well my Dad had a surprise last night, so did my Boyfriend. and then me...
I got a call from my bf, saying he wanted to kill my chickens (he loves them too... most of the time....)
Dad had called him earlier saying "We have a problem John"
apparently one of my chickens, that i got as a chick this spring.
was found by one of the mexican workers and has chicks. just recently hatched. the hen is a speckled sussex.
so there were 15 chicks (and 3 eggs remaining) when they moved the hen into a chicken tractor. i doubt the eggs are going to hatch cos she is attending to the brood now, guess they were unlucky/bad/forgotten.
one chick got crushed during the night.
13 all have chipmunk striping, and one black chick.
I am impressed she sat on 18 eggs and had all but 3 hatch.
this mornings temperature was about 25-29. i am surprised they tried hatching this time of year. i told my bf to sweep the area and throw out any eggs he finds. been telling him to do this, cos i knew this might happen. i am glad this breed was such a good momma.
so yeah, suddenly have 14 chicks to have my parents and bf, take care of.
i am amazed about the hatch rate considering my natural hatch failure this spring. (13 eggs, 3 chicks after 29 days under hen) or other hens i had naturally hatching, killed the chicks as they hatched.... so in the spring i had a bad hatch rate.... but in the fall... go figure.
so, Surprise!
I got a call from my bf, saying he wanted to kill my chickens (he loves them too... most of the time....)
Dad had called him earlier saying "We have a problem John"
apparently one of my chickens, that i got as a chick this spring.
was found by one of the mexican workers and has chicks. just recently hatched. the hen is a speckled sussex.
so there were 15 chicks (and 3 eggs remaining) when they moved the hen into a chicken tractor. i doubt the eggs are going to hatch cos she is attending to the brood now, guess they were unlucky/bad/forgotten.
one chick got crushed during the night.
13 all have chipmunk striping, and one black chick.
I am impressed she sat on 18 eggs and had all but 3 hatch.
this mornings temperature was about 25-29. i am surprised they tried hatching this time of year. i told my bf to sweep the area and throw out any eggs he finds. been telling him to do this, cos i knew this might happen. i am glad this breed was such a good momma.
so yeah, suddenly have 14 chicks to have my parents and bf, take care of.
i am amazed about the hatch rate considering my natural hatch failure this spring. (13 eggs, 3 chicks after 29 days under hen) or other hens i had naturally hatching, killed the chicks as they hatched.... so in the spring i had a bad hatch rate.... but in the fall... go figure.
so, Surprise!
