The 9th Annual BYC Easter Hatchalong!

[wvchics]

Was it her or a predator? Ground squirrels have been seen eating eggs here. Rats really like them too.
What’s the breed?

It was definitely a hen. I had several fresh eggs in the morning and 7 of my 8 left I didn't get a chance to grab them and when I went back out there were 4 left and one with a hole in it and some of the fresh were gone as well.
I caught her fighting with my broody the other day and stopped her apparently she was fighting to take her eggs. I thought I had her seperated, but apparently I grabbed the wrong hen. I had no fresh eggs and missing another marked egg this morning. I should have known when I collected eggs she was even trying to take them from me, but I have 2/3 that are trying to brood so I didn't realize she was trying to eat it. Now the hen I separated is trying to set the egg she laid yesterday. I left it to see if she would eat it. I'm so sad right now . I think I'm going to try to separate the other one and see what happens. I might just give the hen in the building more eggs and see if she'll hatch some for me if she's still setting when I get home. Idk what to do about the 3 left I don't want to mix different eggs under a broody, and I think the other girls are getting discouraged by the egg eater. Maybe I'll try to borrow an incubator for them. I'm not even sure they'll hatch now.

 

[ronott1]

The bunnies i hatched are growing 5 weeks old now!View attachment 1309601

Very Cute!

 

[wvchics]

Egg eating is usually opportunistic eating--weak egg shells, broken eggs and etc.

They are all laying thick healthy shells. Is there something else that could be missing from her diet. I did have to buy dumor feed last time because I couldn't get what I usually buy and was completely out of feed. She seems to be eating an awful lot suddenly to be because of one bag of feed.
She seems to peck a hole and eat the center then the shell, and she has gotten more aggressive recently as well. It's hard to tell them apart because they are all buff orpingtons. Some of them are banded, but not this one. I'm going to have to watch them for a while and see if I can get the right one this time.

Work on flock nutrition. This usually works:

Add ouster shell calcium free choice
Use calf manna-chicken feeding instructions on the label
Give them a good added to water vitamin a couple of days every week
Limit treats--Completely eliminate them for a week

IF using fermented feed consider not using it. Some nutrients are increased with it but some are decreased

 

[Hyroler]

It was definitely a hen. I had several fresh eggs in the morning and 7 of my 8 left I didn't get a chance to grab them and when I went back out there were 4 left and one with a hole in it and some of the fresh were gone as well.
I caught her fighting with my broody the other day and stopped her apparently she was fighting to take her eggs. I thought I had her seperated, but apparently I grabbed the wrong hen. I had no fresh eggs and missing another marked egg this morning. I should have known when I collected eggs she was even trying to take them from me, but I have 2/3 that are trying to brood so I didn't realize she was trying to eat it. Now the hen I separated is trying to set the egg she laid yesterday. I left it to see if she would eat it. I'm so sad right now . I think I'm going to try to separate the other one and see what happens. I might just give the hen in the building more eggs and see if she'll hatch some for me if she's still setting when I get home. Idk what to do about the 3 left I don't want to mix different eggs under a broody, and I think the other girls are getting discouraged by the egg eater. Maybe I'll try to borrow an incubator for them. I'm not even sure they'll hatch now.

Nothing worse than broody hen stealing all the eggs.I have one hen that went broody and wouldnt stop taking all other hens eggs she had ao many eggs she couldnt cover them all.they were either getting broken or not being covered all the time so none of them were ever hatching.Finally i just pulled her off eggs and locked her up for couple days to stop her from brooding.I was able to hatch in incubator a few of eggs she was sitting on but most were just wasted

 

[LilJoe]

Chicks hatching today!

 

[ronott1]

Chicks hatching today!

I hope you have a great hatch!

 

[Pensmaster]

It was definitely a hen. I had several fresh eggs in the morning and 7 of my 8 left I didn't get a chance to grab them and when I went back out there were 4 left and one with a hole in it and some of the fresh were gone as well.
I caught her fighting with my broody the other day and stopped her apparently she was fighting to take her eggs. I thought I had her seperated, but apparently I grabbed the wrong hen. I had no fresh eggs and missing another marked egg this morning. I should have known when I collected eggs she was even trying to take them from me, but I have 2/3 that are trying to brood so I didn't realize she was trying to eat it. Now the hen I separated is trying to set the egg she laid yesterday. I left it to see if she would eat it. I'm so sad right now . I think I'm going to try to separate the other one and see what happens. I might just give the hen in the building more eggs and see if she'll hatch some for me if she's still setting when I get home. Idk what to do about the 3 left I don't want to mix different eggs under a broody, and I think the other girls are getting discouraged by the egg eater. Maybe I'll try to borrow an incubator for them. I'm not even sure they'll hatch now.

That’s too bad. Try the one in the building if she can be by herself. I had I think 5 broodies in the back of the coop last year fighting over the same clutch. One day one would have more the next day the others would have more. This went on the entire time. They managed to hatch 3 lost all three with all their fighting. So many went broody last year I didn’t mess with them. Besides the rooster wasn’t too fond of me going in to mess with his girls.

 

[wvchics]

Nothing worse than broody hen stealing all the eggs.I have one hen that went broody and wouldnt stop taking all other hens eggs she had ao many eggs she couldnt cover them all.they were either getting broken or not being covered all the time so none of them were ever hatching.Finally i just pulled her off eggs and locked her up for couple days to stop her from brooding.I was able to hatch in incubator a few of eggs she was sitting on but most were just wasted

Yeah I had two or three that were stealing them back and forth. Sometimes two of them would sit together or I'd find the clutch split between them lol. Unfortunately I thought that's what this hen was trying to do at first, but they started disappearing on me and fresh eggs too. I must have interrupted the egg eater because I found a marked egg with a hole pecked in it and an hour later I was missing another egg.
Their eggs are all strong and healthy, but yeah I'm going to give her a shot by herself and see.

Hopefully, I can identify the water, and get her away from the rest. Someone suggested adding supplements to her water so maybe I'll try that once I do identity her for sure. Everyone else seems to be doing fine, but the only change was the dumor feed. I don't care for it, and definitely won't buy it again.
If I can get her straightened out I'll keep her. If not she'll be culled in the fall for dinner.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

We have 3 turkeys whom have hatched, 2 ducks third is sleeping halfway out the egg, and 6 chicks that hatched.

 

[Cynthia12]

Babies are hatching already? Getting my other bator ready to put my eggs in tonight. Tomorrow is lockdown.