.... and now that they're hatching, there are only two left.
So I had a hen go broody a while back (at least 3 weeks ago) and it's her first time. Well, either she isn't a good mother yet or she really has no idea how to stop breaking eggs.... Yes, the nests are lined and padded. So she starts out with 15 eggs. After a little while I candle them and cull the ones that are not developing.
Well, she breaks a few here and there and I wait a little while longer and candle them once again. Big dark spots on some with an air bubble at one end and some still aren't developing. So I cull.... As does she... By this point I was ready to give up, because she had been on them so long that they should have started hatching and she must be really clumsy to keep breaking eggs.
Well as of a few days ago, I was pretty sure it had been over 24 days and I was ready to give up and put a new batch under her. I decided to wait. She had 8 eggs left at this point. I waited and candled.
YESTERDAY she had 6 eggs left in the nest, two of which were cracked so bad that there is no way they could have survived. So we were down to four and she had left the nest at least 5 times yesterday and left the eggs COLD. I didn't see any sense in trying to keep up with it, but I took the eggs and put them in a hot car until she decided to get back on the nest. It works btw...
So she gets back on the nest eventually and I put the eggs back under her. All four of em... I go to close up the coop last night and she was ON THE WRONG NEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eggs were cold once again. I was upset. I relocated her back to her nest and was getting ready to toss the remaining eggs she had left, until one was bumped and I heard a chick peeping inside.
The broody was as surprised as I was. She was staring at it like it was gonna do tricks. I guess technically it was doing a trick... Hey! A chirping EGG!!
So I let her do her thing and I check on her again last nite. There was a pip and a little chick inside trying to break through.
THIS MORNING- She had destroyed two more eggs and the little chick had made it through the night. It was funky wet looking and seemed to be doing alright for a wobbly newly hatched chick. So after a while I checked on it again and guess what was on its head....
A white spot.... All my roos are Australorps and have no white spots on their heads, but I do have 3 sex link hens that had that white spot due to a cross with a Barred Rock. My guess is that this is a rooster.... Another dang rooster.... As if my poor hens weren't desperately in need of saddles as it is....
So after all this time, irritation, and ignorance on the hens part, there is finally a chick. Will the other one make it? Who knows? All I know is, that if this little roo makes it, I may have him bronzed and mounted above the coop as a reminder that some things may not be worth the trouble....
Nah, I'll probably keep the little so-and-so. He's kinda cute... I'll name him "Houdini", just for being able to survive that death-trap of a hen.
So I had a hen go broody a while back (at least 3 weeks ago) and it's her first time. Well, either she isn't a good mother yet or she really has no idea how to stop breaking eggs.... Yes, the nests are lined and padded. So she starts out with 15 eggs. After a little while I candle them and cull the ones that are not developing.
Well, she breaks a few here and there and I wait a little while longer and candle them once again. Big dark spots on some with an air bubble at one end and some still aren't developing. So I cull.... As does she... By this point I was ready to give up, because she had been on them so long that they should have started hatching and she must be really clumsy to keep breaking eggs.
Well as of a few days ago, I was pretty sure it had been over 24 days and I was ready to give up and put a new batch under her. I decided to wait. She had 8 eggs left at this point. I waited and candled.
YESTERDAY she had 6 eggs left in the nest, two of which were cracked so bad that there is no way they could have survived. So we were down to four and she had left the nest at least 5 times yesterday and left the eggs COLD. I didn't see any sense in trying to keep up with it, but I took the eggs and put them in a hot car until she decided to get back on the nest. It works btw...
So she gets back on the nest eventually and I put the eggs back under her. All four of em... I go to close up the coop last night and she was ON THE WRONG NEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eggs were cold once again. I was upset. I relocated her back to her nest and was getting ready to toss the remaining eggs she had left, until one was bumped and I heard a chick peeping inside.
The broody was as surprised as I was. She was staring at it like it was gonna do tricks. I guess technically it was doing a trick... Hey! A chirping EGG!!
So I let her do her thing and I check on her again last nite. There was a pip and a little chick inside trying to break through.
THIS MORNING- She had destroyed two more eggs and the little chick had made it through the night. It was funky wet looking and seemed to be doing alright for a wobbly newly hatched chick. So after a while I checked on it again and guess what was on its head....
A white spot.... All my roos are Australorps and have no white spots on their heads, but I do have 3 sex link hens that had that white spot due to a cross with a Barred Rock. My guess is that this is a rooster.... Another dang rooster.... As if my poor hens weren't desperately in need of saddles as it is....
So after all this time, irritation, and ignorance on the hens part, there is finally a chick. Will the other one make it? Who knows? All I know is, that if this little roo makes it, I may have him bronzed and mounted above the coop as a reminder that some things may not be worth the trouble....
Nah, I'll probably keep the little so-and-so. He's kinda cute... I'll name him "Houdini", just for being able to survive that death-trap of a hen.
