Thistlewick Smallholding - Chickens & Sheep (for now)

[wrathsfarm]

OH DERP I am very tired after a long day and missed that. I am so sorry!!!

No worries...comes with the territory of getting everyone to own Marans. We don't know who we're talking to so everybody just post pics...
#TeamMarans

 

[thistlewick]

Today there was a lot of shuffling between nests from Tilly and Harriet -- with Harriet trying to take Tilly's eggs and Tilly basically obliging, but being upset about it.

So I went to go split the 8 eggs between them both, but only found 7

So with all the shuffling, one got lost somewhere. I looked and looked in the bedding but nothing. I can only hope it's under one of their wings.

Hatch is Monday - we will see how it goes with all that moving around today lol

I do not need 8 more chickens at all, but I wanted some actual Ameraucanas.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Today there was a lot of shuffling between nests from Tilly and Harriet -- with Harriet trying to take Tilly's eggs and Tilly basically obliging, but being upset about it.

So I went to go split the 8 eggs between them both, but only found 7

So with all the shuffling, one got lost somewhere. I looked and looked in the bedding but nothing. I can only hope it's under one of their wings.

Hatch is Monday - we will see how it goes with all that moving around today lol

Best of luck with your hatch.

I do not need 8 more chickens at all, but I wanted some actual Ameraucanas.

Yep...chicken math bites again.

 

[thistlewick]

Well the nice lady I bought the eggs from gave me 2 extra and who am I to say no to a possible 2 more chickens?! lol

There are so many now I cannot possibly count them all but every time I do bother to, I haven't lost a single one to any predator even though they are free to roam wherever the hell they want all day long. The 'highways' must be elsewhere. All I get are bunnies and deer.


The other day a young cooper's hawk was sitting on the fence right by the hen house but not a chicken lost. We chased off the hawk. Everyone was hiding in the hen house and hedges.

 

[thistlewick]

So this morning I found a broken and bloody egg when I let everyone out this morning


On the cameras it seems I interrupted Harriet from eating it

So that's where that egg went.

Harriet is now in jail in a crate in the garage.


See, last time she was broody she didn't hatch her eggs. She got off them all day to help Tilly brood those chicks and just slept on the eggs. When it was time to hatch, I took them and put them in an incubator bc I was sure they weren't getting sat on enough. I just did the lockdown final 3 days. All 3 eggs hatched.


So she never had the experience. She ignored her nest and slept on it with Tillys babies.

She is a moderately weird chicken and isn't genetically correct anyway, supposed to be a crested cream legbar and is half the size of one and isn't crested.

Anyway the absolute second I yoinked her off the nest, Tilly got busy sitting on it and all the 6 eggs that are left are under her. She can finish brooding in peace.

 

[WingItRanch]

So this morning I found a broken and bloody egg when I let everyone out this morning


On the cameras it seems I interrupted Harriet from eating it

So that's where that egg went.

Harriet is now in jail in a crate in the garage.


See, last time she was broody she didn't hatch her eggs. She got off them all day to help Tilly brood those chicks and just slept on the eggs. When it was time to hatch, I took them and put them in an incubator bc I was sure they weren't getting sat on enough. I just did the lockdown final 3 days. All 3 eggs hatched.


So she never had the experience. She ignored her nest and slept on it with Tillys babies.

She is a moderately weird chicken and isn't genetically correct anyway, supposed to be a crested cream legbar and is half the size of one and isn't crested.

Anyway the absolute second I yoinked her off the nest, Tilly got busy sitting on it and all the 6 eggs that are left are under her. She can finish brooding in peace.

Wow. I've never heard of a broody eating partially developed eggs. Yikes!

Guess she's not mother material..