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- #141
sakerobot
Songster
The only "difficulty" that we had this time was that on occasion she would produce chicken clay in one corner of the nesting box, away from the eggs which remained clean. It was relatively simple to address by removing the chunk of straw containing the offensive matter and replacing it with fresh straw. This happened maybe 5-6 times throughout the 3 weeks, at other times she went outside the box. I'm inclined to assume that this had to do with the low temperatures.
What we learned from our first hatching attempt is that other hens messing with the eggs can become catastrophic. We also don't like the idea of separating the hen from the flock for the entire time. Having the broody pen inside the coop but protected from unapproved access seems like the safest and socially stable approach.
The adult chickens posed for a nice picture yesterday:
On the right side are the 4 JGs next to Goldie, who adopted and raised them last year. Ares is in the center on the roosting bar facing us, Aristotle is next to him facing away, Aristophanes is on the ground, and Alcibiades is on the distant bar facing away. Jessica is the Buff Orpington on the left.
I think we can tell which one comes from the Arctic Blue Egger by the blue feathering. It wasn't as apparent in the dark.
The chicks were drinking water already yesterday.
