San Diego Chicken meetup and Chat thread

[Fraunie]

Quote: a pile of sad chicken.......

That might be my new favorite saying "Son, don't sit there like a pile of sad chicken...."

Hi-larious!!

 

[dfdesigns]

With my current broody, I gave her about a week to see if she was *really* serious. (She's my only laying Black Copper Marans, and I was missing those deep, chocolate eggs.) I gave in, moved her to private quarters and let her have six random eggs. (None of them are hers, which is kind of funny to me.) Miss Amelie is as serious as a heart attack, and is in that classic stoner trance. If all goes well, she may be hatching some of her own little fluffy butts on the 28th-29th.


"Go away, or I will bite your finger off."


If you don't mind some more chicks, watching a mama and her babies is a very neat thing. (The photo ops will be outstanding, too...)

Thanks for all the well-wishes for my aching, old and somewhat decrepit body. I can't believe how one slip has thrown me for such a loop!

 

[perchie.girl]

Hello everyone!

I've been catching up from last week, so I haven't been up here much. To the new peeps:

My latest adventure in Chickenworld: a broody hen (I think). Winkle wouldn't get out of the box on Sunday, and I thought she was just having trouble getting the egg to cooperate. She is my RLBW hen with the hernia, and sometimes she needs a little extra time on the nest. After four hours I started thinking she might be egg bound, and the next morning I was entertaining thoughts that her legs might be broken and she couldn't get out. She hissed a little bit (but no pecking yet) when we tried to gently prod her for food, and I have now decided that she is probably going broody, which sounds like it might be a little more logical. I have again decided to go to the oracle (BYC) for advice.

This is my first broody chicken, and I have no rooster (sounds like a personal problem, or the theme for a children's book). Do we set a pattern of behavior for the future here, if I don't take her off the nest? Should I take her off the nest, before she fades to skin, bone and feathers? Should I leave her there until she gets bored? Should I buy fertilized eggs from someone and stick them under her, and see what happens? Should I buy a rooster and tick off my neighbors and lose my house, but experience one of the joys of life? Should I forget the broody concept, and check to see if her legs are broken?

These questions and more, on the next episode of How the Egg Turns.

Any advice from the collective would be appreciated. If you could please also tell me the secret to world peace, that would be great.

E

Sounds like a broody to me..... Check out the Broody Hen hatch along Its a HUGE active thread so dont worry about reading it all.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...g-and-informational-thread/11140#post_9181110

I have been lurking on there for several months. You can get her a couple of fertile eggs to sit on so you and your family can have the experience and give her job justification. Most broodies will jump off the nest once a day Pound down some food take a Madd dustbath drink some water and do a HUGE broody Poo. Not necessarily in that order. They then get back on the nest. The eggs can be uncovered for up to fifteen twenty minutes.

Some people move the hen nestbox and all to a lower floor level spot and put a cage of sorts around them to keep the other hens from adding to her clutch. It also keeps the chicks from falling to the floor once they hatch. That way you can give her her own food and water and provide the chicks their own food. too.

Hens cant tell time so if it takes a few days to locate eggs for her you are fine. If you dont want her to hatch eggs you can get some day old chicks somewhere and swap out her eggs for chicks in the middle of the night. That way you are sure to have no cockrels, and she will do all the brooding.

You can also break the broody by putting her in a cage with a wire floor. I am not a fan of doing that.

Good luck.

deb

 

[iamcraftqueen]

Always can find a good laugh here!

My broody experience.... Helga went broody with no man around, so it was pointless at that point. I attempted to break here by collecting eggs multiple times a day and taking her off the nest. I was about to cave and get her some fertile eggs to hatch when I changed my nest boxes. My chickens used to nest inside a small dog house but I recently got nesting boxes. It was the switch from the dog house to nesting boxes that broke her of her broodyness. She then started laying 1 week later. I was happy, I won the battle and got brown eggs again.

She is a Cuckoo Maran and my only brown layer, plus she layes almost everyday. Being my most productive hen, broodyness is not an option! Now I am on egg watch as I have another 8 hens that will start laying anytime now into the next 2 months. Also have some OE's in the incubator. My first time hatching and I am VERY excited. My DH even showed slight interested in the hatching, that is in between the hundreds of eye rolls and questions of why we need more chickens.

 

[dfdesigns]

I'm not sure why I'm even going to ask you enablers this question, but oh well...

I've been saving eggs from my new Marans girls, and I'm thinking about firing up the incubator soon. I keep thinking that if I'm going to set these eggs, why not throw in a few more. (Right? Right.) I need to figure exactly what I should stick in there. Anybody care to help?

Here's what I already have, and what they lay:

Black Ameraucanas: BLUE
French Black/Blue Coppers: DARKER BROWN
Splash Marans: DARK BROWN
Cuckoo Marans: DARK BROWN
Speckled Sussex: BROWN
Barred Rocks: BROWN
White Rock: BROWN
Easter Eggers: GREEN
Blue Andalusians: WHITE
Silver Laced Wyandotte: BROWN


Getting close to point of lay:

Olive Eggers: OLIVE
Lavender Orpingtons: BROWN
Silver Campines: WHITE
Easter Egger: GREENISH BLUE
Wheaten Ameraucanas: BLUE
Welsummers: DARK BROWN


Juvies (it's gonna be a while):

French Black.Blue Copper Marans: DARKER BROWN
Splash Cuckoo Marans: DARK BROWN
Black Ameraucanas: BLUE
Black Am X Blue Andy cross: (HOPEFULLY) LIGHT BLUE


Chicklettes in the bathtub:

Exchequer Leghorns: WHITE
Blue Ameraucanas: BLUE
Silver Spangled Hamburgs: WHITE
Lavender Ameraucana: BLUE

To sum up: WHITE, LIGHT BLUE, BLUE, BLUE/GREEN, GREEN, OLIVE, BROWN, DARK BROWN, DARKER BROWN. Are there any other colors I'm missing?


I like chickens who are pretty to look at as well as giving me a wide variety of colors in my egg basket. What would you add? Are there any breeds out there that throw a speckled egg consistently?

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

Looks like you could use some more green. Go exotic and get some http://greenfirefarms.com/store/category/chickens/isbars/ I love these guys!! Or if you want I'll give you some EE eggs covered by my Swedish Flower Hens for a possible beared, muffed, crested colored egg layer (can't tell you what color you'd get, but I've got EE's that lay taupe, green and blue. . . SFH's lay very light, brown).

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

so sorry you took a fall.hope your arms and knee feels better soon.

here is a picture to make ya smile

How darling is that?!! Your kids are going to have some wonderfully fond memories

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

'Tis the season to be broody. I've got one Australorp that won't give up despite my kicking her off the nest several times a day and pointed her hiney into the wind.
I'm so tempted to put some Swedish Flower Hen eggs under her, but they're still kinda small pullet eggs. Wish my NN's were laying. So many decisions to be made!!

 

[Nikkipar]

I would LOVE those Isbars..... Are thy friendly?

 

[Phage]

We have 4 isbar chicks. They seem pretty "in your face" just now

.