Man alive, I wish I could take the keys away from my hens. And someone else grab my NR 360! Sioux hatch a bunch, and now 14 are running all over the place catching bugs and fertilzing the yard and she is back on the nest with her two 'sisters'. Blue Bonnet hatched 9 (well contained). Poof Poof is sitting on eggs, and Cheyenne and Rose are sharing a clutch of eggs in another pen. Good thing I water glassed eggs when they were more abundant.
In hindsight, it’s probably a really thing that my roo is missing his mark right now. I dont even have a coop big enough to hold these babies yet! (their upgraded palace is about 50% complete)
Picture this written in very small text or whispered behind a closed hand so my kids don't see or hear:
Ohhhhhh, I'm sure you'll come up with something!Picture this written in very small text or whispered behind a closed hand so my kids don't see or hear:
Guilty as charged! Gem, my bantam cochin, had been trying to go broody all Spring, so I finally gave in and ordered hatching eggs from another show line - to freshen up my bloodline (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) She abandoned the nest, which I didn't realize until MUCH too late ... or so I thought. I moved what was clean into my NR 360 (neat coincidence!) and pretty much walked away, not expecting anything.
Meanwhile, Gem went broody again (I could have STEWED her!) I couldn't break her this time, so I gave her some VERY old eggs from my kitchen counter. I honestly figured she'd break again. Long story short - I have seven beautiful RC Nankin bantams ready to go out to the coop, soon - and Gem has nine ... count 'em NINE little Nankin muttlets on my front porch.
On top of that ... My BJG, prefers the smaller box coop to the big playhouse coop. The smaller one is lower, so she doesn't have as big a jump to get up or down - for some reason, ramps are "Ewww!" As a result, she rarely shows up for evening "roll call." I usually just glance inside to make sure she's in before I close up.
Well, yesterday she looked "flat" - broody flat, so I checked a little closer. Yup - she's sharing a nest with my New Hampshire Red and another Nankin. Eggs of all sizes, most look ready to go in about a week. I know I should, but I simply can NOT pitch eggs that far along! Luckily, my Nankin rooster is too short to fertilize her eggs properly, so most of those are duds ... but the smaller ones are viable and two of the larger eggs look possible. If they survive, they'll be an interesting mix, for sure ... but where in the world am I supposed to put 'em?
I let my run normally. Stopping the turn on day 18 won't hurt a bit. I've had them pip as early as day 19 with no harm done.
