Should I let her?

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Want to let u know that i just now went back to the beginning and REread thru your entire thread again. You are an EXcellent writer, & have perfectly captured the magic, awe & wonder that comes from watching a broody hatch her chicks. Also, the pics of Bug perfectly captures the absolute adoration of mama hens as they gaze at their new babies. I have had many many broody hens, & so never used an artificial incubator. Ive also never grown tired of seeing a broody hen turn her eggs into babies! Somethin tells me u probably never will again use an artificial incubator either, as long as you have your special precious Bug! If there is anything better than watching "chicken tv", its watching "doting mama hen with her chicks tv"!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

As of this morning, my dear Bug had rolled the last egg out of her nest, cold and oddly balanced as well, like the chick inside was only taking up a 3rd of the shell. I opened it, and the two from yesterday, I wish I had taken some pictures to figure out what went wrong, buuuut I didn't. All 3 eggs had the same issue of the fully developed chick with absorbed yoke sack being shrink wrapped to the pointy end of the shell, the last one was also positioned badly. I don't know what causes massive aircells and shrink wrapped chicks, all I do know is that none of my brown egg chicks survived... but I've got these!

Mama Bug had her little peeps out of the nest and over to the feeding n watering station a few times, it's been amazing watching her encourage her wee ones to do as she does! I'm fairly confident she's going to do pretty good at this mothering thing! And I'll admit I don't think I've even seen a broody walk around with little chick legs sticking out of her plumage before! That's pretty neat!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Ive only ever had problems with chicks being shrink-wrapped during the hot dry months. No clue re the huge air cells; would be a good questions to ask the experts in a seperate thread. Still enjoying your updates and pics; keep em coming!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Want to let u know that i just now went back to the beginning and REread thru your entire thread again. You are an EXcellent writer, & have perfectly captured the magic, awe & wonder that comes from watching a broody hatch her chicks. Also, the pics of Bug perfectly captures the absolute adoration of mama hens as they gaze at their new babies. I have had many many broody hens, & so never used an artificial incubator. Ive also never grown tired of seeing a broody hen turn her eggs into babies! Somethin tells me u probably never will again use an artificial incubator either, as long as you have your special precious Bug! If there is anything better than watching "chicken tv", its watching "doting mama hen with her chicks tv"!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the read! I'll be honest, this is my first hatch period, I've always purchased day olds In the past and brooded them myself, but this was the most amazing experience and as long as Bug does well over the next few months, I'll most likely scrap my previous plan to get one of the larger 'baters and grab a little one instead for just incase purposes!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Ive only ever had problems with chicks being shrink-wrapped during the hot dry months. No clue re the huge air cells; would be a good questions to ask the experts in a seperate thread. Still enjoying your updates and pics; keep em coming!

I should probably ask the experts what went wrong with all my brown eggs, and most likely will just to find out if it had to do with Bugs sitting or something wrong with the hen that layed them.

And you can expect updates often! I want to keep a running journal to documente how Bug does raising them during the Canadian winter that's fast approaching. I always feel kinda bad when my posts turn into a novella but want to be thorough just in case I get into ths situation next year, I want to be able to rea this through so I know what I can do better or what worked!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I doubt anyone minds reading a "novella" that is well-written. But then ive always been an avid reader anyway, so maybe its just me (& other avid readers)!

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Hi want to let u know ive come across a couple of threads today that say too large egg cells are caused by low humidity. (Both were using artificial incubators). I dont know if your air humidity has been low/dry during incubation, & dont know what if anything u could have done different anyway, since the eggs were incubated under a broody. But i am curious re why the brown eggs didnt hatch too, & thought about u when i read info in those threads.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Hi want to let u know ive come across a couple of threads today that say too large egg cells are caused by low humidity. (Both were using artificial incubators). I dont know if your air humidity has been low/dry during incubation, & dont know what if anything u could have done different anyway, since the eggs were incubated under a broody. But i am curious re why the brown eggs didnt hatch too, & thought about u when i read info in those threads.

Thank you so much for thinking of me and my conundrum!

A resident expert said It was most likely a case of something wrong with the eggs and not an issue with how they were brooded. There's no such thing as a dry day this time of year where I'm at, and since there's no heat in the coop, I'm going to take that opinion and run with it! Especially since Mama bug seems to be a properly doting and dutiful mother!

 

[LateBirdFarms]

I'm a little sad I didn't get my brahma out of the mix, but I've got my fingers crossed on a wheaten baby! Theres one I'm pretty sure is going to be a lavender, one I'm on the fence about and a black. And two blondes who had a small stripe on their head, one with a tiny stripe on it's back as well, but I'm not sure what a wheaten chick is supposed to look like after the feathers start coming in, so I'm having fun guessing as I go since I only know what dad looks like!

 

[Lovem all]

Congrats Bug!