Spooky Broody!

[Reurra]

Yay!! 6 babies so far!! Another pipped in the brood box!! Mom is NOT happy with me, but thats ok, I plan to let her have a couple, maybe 2. She still has about 8 eggs under her. She could be brooding for a while yet, some of the eggs are 2-3 days older that the ones that hatched. These 6 were all marked "16" for April 16th. The rest are unmarked, so I know they were laid at least a couple days later on. Ill let her try and hatch the last 3 or 4 and keep them for herself. Shes done a great job!

 

[MigraineMan]

Awesome! I hope the rest hatch well, too.

 

[Reurra]

Now up to 8!!

I think my broody was being teased by the other girls. I could swear I only put about 10 eggs under her.....

Well guess what?

I just did a count, with 8 already hatched....there are now 12-14 more eggs under her still!!

The other girls must have laid a few more before I isolated broody!

 

[Ducklover2]

pictures

 

[Reurra]

8 babies!!

Daddy is Svart Hona.
All 3 hens whose eggs hatched are olive eggers. Blue wheaton americauna grandpa and wellsummer grandmothers. Moms are copper with blue rumps.

Banies are mostly black 2 are blue and one seems a mix of blue black and cream. The black ones have a gunmetal blue color to thier bellies. 3 have pea combs in pink. 5 have regular combs in black. All have black legs with the odd pink toe.

I have 5 one week old blue aussies in with them. Everyone seems fine!

Still dont knw if the remaining eggs are viable. Mom is still on them.

 

[Reurra]

2 more babies this morning

10-12 more eggs under mommy! That's a total of 10 babies since friday morning!

2 struggled yesterday morning. I had to do a minor assist. They were shrink wrapped. I waited until they stopped working their beaks (smacking their lips is a sign of absorbing the yolk) when they started to try to turn i gently tore away small bits of membrane until they were able to move their heads and wiggle out on their own. Now they are doing great, keeping up with the week old chicks lol.

 

[MigraineMan]

A peep has emerged! (This is a good thing, as my son was getting dejected with the recent failure.) Seems to be breathing well, and I don't see an exposed yolk sac. It alternates between sleeping and "fussing." We are going to leave it be for a while and let Miss Broody do the "momma" thing.

 

[Reurra]

Wow!! Grats!!

I just checked on my momma bird and it looks like 2 more are pipped!! That means if they hatch I will have 12 so far

Ill take these 2 babies when they hatch but ill leave the other 8+ eggs for her

 

[Reurra]

Another this morning and one more on the way!! That brings the count to 12!! And more eggs under her!

Ill let her keep the one thats hatching and any others that pop out in the meantime. will her chick be ok while she sits on the other eggs? When should I call it quits if no more hatch? Should i candle the rest?

 

[MigraineMan]

Dang it. Didn't make it through the night.