UK Member Please Say HI

[dwdoodles]

Looking for advice. 3 out of my 4 hens are broody. I would like more hens. So do I buy fertile eggs and cross fingers for a successful hatch or do I sneak in a couple of day old chicks. Has anyone done this successfully.

 

[Sylv]

Hi I used to live in asby-de-la zouch derbyshire my grown up kids still live there, moved to wales because of hubbies work to a small holding, Things may of got a bit out of hand did a head count last night 56 chickens 2 ducks 6 eggs under a broody and 4 pea eggs in the incubator, will really have to sell some later this year

Hello, we also moved from England. Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire then to Carmarthenshire. I think I have stuck my intro in the wrong place. Oh dear.

 

[beans2]

milton is bleach.

you don't rinse the fluid off but you do leave it to chemically react with the water so it's not 'active' by the time the baby drinks it.

 

[beans2]

i've used the stuff for pigeons for chickens before (even though the advice is not to) and it worked fine.

 

[beans2]

Looking for advice. 3 out of my 4 hens are broody. I would like more hens. So do I buy fertile eggs and cross fingers for a successful hatch or do I sneak in a couple of day old chicks. Has anyone done this successfully.

its doubtful that a first time mother hen would accept day old chicks.
you could try and it might work but its more likely to cause confusion and possibly turn her against all chicks in future.
some hens are great natural mothers. others gain the habit of killing any chicks they see very easily. better not to test them.

putting fertilised eggs under her in the night time should work fine though.

 

[PouleChick]

What an exhausting day - can't coun't the times i've been back and forwards to the coops!
I'll just copy what I posted on the crushed egg thread:

Little update - totally successful transition to under mum for my 2 tinys - mum hatched the one last night and another today and then when i was checking on them this evening the BCM is also hatching so she never noticed me pop the 2 tiny ones in - I've been feeling under / pattting her / moving her about most days she has been broody (partly on purpose to have her totally be fine with me). As suggested I went back down 20 minutes later to check and all was fine - big puffed up wings covering all her babies . She is going to be the most amazing mum ever if she is doing this well at 7 months old imagine when she is an older hen - I'll be able to put 20 under her . And to make things even better we came back to the house to find that one of the Marans eggs has a little beak sticking out this is one of the 3 remaining of the 5 that were found cold outside the box so I still have some small hope that it will be OK for the ohters (another Marans and my single cream legbar) so hoping tomorrow I can sneak that one and any others under her when I do the move out of the stupid TV she is in and into the proper little coop. Talking of which we also while we were down there in the dark moved broody 1 (silkie) and her chicks into the big coop so I can free up the little coop. We'll see how that goes as she donesn't get on with one of my other girls. Clemantine made the hugest racket as we walked away - I think they didn't knwo what / who we just put in with them.

Talk about chicken learning curve today

 

[JemimaP]

OMG that sounds like so much fun (and tiring and emotional lol)!
Congratulations!!!

 

[Perris]

Hello, we also moved from England. Surrey, Hampshire, Wiltshire then to Carmarthenshire. I think I have stuck my intro in the wrong place. Oh dear.

if you mean new member intros, I think you did fine BTW, given your goats etc. and your UK location, do you know The accidental smallholder site? it's got a very lively goat section! it's here

 

[Sylv]

if you mean new member intros, I think you did fine BTW, given your goats etc. and your UK location, do you know The accidental smallholder site? it's got a very lively goat section! it's here

No I didn't know about that site but if it is lively it probably isn't quite 'us' or our goats, we are more plodding along. I would say that the 3 angoras (sort of rescued almost by mistake, we were asked to go there because they were taking in some llamas but the llamas didn't turn up and we saw the goats) are the most labour intensive animals we have ever had. Shearing twice a year, dreadful feet and lice which we treat regularly but it doesn't get rid of them. They are old ladies now and sweet natured but we will not be replacing them when they go.

 

[Perris]

it's people seeking help with all the issues that make it a lively section!