The Annals of Tiberius the Tattooed Chicken~It's HATCHING!

[DoctorGoose]

So, in the spirit of Barg's Esther and Winnie thread; I begin a new one: about my favorite chicken--her hopes and dreams, struggles and joys....

Tiberius' Christmas shoot. As you may notice, she's in her nesting box. She just started laying a few weeks ago, but she has it in her fluffy little head that she must become a mother now; and produce mini Ti-tis to take over the earth with their black feathery fluff. (Never mind that she's sitting on Wyandotte eggs!)

So, I've been taking her off her nesting box several times a day, and unceremoniously dumping her in the yard with the rest of the chickens, only to come back a few hours later and discover her sitting...on air.

So, I thought to myself: ah ha! I should put her in with our chicks, and that will cure her of her motherly wishes post-haste!

What do y'all think?

 

[DoctorGoose]

Another Tiberius picture: After attacking the barn cat's tail:

Staying warm with me:

As a 2 day old chick:

As a funny-looking 5 week old:

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Aww... She's adorable!

How old is she?

 

[picklespickles]

hey, i was looking for the tatoo.

 

[bunch-a-chickens]

I would put her in a nest on the floor for a few days, and, if the chicks are real young, they should want to stay with her. so after those few days on the floor, i'd put some chicks under her.(p.s. make sure she has an egg to sit on, fertile or not, just so she will stay on the nest.

 

[SpottedCrow]

She's awful cute!

 

[DoctorGoose]

Well, Tiberius is 6 months old, and the chicks are 8 weeks old...so not exactly chicks--mini chickens.... but she loves babies. I swear, when I put her in with our BRs (when they were chicks) and she was...about 10 weeks old, she just stood there and let them peck at her, poor little thing.....

Oh yes! We call her "Tiberius the Tattooed Chicken" after the song:

(see if this works)

Anyhow, we call her this because I kept saying "Say, Have you met Tiberius?" lol....

 

[DoctorGoose]

So, today Tiberius is still broody. I stuck Henrietta (grandma's 8-week old chicken) underneath her today to see how she took it...the only problem being that Henrietta is just as big as Tiberius...Ti screamed a bit and Henrietta took off.

So, I know I can put her on a slanted wire cage and all that, but I'm not really set up to do that. Any ideas?

P.S.--My father is convinced that she is going to die, lol!

 

[DoctorGoose]

So, I have a question--we've finally allowed to compromise and allow Tiberius to hatch out one chick--she's been broody for a little over a week now. Will she be broody long enough to hatch out the chick? Or should I just wait for her another two weeks to stop?

 

[DoctorGoose]

So, I just candled Tiberius' egg! Definitely something going on in there! It's about half dark, with veins...I just went out and bought a powerful flashlight last night, so hopefully I can see more...