Three mothers for two eggs

[GitaBooks]

So, recently I posted about how my broody OEG bantam, Pip, lost all her eggs even though she was inside of a locked crate. Some how, something must have reached inside. My other broody (Beauty) hatched out a chick yesterday, so I gave Pip two bantam eggs to Pip and let her keep her chick and her standard egg. Her standard egg turned out to have a partially formed, dead chick in it, so she is stuck with one baby now.
I let Pip out for some exercise and took her two eggs, afraid she would abandon them. I gave her some other eggs to keep her busy until these two hatched.

So here I am, sitting, typing this, with two eggs being kept warm under my shirt. I've got to wonder what those chicks are thinking, if they are still alive in there. It must feel like a roller coaster ride being moved from one parent to another! The incubator is warming up now, so they can be kept in there until they hatch.


Pip, with her last brood of chicks that she raised


Beauty on her nest

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I hope one way or another that pip will soon have chicks to raise.

 

[GitaBooks]

I hope one way or another that pip will soon have chicks to raise.

Thanks!

The eggs were dead when we checked them.

If she sits on her eggs again I'm going to find her some day-old chicks to put under her. Right now she doesn't seem so sure about returning to her nest.

As many times as I try to fix the problems with having broody hens, new ones always turn up.
Some day I'll finally find out how to do this right.

 

[GitaBooks]

So in the end Pip and Goldie broke up, leaving their eggs to die, and Beauty got just one chick (I named it Buddy, as the two of them are best of buddies). However, today Princess (my silkie) decided she wanted to go broody. This is my chance to get Australorps!!