi is such a people chicken, too, so when she's giving me these looks, I know it's because she genuinely just wants to sit with me for a while. If I could guarantee they'd have the same temperament as her, I'd get more Anconas in a heart beat!

Ooh. I remember those days of upcoming classes. You will do just fine and I'm sure eventually everything will just fall into place as far as the farm goes.

Thank you I was literally just saying to Tink in DMs that I keep telling myself I've got this, I can do this. Maybe it'll sink in eventually and I'll start to believe it if I keep saying it.

For real, though, it's just nerves. I'm fairly sure I'll do okay, too. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself in saying so

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Picture of the day 65! A couple of Splash cockerels being bumps on a log

I went through and got the rest of my youngsters leg banded, short of the four youngest ones out in the outer coop that are still a wee bit too small for the leg bands. Most of them just relax and let me do it. Some scream bloody murder like I'm removing their leg in doing so. But, the job is mostly done for the year, thank goodness!

I'm thinking I may try to get a photo shoot in today of all my potential keepers hatched this year. Just round up all the youngsters that hatched this year and try to get some good shots of them individually, maybe take some notes on them as well even though they're a bit too young to make any cuts just yet. I haven't updated my silkied Cochin thread in way too long, so it'd be nice to actually have something to post there!


Anyway, for runners up, here are the broody jail birds, Opal and Kya. Amaretto is also in broody jail again, but declined to pose for a picture.