Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

There has been a changing of the guard.
Ignore Chavi who merely wanted to lay her egg where Ceres could incubate it.
Wrold was on the left. I think she has 2 fake eggs under her.
Ceres, the more junior hen on the right, was sitting on 6.

Some time during the afternoon they swapped nests. Wrold got up to eat & dust bath in the middle of the afternoon so I assume this happened when she returned to the nests. I guess as the more senior hen she feels entitled to the majority of the eggs. They were on their original nests when I ushered everyone into the coop about 4ish but when I checked @ roosting they had swapped around.

I am already starting to feel a little frazzled. Not frizzled. That would be Titania!
MJ, if you do this go for just one hen. Having 2 deciding to brood side by side, though not together, seems to be creating some competitiveness. Maybe I'm imagining things but I consider this more than a little nutty.

 

[MaryJanet]

That is really appalling!

They should put more staff on.

 

[MaryJanet]

There has been a changing of the guard.
Ignore Chavi who merely wanted to lay her egg where Ceres could incubate it.
Wrold was on the left. I think she has 2 fake eggs under her.
Ceres, the more junior hen on the right, was sitting on 6.

View attachment 2805783
Some time during the afternoon they swapped nests. Wrold got up to eat & dust bath in the middle of the afternoon so I assume this happened when she returned to the nests. I guess as the more senior hen she feels entitled to the majority of the eggs. They were on their original nests when I ushered everyone into the coop about 4ish but when I checked @ roosting they had swapped around.

I am already starting to feel a little frazzled. Not frizzled. That would be Titania!

View attachment 2805784​

Tag team!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

That is really appalling!

Yes, it was long day but there were a lot of other people worse off and it is quite a small hospital. The doctor was called away for some intubations while attending to me.

 

[Ribh]

They should put more staff on.

It's not staffing. They can only allow so many patients in because of social distancing. It's madness. I'm refering to emergency. That's what the man got told & it held up ambulances because they had to stay with their patient until their patient could be admitted.

 

[Ribh]

Awww fuzzy tummy

Yes, he loves his tummy rubs.

 

[RoyalChick]

A bit of both actually. It’s my “bad” knee but it has never swelled up like this without being dislocated first.
I’m waiting on the MRI results but the orthopaedic surgeon thinks I probably won’t be able to walk on it for about a month.

Oh that is miserable. So sorry.
Hope it gets better fast.

 

[RoyalChick]

Chicken tax.
Hubby lures the girls to me. Notice the neatly stacked cardboard boxes from unpacking the kitchen.

Lovely ladies!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

They should put more staff on.

It's not staffing. They can only allow so many patients in because of social distancing. It's madness. I'm refering to emergency. That's what the man got told & it held up ambulances because they had to stay with their patient until their patient could be admitted.

This is true. Also, since we are in lockdown, people who would normally go to the big hospital down the mountains are going to the small one up the mountains as it is in the local government area.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

I am about to embark on the chick journey & will document here, mostly for any of my Australian friends who might be interested in doing this @ some future date.

I never wanted to do chicks. I am super happy getting POLs but as MJ has found getting some of certain breeds is just incredibly difficult. This is extremely true of Campines, my insanity of choice. My breeder stopped breeding 2 years ago so my original source dried up. I did get Silvers from a hatchery but the quality was poor & the birds quite small. Ha'penny is a much larger bird who lays far bigger eggs. I've never seen Campines advertised again so for 2 years I have been looking @ every link I could find of anyone who was breeding, selling eggs, offloading unwanted hens etc.

Other states may have far better choices but round Brisbane there are just 2 large suppliers & the choice of breeds is limited. Most birds are coming from backyard breeders or from farms who do chicks as a sideline. My bantams & frizzles came from one of those farms. This means you are unlikely to find a website advertising POLs ~ or anything else. In the end Facebook was my best source. I found a Phoenix breeder on FB also & so I basically have a fake account just for sourcing chickens. I know. Insane, right?

Up Maleny way is someone who raises Campines. Last year I had 1/2 my tribes constantly broody & my bantams were an absolute PITA! This year I thought why not roll with the flow & give those nutty girls something to actually do? So I contacted this lady who also does Aracaunas [another breed I have had difficulty sourcing] & the upshot is a dozen eggs [1/2 & 1/2] to put under broodies. I pick up the eggs next week.

Today I brought home 4 fake eggs to encourage Wrold & Alpia. I have just broken Titania, who is clueless & sweet, but Ceres, who went feral on me & hid a nest of 6 eggs on me the 1st month she began laying, has gone broody & I have left her in case no~one co~operates. I have marked the eggs F1, F2, F3 & F4. I took them out to the coop thinking Ceres could have one & I'd leave the others in nests & see who was interested but when I went out to the coop Ceres had been kicked off her nest & was sitting disconsonately on the coop floor patiently waiting on Wrold & Alpia.

I wasn't real happy with the eggs I got. I've seen others that are a more realistic weight & will look round for better ones but these are what I could get & as I needed them I got them on @BY Bob's & @CrazyChookChookLady's advice to leave eggs in the nest to encourage sitters. I expected to have a few problems getting my girls to accept strange eggs but I swear bantams are complete nutters when it comes to eggs.

I put one egg in an empty nest box. Cere's eyes grew big. She couldn't believe her luck & promptly shot into the box & rolled that egg under herself while Wrold & Alpia watched jealously. I gave Wrold 2 & she rushed to remove them from my hand & get them under herself. I gave Alpia the last one & she was a very happy little hen!

I think I now have 3 hens sitting. Hopefully they'll be well established by the time those fertile eggs come home! I will move any sitters into the small coop just before bringing the eggs home.​

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Good luck with this endeavor! This will be fun!