Utah!

[PoultryPedia]

A possibly helpful technique would be to only let them out an hour or two before dusk at first. Then they aren't as likely to wander as far & forget the way back before bedtime. You can move the time back earlier as they seem to catch the system. Also, sprinkle scratch on the ground close to the coop to encourage them to spend their time close to it at first.
Teach them that when you call "Chick, chick, chick!" that means you are going to feed them treats. Then you can more easily call in any stragglers in the evening. It's far easier to call them in than chase the hooligans down

I've found, too, that's it's easier to call reluctant free-rangers into a run & then shut the gate & shuttle them into the coop, than it is to lure them directly into the coop.
They'll get the right routine down within a couple weeks. Try to be patient with the little buggers, and don't leave them just to their own devices. The devices of newly liberated chickens unfortunately can be unwisely risky at times...

 

[vermontgal]

With my first chickens, I didn't teach them about treats until they were 4-5 months old. Mistake! My second set of layer chicks, knew about treats and could be led around by a treat tin by the time they were two weeks old. No matter what word you use with treats, be consistent and you can train them early. Very young chicks (1-2 weeks old) can learn to put themselves to bed, too. Some of this training is treats, and some of this is lighting - having a light on near the roost as it gets dusk will tend to draw them to the roost area. In my experience, the chicks who get left behind learn in 3-4 nights.

 

[Stands With A Fiddle]

I think my big problem is with cats. My little ones are not afraid of my cats, but they are afraid of unknown cats. There are several neighborhood cats that come into my yard. In particular, this one tabby harasses them. When she runs up to them, they scatter. That's who's been around every time I've had to go hunt down a baby.

I don't think she is particularly dangerous, and I think she is more interested in the mice inside the coop than anything else. Still, she seems to be the common link to all the babies that I've had to hunt down.

 

[Heather J]

Anyone interested in goose eggs for hatching? I don't have a bator to dedicate to them, but I've got nearly a dozen now. They're free to anyone who wants to meet me in Utah Valley on a day when I go up there (from Fillmore), or if you're in Nephi and we can arrange to meet. I'll also be going to Huntington to speak at a school next Sunday and Monday and would be happy to meet someone in the area there. The gander is a white Chinese, the females are white Chinese, Tolouse, or African (though I think the African has laid most of the eggs). I can't promise they'll be fertile, since I haven't tested, but I know the early eggs last year were (thus the reason I'm not selling them, just giving them away). Do not PM me if you have questions, since I rarely check the email account my notices here go to, and I've been a slacker about posting on here (deadlines, spring chores, etc.). Pop onto my website at HeatherJustesen.com and you can contact me through there. That email account comes to my cell so I check it many times a day. I'll ship if you want to risk the cost of shipping.

I also am selling off my white frizzled cochins--just decided I had too many breeds and one needs to go to open up pen space. I'm going to post them on KSL today, so if anyone's interested, let me know ASAP. These are hatchery birds, so they're nice, good leg feathering, but not show quality. I have a few of their eggs in the bator, but once I sell them, I'm going to focus on my other many breeds and species. lol

 

[kimbobim]

I'm hoping someone close by can answer this - does anyone know where I can get some fertilized eggs (and soon)? My sweet Black Australorp, Harriet, has gone broody AGAIN and seems determined to hatch something. Poor thing is setting on wooden eggs right now. She was broody in January but we forced her out of it - it was so cold, I was afraid she'd freeze or starve to death. The last few days I've noticed she wasn't free ranging with the others, and yesterday my daughter went to gather eggs and said Harriet's definitely broody again - refusing to leave the nest, fussing and growling when you get near her.

So, I'm figuring my options are to 1) get her some fertilized eggs, 2) slip some day-old chicks under her at night (would she accept them if she hasn't heard peeping from the eggs as they hatch?), or 3) somehow break her of being broody again (ugh. it took over a week last time - this girl is determined!). My kids would be thrilled to get some day-old chicks, or have Harriet hatch out some eggs. We have a tractor coop I could move her to, or we can separate off one end of the big coop to put her in.

Would the other hens be aggressive towards day-olds they didn't hatch? How long would I have to keep Harriet & chicks separated from the others?

I've never hatched eggs before, or had day-old chicks, so I really don't know how to do this. I guess I've got some researching to do.

 

[Stands With A Fiddle]

Kimbobim - I actually had this discussion recently with someone who has more chicken experience with myself. I wanted to know if I could trick my hens into raising babies for me. He basically told me I needed a broody hen for this, and that I could trick her into sitting on fake eggs (sounds like Harriet is doing this). Then I'd need to sneak in at night and replace the fake eggs with babies.

This was the extent of our discussion, so I didn't get into the specifics of how to go about it (specifically how to sneak underneath them without getting your eyes pecked out). Mainly because I don't have a broody hen. But it sounds like it is possible to replace Harriet's fake eggs with day-olds. I've also seen some fertile eggs on KSL classifieds or ebay.

 

[kimbobim]

Quote:
Thanks - I've been leaning towards trying to slip some day-olds under her in the middle of the night after she's been asleep a few hours (they're so zonked, my son calls it the 'chicken coma'). I'm wondering if I need to keep her on some fake eggs for a couple of weeks - does her little chicken brain know how long eggs take to hatch, and refuse to accept chicks when she didn't set long enough to hatch?

 

[Stands With A Fiddle]

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LOL @ chicken coma.

I don't know if they keep a schedule or not. Like I said, my discussion with this guy was very general and high-level. He seemed to indicate that you needed a broody hen and fake eggs for adoption to work. It sounded like you didn't need to have them set the full 3 weeks, but I didn't specifically ask if there was a length of time for setting on fake eggs needed to trick them.

 

[PacsMan]

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I had this exact situation last fall with Midnight, our Black Australorp.
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I would go on eBay and get some fertilized eggs. (I bought Buff Orpington eggs). Midnight was broody for almost a week before I set eggs under her.
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Yes, you need to separate your broody hen and eggs.
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Yes, if you don't want dead day-old chicks, that have to be separated. I didn't introduce mine until they were 10+ weeks old.

 

[hen-thusiast]

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We just got a roo, but he's still in quarantine for another couple of weeks. But if you are ever looking for fertilized eggs again in the future, let us know - you can have some! He's a blue wheaten ameraucana and we do have a couple of easter eggers, so it might be a fun combination! Good luck and keep us updated!