Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Whoops]

What a cute little bundle of trouble! Acquiring a puppy comes with frequent picture posting responsibilities.

Today, when I got home with the dogs from flyball and went out to check on the girls, both of them squatted for me. It was kind of creepy. I felt I should be doing a chant and holding up a bloody sacrifice. Maybe I will get some brown eggs to go with the green ones soon

 

[lindz8504]

CLindz,
the puppy is ADORABLE! Soon you will be joining the craziness that we are enduring with the puppy stage! We can go crazy together!

 

[chickenlindz]

[COLOR=33CC33]Well... I got one egg late last evening from old reliable Penny.[/COLOR] [COLOR=000080]I had to bribe the girls to come out of the run with treats this morning.[/COLOR] [COLOR=008000]It was 0 degrees out just before dawn and the girls are not thrilled with the snow on the ground.[/COLOR] [COLOR=000080]I did manage to make a trail to the toy hauler where they are now happily scratching and dust bathing.[/COLOR] [COLOR=008000]The girls had scrambled eggs for breakfast with a little pancake on the side.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=0000CD]BTW....[/COLOR] [COLOR=00FF00]GO[/COLOR] [COLOR=0000FF]SEA[/COLOR][COLOR=00FF00]HAWKS[/COLOR][COLOR=0000FF]![/COLOR][COLOR=00FF00]![/COLOR][COLOR=0000FF]!    [/COLOR] :yiipchick e :cd

This year I'd be happy with either team. I'm a Giants fan so it'd be nice to have a Manning win. But I like so many of the Seahawks too!

 

[Chicken-Man]

do broody hens still lay? and what are signs o broody? I think one of my girls are but im not sure.

 

[cheeka]

congrats on the dozen lindz! I have yet to hit a dozen, or 11 even..since September last year...love the pics!


on the broody front ~ no, once they have laid a clutch, whether they still have the eggs or not... the hormones kick in and they stop laying until they've reared their chicks to about 6 weeks. some will resume before they've fully weaned their current chicks. last year, Peach laid an egg the day after she hatched 3 chicks. but that was the only egg for about another month... if you don't want to hatch eggs, you would need to break her of broodiness. she'll sit on end... and not exercise or dust bathe, or eat or drink properly... it takes a couple of days at minimum to break a broody and it's kind of sad. you have to lock them out of the nesting area, some use raised bare wire crates to break them. you'll know for sure if she's brooding if she refuses to leave the nest for days, dashes straight back to the nest if you remove her... and growl at you and peck at you if you try to take eggs that others have laid that she has stolen.

 

[Chicken-Man]

congrats on the dozen lindz! I have yet to hit a dozen, or 11 even..since September last year...love the pics!


on the broody front ~ no, once they have laid a clutch, whether they still have the eggs or not... the hormones kick in and they stop laying until they've reared their chicks to about 6 weeks. some will resume before they've fully weaned their current chicks. last year, Peach laid an egg the day after she hatched 3 chicks. but that was the only egg for about another month... if you don't want to hatch eggs, you would need to break her of broodiness. she'll sit on end... and not exercise or dust bathe, or eat or drink properly... it takes a couple of days at minimum to break a broody and it's kind of sad. you have to lock them out of the nesting area, some use raised bare wire crates to break them. you'll know for sure if she's brooding if she refuses to leave the nest for days, dashes straight back to the nest if you remove her... and growl at you and peck at you if you try to take eggs that others have laid that she has stolen.

yes, sounds like my girl is broody, I have 3 fake eggs that she is sitting on. should I get rid of them? I have no cock so is there a resin for her to be broody? and do I lock her out even at night?

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Quote:
No reason for her to sit on unfertile eggs, but she doesn't know that. Pick her up off the nest and put her out in the run. Take the eggs away. A really serious broody will return to the nest very quickly and will also closely resemble a chicken pancake, flattening herself down low. Sometimes, if they are not too serious about it, removing them from the nest a few times is enough, but for a determined broody, keeping them in a cage with a wire bottom, up off the floor will do the trick in 1-3 days. Apparently hanging the cage is best, because the minor swaying motion somehow hastens the hormones to switch back to egg laying mode.

Here is my pancake broody Ameraucana from last year. Very determined, but she never tried to bite. Sweet girl.

This is the cage I used to break her, outside under a tree and up on blocks. Took 3 days because I let her roost with the others at night (didn't want her getting eaten by something at night). Had to do this 3 separate times with her last spring/summer.



If you want more chickens, you could always get some fertile eggs and let her hatch them out. She will be very happy and you will have more cuties running around.

 

[cheeka]

is this a hen? or pullet? is she a known layer? it's early in the season for broodiness to start... just remove her from the nest a few times a day to start. if she's firmly determined, she will return consistently... so, during the day, when everyone else is wherever they are... free ranging, in a pen... she need to be where they are. if she wants to sleep in the nest, you should remove her at dusk, and put her on the roost. blocking nests is a pain, because it blocks other birds out too... and you have to get up really early to open it for others. that's why people tend to pen the broody bird... never "lock" her out of her safety zones.

 

[cheeka]

W4W...

 

[Wishing4Wings]

BTW.... GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Noooo! They beat up on the 49ers and were mean!

Rooting for the BRONCOS!