She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[scflock]

Thanks guys. I know she will NEVER have another chance if I have say. I've watched how good of a momma my Banty is, and the spitz doesn't even come close. My banty has been awesome. I just felt if I left her out there, it would end the same way.


I just wish I knew what happened to little "Ice".

No, Chibi and her babies have been in and out for almost a week now. There's been no commotion. My run is NOT suited for little ones, I did not plan on having little ones out there. He was quite tiny too. He could have slipped out no problem. I've never (knock on wood) had a predator problem yet, especially during the day. They are literally back yard chickens. His little body could very well be under straw they kicked up for all I know, though I tried turning over any looser spots I saw. "Momma" was not upset in the least bit.

Thank you.

I'm not being condescending, or belittling. I've greatly reduced my role in this thread, and I'm only commenting because you know I have a lot of experience with broodies. I'm very sorry about your chick, such a cute little thing.
Don't be so hard on mama. Just the fact that she sat through to the end on her first clutch means that she has good potential as a broody. I have cuckoo marans that evacuate the nest as soon as they pip. Chicks also get kicked a few times as they gather around mama while she teaches them to look for food. I've never had one injured that way, and they learn not to get directly under her. Again, the fact that she is teaching them to search for food is a sign of a good broody. Chickens are also programmed to take care of the chicks that they have, not the ones that get away. Say I have a broody with 4 chicks, and I sell three of them. After I remove those 3, she doesn't spend hours searching for them. She takes care of the one she has. In the wild, she couldn't sacrifice the one that was safe to search for the ones that are missing. If you hatch and sell a lot of broody chicks, this is a good thing. It lessens the guilt of taking their babies from them.
You said yourself that your run is not suited for little ones. My runs are, because I hatch in the pens all the time, but if there is any place they can get between, through, or under, they will find it, especially bantams. I've lost several chicks that way. Once a chick gets outside the pen, the predator list is twice what the predator list for big chickens is, and they can disappear quickly, especially if there are cats or dogs around. Mama's job is to take care of the chicks inside the pen. If a chick gets out, that is my fault. Predator protection is about keeping things out. Once you start hatching in the pens, you have to look at protection from a whole different angle. It's about keeping things in. I have a 3 foot tall run of hardware cloth around every pen that may have chicks, attached from the inside so that the hogwire gives it a solid backing. I used to use bird netting, but it was too easy to tear, and the could get under it if it wasn't anchored to the ground. Bantams could even slip through it.
Knowing that you aren't wild about the thought of broodies in the first place, I would recommend either chick proofing your runs, hatch and brood in a smaller, chick safe pen, or break your broodies. I love having broodies, and watching the mama with the chicks is one of the great joys of raising chickens, but there is a whole new set of obstacles once you start down that road

 

[WVduckchick]

Luckily she and her sister were bought mostly just to keep my other goose, Lacie, company. Lacie is a human imprinted goose (imprinted on me) and her mate died in transit. I tried to hatch her companion geese the year after I got her, and succeeded, but somehow they had mycoplasma - still not sure if they were born with it or somehow caught it living in my indoor brooding area - and they had to be culled, along with all the chicks I had had that year and my marans flock, which it spread to before I got it contained. Then this year I bought some sebbie babies at the NH chickenstock and hatched a few from a local breeder and a freak accident killed them all. A one gallon waterer in their brooder sprang a leak, flooded it, and they all died from being chilled before I noticed.

Then these two showed up on craigslist and I jumped at the chance to get Lacie some friends. I paid a pretty decent price for them too, since their breeder is actually head of a poultry fanciers club in my area and his birds are show birds

So really they are serving their intended purpose as friends for Lacie, even if they aren't as friendly as I would like. I'll be ordering a gander this year and raising it to be friendly, and then Lacie will have a mate. These two will also probably breed with him but their eggs will never hatch.

Some pictures of Lacie:






As you can see, she really enjoys chewing on my camera strap, and she was an adorable baby. Followed me around everywhere. She is pictured here 'helping' me build a coop for someone who was buying it from me. So she's the real reason I bought them, and if she's happy, I'm happy. Still a bit irked I paid good money for purebred showbirds and got crosses, but the seller likely didn't know his female had cheated on her mate with a wild goose, so I'm not mad at him.

Lacie is lovely! Sorry about all the troubles. I lost 6 of my last hatch, at less than a week old, when the brooder light bulb burned out and they trampled the smaller ones.

And its quite nice of you to not be too mad at the breeder, but I'm thinking a good breeder should have been able to tell these weren't pure, right? Maybe he might refund part of your money??

 

[lazy gardener]

Pyxix, wouldn't a person who breeds birds for show, notice that their color was off? And, if this breeder had a few birds available to cull, I think he did so, knowing full well what he was selling. That's the skeptic coming out of me.

 

[WVduckchick]

My sweetest little girl. Almost 7 weeks now. (silver duckwing OEGB)





She's standing on the small of my back.
This was just after she pooped down my back from my shoulder.



And a new one of Katherine. Her leg feathers are amazing.
I tell her that her pajamas are dragging the ground.

 

[WalnutHill]

My sweetest little girl. Almost 7 weeks now. (silver duckwing OEGB)





She's standing on the small of my back.
This was just after she pooped down my back from my shoulder.

7 weeks and she is that big? My bantams were 18-20 weeks old when I sold them and were half that size! They were pigeon sized and the tiny roosters were so cute with their pipsqueak crows. I know they were mixed, but they were cute.

 

[Pyxis]

Lacie is lovely!  Sorry about all the troubles.  I lost 6 of my last hatch, at less than a week old, when the brooder light bulb burned out and they trampled the smaller ones. 

And its quite nice of you to not be too mad at the breeder, but I'm thinking a good breeder should have been able to tell these weren't pure, right?  Maybe he might refund part of your money?? 

I'm honestly not sure. When he sold them to me he said they were eight to ten weeks old (although they seemed a little big for that) so maybe he thought they would grow more and fill out? I might contact him just to give him a heads up but he lives pretty far away and I'd probably spend in gas what he'd be willing to give me back if he was willing to do a partial refund.

Pyxix, wouldn't a person who breeds birds for show, notice that their color was off?  And, if this breeder had a few birds available to cull, I think he did so, knowing full well what he was selling.  That's the skeptic coming out of me.  

Could very well be. I don't know enough about the breed to know if he would be able to tell that something was 'off' with them at eight weeks old - if that's how old they really were.

 

[WVduckchick]

7 weeks and she is that big? My bantams were 18-20 weeks old when I sold them and were half that size! They were pigeon sized and the tiny roosters were so cute with their pipsqueak crows. I know they were mixed, but they were cute.

They are about 5-6" tall, I'd say. Maybe the perspective is just off, because I feel like they are tiny!
Even compared to my bantam cochin, these look little.

That's a 50# bag of feed behind them, and that log is maybe 3" diameter

 

[AmyLynn2374]

But... but... sex-linked green egger AC crosses!!!
Oh, is that what you were looking for? Well, then...

You need my address for those extra eggs then, riiiight???

Oh, no!! And I was just gonna ask how the Spitz mama was doing...

1 strike is all I give for broodys... had a broody kick an Ohiki chick and it died... never again will I let her brood...

Stick with the Jap bantam, she sounds good...
Not a goose person, but did live around Canadian geese for a long time... to me it looks like she has faint Canada goose markings if you look right, so sounds plausible to me... and those darker feet and bill... makes sense...

Yup. She will not allow to brood again. I've watched Chibi for two weeks now and the difference between the 2 are night and day. She is one of these broodies that's good at sitting (as long as she gets what she wants) and poor mamma quality.

I've been super busy these last two days. My son's bearded dragon became deathly ill. I mean I keep checking her thinking she's going to be dead. I'm not a fan of reptiles at all but I can not stand to see any animal suffer!! I brought her to the vet, day before yesterday (that cost an arm & leg) and she prescribed the whole regimen to get her better. (Injections and force feelings). So to be honest I've been lurking all over reptile threads, every chance I get! I'm determined to get her better! I did get some good pics of my pullet acting like a boy. I'll post tomorrow from the computer. She has the head of a girl and the butt feathers of a boy, so I'm anxious to see your opinions.
I had a male cat named "Angelina". He was my childhood best friend! I used to dress him up in doll clothes with a hole cut out the back for his tail! He was an exceptional hunter, as well!
She is absolutely adorable!
Ravyn already said it...no iron.

I'm so happy, in a sense, that none of mine are laying yet. I don't know if I could resist the urge!!
Good news!!
No!!!

I'm so sorry. That would drive me crazy, not knowing where he went!! If he got cold, then he would just lay down and go to sleep. I found my neighbors chick that way. But thankfully it was right on the path I walk. Otherwise I probably would have never known! That's so horrible! She is not a good mama because she only had 2 to look after!!

I don't know but she's beautiful. I'm in love with geese but don't have the property or I would definitely have some!

TY

Sorry to hear

I just took mine in for her wellness checkup and to get her some wormer since I suspected she had pinworms, which she did. She is brumating so she was quite grumpy about the whole thing but the vet loved her and even took her picture. Here's the little grumpasaurus in her Halloween costume:



What are your son's dragon's symptoms?
Thank you!

Also, this was my 5000th post! Woo!

That's cute

Oh no, I'm so sorry Amy

That's terrible. Little Ice was adorable. I wouldn't give up hope just yet though. This is completely different but there was a 2 year old little girl that disappeared in VA a couple weeks ago, was gone for 48 bours in temps around 40 at night and in the rain. She was found in the middle of a field a half mile from her house (they think her "mother" was involved somehow) in some tall grass, sleeping. She had some scratches from briar bushes and things and her clothes were dirty as well as 2 days worth of "potties" but other than that she was ok. Against all odds. Like I said, stranger things have happened. He may turn up tomorrow morning under momma somehow... I really do hope he turns up ok.

No chance.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

They are about 5-6" tall, I'd say. Maybe the perspective is just off, because I feel like they are tiny!
Even compared to my bantam cochin, these look little.

That's a 50# bag of feed behind them, and that log is maybe 3" diameter

My Jap Bantams are small. Quite small in person. But every time I take a pic they look normal sized. I have to get a pic of them beside my standards to be able to tell...lol

 

[WalnutHill]

They are about 5-6" tall, I'd say. Maybe the perspective is just off, because I feel like they are tiny!
Even compared to my bantam cochin, these look little.

That's a 50# bag of feed behind them, and that log is maybe 3" diameter

From that angle they look about right. My boys had a Napoleon complex, when I came into the coop they would fly up to be at my eye level.