Surviving Minnesota!

[Bogtown Chick]

A job well done MNChickMom. I never like killing wild critters and I like seeing foxes in the wild.


Miles away from my coop especially.

My Dad actually feeds 3 of the little buggers up at his house. They get the table scraps. They are beautiful. Up at Mom and Dad's house that is.

If they were down at my house they'd have the same outcome as you did at your farm.

 

[Siggie]

EIGHT CHICKS!!!! and apparently I counted the eggs wrong under my #1 broody because she still has 2 eggs under her????? I went out after work today to collect eggs and thought I would sit a bit and watch for chicks.....well I think the mommas were happy to see me because I lifted the cage and both mommas got up and stretched their legs for a minute but then they switched nests?????? So the momma that just hatched all these chicks, just went into the box and sat down on the other broodies nest of 10 eggs???? I got to pick one of the newly hatched chicks up because it got confused and wound up about 2 feet away from the nest.... momma growled but did not freak out when I gave him back

So so far all are barred rock mixes but 2. The last to hatch is a little Cochin very light grey in color and sooooo tiny! I will put some pics up after I download crop them later...as if you aren't already tired of seeing my chicks LOL!

So....question #1: why did the broodies switch boxes? boredom, change of scenery?

#2: I was reading someone elses post the other day and one of you (can't remember who) said she knew she had hens because of a white dot on their head? I am hoping this does not apply to my chicks because only 2 have little white spots???? They are Barred Rock/Blue Cochin mixes so hoping that might not apply?? ALL chicks have fuzzy legs like the Cochins so that will be cool!

Oh and I found a HUGE pile of stinky mess that almost looked like a pile of soft dog poo??? I thought it was a dead chick at first (didn't have my glasses on) but when I got close I could tell it was like poo???? It was far away from the nests, at the other end of the cage so it couldn't have been a bad egg...no shells around it either...is this the broody poo everyone talks about? It was so much though!!!!!

I'm such a newbie

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Broody Poo is HUGE and SMELLY, Siggie.

I got big piles from a small silkie....I can't imagine LF Cochin broody poo.

 

[memphis]

Ought to see turkey broody poo!

 

[Momof3plustwins]

EIGHT CHICKS!!!!  and apparently I counted the eggs wrong under my #1 broody because she still has 2 eggs under her?????  I went out after work today to collect eggs and thought I would sit a bit and watch for chicks.....well I think the mommas were happy to see me because I lifted the cage and both mommas got up and stretched their legs for a minute but then they switched nests??????  So the momma that just hatched all these chicks, just went into the box and sat down on the other broodies nest of 10 eggs????  I got to pick one of the newly hatched chicks up because it got confused and wound up about 2 feet away from the nest....  momma growled but did not freak out when I gave him back 

So so far all are barred rock mixes but 2.  The last to hatch is a little Cochin very light grey in color and sooooo tiny!  I will put some pics up after I download crop them later...as if you aren't already tired of seeing my chicks LOL!

So....question #1: why did the broodies switch boxes? boredom, change of scenery?

#2: I was reading someone elses post the other day and one of you (can't remember who) said she knew she had hens because of a white dot on their head?  I am hoping this does not apply to my chicks because only 2 have little white spots????  They are Barred Rock/Blue Cochin mixes so hoping that might not apply??  ALL chicks have fuzzy legs like the Cochins so that will be cool!

Oh and I found a HUGE pile of stinky mess that almost looked like a pile of soft dog poo???  I thought it was a dead chick at first (didn't have my glasses on) but when I got close I could tell it was like poo????  It was far away from the nests, at the other end of the cage so it couldn't have been a bad egg...no shells around it either...is this the broody poo everyone talks about?   It was so much though!!!!!

I'm such a newbie :/

I can't remember who the daddy was but here is how it goes to some extent. I am not sure how it would all play out in mixes but this is what I know. If the dad was barred a barred gene would go to each chick regardless of sex. If the dad was over a barred pullet only the males will be barred. That being said in barred chicks if the white dot is uniform in size and tighter together that would indicate female. If, it is a messy spot then it is most likely male. Females may also have darker shading on the legs. Some of this may be breed specific and not apply to mixes. Jerry may have more answers.

 

[Siggie]

Here come the pictures!!!!!

Look at all the pretty color combinations....

 

[EMorical]

So so far all are barred rock mixes but 2. The last to hatch is a little Cochin very light grey in color and sooooo tiny! I will put some pics up after I download crop them later...as if you aren't already tired of seeing my chicks LOL!

HARDLY! They are cute little turds!!!

 

[MNChickMom]

Here come the pictures!!!!! Look at all the pretty color combinations....

What cuties!

 

[Cebarmlds]

Good morning all.

 

[lvie]

Good Morning Chickeners . . . . Took a hard-core pain reliever last night. LOL. NOW I have grown up as a chickener. I cleaned out the outdoor run yesterday. UGH! The smell (and I know each of you know this but you can LOL at how naive a chickener can be) and there was alot of _ _ _ _! Okay, okay, I get it NOW! Cleaning out the coop and run . . . . last year . . . . what is the big deal? This year - yeah - now I have a clearer understanding. So what are some other options so this never, ever happens again? Scoop it up and into a 5 gallon pail and into the compost pile immediately? Does that work? WHAT DO YOU DO?

Siggie - love looking at your chicks. It will be interesting to see the pics of them when they are feathered out. I hope you will keep posting pictures. It is interesting to me to follow the process of a broody. I would love to do that but probably never will. Never say never.

Another beautiful day. I am going to run through the house doing some cleaning and then leave for Aitkin to camp overnight. It has been over a year since I have been up there and many changes have been made.

Have a great weekend chickeners.