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..

 

[thistlewick]

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

Guess she's not mother material..

Oh no, she is a wonderful mother - she raised Tilly's chicks way past Tilly leaving them. She ran herself ragged teaching them. She was AWESOME but, she did not hatch any herself.

Here is the thing though; I put her in the brooder in the hen house, and I will continue to keep her there because she kept trying to get Tilly off her eggs and brood them herself LOL

BUT SHE DID NOT DO THE EGG EATING.

This morning, Tilly was down to 5 eggs.

(clipped out a bunch of typing here because...)
Okay so looking at my other camera..

Tilly came out to try and get it back in again -- and footage stopped at 7:53:11 -- and 7:53:40 (so 30 second skip) the egg was gone.


IS IT IN HER WING? Are these eggs in her wings???? How can I check that? I basically leave her alone.

 

[thistlewick]

Or, can she fully eat a wholeass egg in 30seconds flat with NO EVIDENCE.

Yesterday there was blood all over the bedding.

I don't think it's Tilly guys - she is SO mindful of her eggs and she did a beautiful job last time 8/8.

The only thing I can think of is maybe something is wrong with these chicks??

 

[thistlewick]

In far cuter news;

This egg I believed was Cher's egg -- but it's been her 'TSCsister' Little Wing -- the runt who is not full grown because her wing has been broken/unhinged/weirdly paralyzed her whole life. (The one we took into the vet if you're keeping track of my thread/story)

We never thought she'd lay - she isn't full grown, she's about the size of a 12 week old and hasn't gotten any bigger. When she falls down sometimes on her back, she cannot get up and has been attacked for it -- we've had to rescue her and put her up separately a couple nights. She's extremely gentle and sweet and we LOVE her.

She cannot roost at night, so has a little table she can climb up to.

 

[thistlewick]

Update; found the egg that got pushed out this morning, safe and sound - just buried under the bedding under the ramp.

Put it back under Tilly.

I am going to look through the bedding thoroughly for the first egg that went missing.

I have not been able to capture on camera who is kicking out/pushing out eggs. I am not convinced its Tilly as she has multiple deposits every day.