- Sep 7, 2011
- 1
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Hey all!
My name is Sam, I'm new to the site and new to being a chicken owner. I just received 3 Bantam/Rhode island hens and 1 rooster from a friend at work about 2 months ago. 1 of my Hens went broody and i decided to let her sit on her eggs, to make her happy and to get some experience with chick raising myself. Well, she hatched out 3 but decided to leave the nest as soon as those ones were up and walking, leaving the other 4 to sit on the nest by themselves. Luckily a couple weeks back, my other hen decided to go broody as well so i stuck the remaining eggs under her so that she would break her broody sooner with some hatched eggs under her. 3 of the 4 hatched out Sunday and that hen took her 3 off the nest as well to go scurry around the yard leaving just the 1 egg. This is why i wanted to create this post because i wanted to share the stressful story of Murray the last remaining egg left without a sitting hen.
After the hens were off the nest, leaving the one egg, i left it there in case one of the hens decided to come and sit on it at night with the other chicks. I tell you what, that egg was pushed and pecked at ALL OVER the coop. My one hen that doesn't have any chicks loves to run in and tear up anything she sees to find goodies left behind by the others and in doing so would toss Murray around the coop. 5 different times on Sunday i found Murray in different locations around the coop. Sunday night came and i wanted to give the little guy 1 more night to show me he was ready to hatch out and join the flock so as everyone came in and got situated with their chicks (Not on the nest with Murray in it) I took Murray and placed him in front of the hen with the youngest chicks. She pecked at him twice and then proceeded to roll the egg under herself and keep it there for the rest of the night. Then Monday came.
It was the same deal, Murray was tossed around a couple times out of the nest. Thinking of only the torture and agony this poor chick was going through, i was set on just picking him up and disposing of him to prevent further damage. As soon as i picked him up though, he began to peep and make a ruckus letting me know he wasn't going down without a fight! The day went on and as Monday night approached i did the same technique of placing the egg in front of the hen, and she gladly rolled him under her and went to sleep. Now this morning, I went to check on him and his egg was in the middle of the coop, cold to the touch. I thought he was a goner, but sure enough there was a little crack in the egg and he was peepin as loud as he could peep! This guy was a fighter, and i promised him right there that if he was to survive all this, he had a Guaranteed life stamp to a long and joyful life on my place even if he DID turn out to be a rooster.
I had to go to work (sad day) and so i called and had my dad check on Murray's progress a couple hours later. He said that murray was tossed YET AGAIN into the middle of the coop and that he was almost all the way out of the egg. Without a hen that was going to be in the coop and sitting on him all day, (after much stress and calling my chicken friend) we decided to take him into our house and put him under a heat lamp until he was able to dry off and puff up a little and gain some strength. When i got home, Murray was peeping and hobblin around his little box, ready to take on the world. Now came the stressful part. I knew Murray was alright now, but i needed to introduce him back to the mother so that she could raise him along with the rest of the chicks. A couple hours ago, after everyone was nestled into their spots for the evening, i took Murray down to the coop to see if one of the Hens would stick him under her and take him in. I set him down a little ways away from the two, he began to peep and both hens perked up and responded. When poor murray hobbled over to the first hen, she gave him a real good peck and brought him down hard. Not trying to intervene, i allowed him to get back up. Persistant little bugger that he was, he hobbled over to the second hen who quickly attacked him just like the first. Murray went down and got right back up and went back to the same hen. Again the hen pecked at him and just as i was about to pick him up and put him in an incubator, Murray went over a THIRD time and the hen puffed up like she was going to attack BUT this time, she promptly tapped him on the rear end and pushed him under her.
I just snuck down to the coop a couple minutes ago to see if i could hear any loud peeping to see if murray had been kicked out from underneath her, but all was silent so i am assuming he is still under her. I'm stressing because i'm wondering if she will truly take him in in the morning when they all become active. I will keep you all updated as i see what is going to happen with Murray the fighter.
My name is Sam, I'm new to the site and new to being a chicken owner. I just received 3 Bantam/Rhode island hens and 1 rooster from a friend at work about 2 months ago. 1 of my Hens went broody and i decided to let her sit on her eggs, to make her happy and to get some experience with chick raising myself. Well, she hatched out 3 but decided to leave the nest as soon as those ones were up and walking, leaving the other 4 to sit on the nest by themselves. Luckily a couple weeks back, my other hen decided to go broody as well so i stuck the remaining eggs under her so that she would break her broody sooner with some hatched eggs under her. 3 of the 4 hatched out Sunday and that hen took her 3 off the nest as well to go scurry around the yard leaving just the 1 egg. This is why i wanted to create this post because i wanted to share the stressful story of Murray the last remaining egg left without a sitting hen.
After the hens were off the nest, leaving the one egg, i left it there in case one of the hens decided to come and sit on it at night with the other chicks. I tell you what, that egg was pushed and pecked at ALL OVER the coop. My one hen that doesn't have any chicks loves to run in and tear up anything she sees to find goodies left behind by the others and in doing so would toss Murray around the coop. 5 different times on Sunday i found Murray in different locations around the coop. Sunday night came and i wanted to give the little guy 1 more night to show me he was ready to hatch out and join the flock so as everyone came in and got situated with their chicks (Not on the nest with Murray in it) I took Murray and placed him in front of the hen with the youngest chicks. She pecked at him twice and then proceeded to roll the egg under herself and keep it there for the rest of the night. Then Monday came.
It was the same deal, Murray was tossed around a couple times out of the nest. Thinking of only the torture and agony this poor chick was going through, i was set on just picking him up and disposing of him to prevent further damage. As soon as i picked him up though, he began to peep and make a ruckus letting me know he wasn't going down without a fight! The day went on and as Monday night approached i did the same technique of placing the egg in front of the hen, and she gladly rolled him under her and went to sleep. Now this morning, I went to check on him and his egg was in the middle of the coop, cold to the touch. I thought he was a goner, but sure enough there was a little crack in the egg and he was peepin as loud as he could peep! This guy was a fighter, and i promised him right there that if he was to survive all this, he had a Guaranteed life stamp to a long and joyful life on my place even if he DID turn out to be a rooster.
I had to go to work (sad day) and so i called and had my dad check on Murray's progress a couple hours later. He said that murray was tossed YET AGAIN into the middle of the coop and that he was almost all the way out of the egg. Without a hen that was going to be in the coop and sitting on him all day, (after much stress and calling my chicken friend) we decided to take him into our house and put him under a heat lamp until he was able to dry off and puff up a little and gain some strength. When i got home, Murray was peeping and hobblin around his little box, ready to take on the world. Now came the stressful part. I knew Murray was alright now, but i needed to introduce him back to the mother so that she could raise him along with the rest of the chicks. A couple hours ago, after everyone was nestled into their spots for the evening, i took Murray down to the coop to see if one of the Hens would stick him under her and take him in. I set him down a little ways away from the two, he began to peep and both hens perked up and responded. When poor murray hobbled over to the first hen, she gave him a real good peck and brought him down hard. Not trying to intervene, i allowed him to get back up. Persistant little bugger that he was, he hobbled over to the second hen who quickly attacked him just like the first. Murray went down and got right back up and went back to the same hen. Again the hen pecked at him and just as i was about to pick him up and put him in an incubator, Murray went over a THIRD time and the hen puffed up like she was going to attack BUT this time, she promptly tapped him on the rear end and pushed him under her.
I just snuck down to the coop a couple minutes ago to see if i could hear any loud peeping to see if murray had been kicked out from underneath her, but all was silent so i am assuming he is still under her. I'm stressing because i'm wondering if she will truly take him in in the morning when they all become active. I will keep you all updated as i see what is going to happen with Murray the fighter.
