Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[MargaretYakoda]

I'm really excited! It came at a good time since I just lost one of my girls and have been feeling a little regretful about this whole thing but finding that egg today and seeing that proud chicken standing over it was worth it

Congratulations on that first egg!

Sorry you lost one hen. It's tough being a tender hearted chicken mama or daddy. But when the eggs, and later the little puff balls, show up it's makes it fun again.

 

[Melnurse]

What's a broody buster and what are other ways to break that cycle? I will never have a rooster, so I dread this phase when it comes.

 

[Duck Drover]

I have three Orpington hens raising chicks they hatched and a Silkie raising Orpington chicks she hatched so that does bring down egg production but it is so dang cute to see the chicks following after their mamas learning how to be chickens. I have another Silkie that I will give eggs or chicks to because she has been sitting on an empty nest for awhile. I have some Call duck eggs I can try putting under her but they were set so far apart that I would probably have to find some for her if I want to put her to work. She is one of two black hens that I want to move with my lavender Catdance rooster and the other black hen is raising chicks already so I kind of want to get them both laying so I can get some lavender chicks.

I have Silkies to use as incubators but the chicken eggs hatch just fine in the electric incubators, it is the Call duck eggs that are difficult to hatch. I have the Calls penned with a net over the top but I am not getting any eggs from them and I am afraid their season may be over now. I ended up buying some hens and some ducklings to add to my original pair but the new hens have not laid anything after the first two eggs I got from one and the original pair stopped laying, possibly because I made them into a trio and the hen was not thrilled about sharing her drake while the new hen wanted back with her original drake. She is butterscotch so I want her with my blue fawn pair (although they may actually be pastel and not blue fawn like I was told) and I kept the gray hen with the snowy drake.

I moved the Pekin out of the Call duck pen and I am still looking for a companion for her because she just sits next to the pen and will barely leave to eat and drink. I had to move her to the shady side of their pens because she was sitting there in the hot sun most of the day so now she has Easter Eggers and Cochins as companions but she still sits next to the fence to be with her Call duck companions. Ducks get so bonded that it is hard to change their bonds, especially when I don't have another Pekin duck for her to bond with yet. I am hoping to find something this weekend when I drive my daughter to camp since I will be traveling south where there are more options since the ducklings near me are $20 each! Pekins are so common that they sell ducklings everywhere (there was even a buy one get one free sale on them at the feed store) and yet people are trying to ask far more than what they are worth. I only got two eggs from my Pekin before she stopped laying and I don't expect her to lay until I get her settled with a new lifelong companion(s). I have even considered selling her so she can be with her own kind but if she does not take to a new companion I don't want her to be without her Call companions. When duck season is over all the ducks will be in the yard and out of the breeder pens but for now I just want the Calls penned up so they can form new breeding groups when the ducklings are big enough to add to the groups.

Raising baby birds is so much work, especially when it is so hot and they need water filled several times a day. I also have to be on crow patrol with babies in the yard and not under cover. It is fun hatching and raising babies so I am not complaining, it is just time consuming and it is hard to leave for more than half a day. I like letting the hens raise the babies but it does mean less eggs to hatch for awhile. I sold one hen with chicks but the hens with chicks now are all ones I want to keep.

 

[Duck Drover]

Duck Dover - the little chicks i hatched from your eggs were very cute, and they put on weight fast compared to my lighter breed large fowls.  It's amazing how much selective breeding changes their body shape even when young.  

My egg production has dropped due to BROODY HENS! Argh.  Luckily my absolute favorite hen is easy to break when she broods, it takes about 2-3 days in the broody buster and she is over it.  Her daughter on the other hand spent and entire month with me trying everything to break her broodiness without result.  I think I am going to get hatching eggs for her instead cause I don't want to fight her for a month again.  

Once you raise the English Orpingtons next to the American English Orpingtons you will never go back! I had a Romanian guy in Bothell buy my second rooster with two hens and he already had a few Korfus he was selling chicks from so it will be easier to find more English Orpingtons from the Korfus line. Some of my hens went back to the breeder where I got them because she needed more and I needed less so I know I can get more from her too.

My blue rooster has matured even though he still has alot of growing to do and already he looks alot like Charlie so I know I am going to have the nicest chicks possible from him. I ended up with some crossbred chicks in my test hatch but fortunately that was just one batch because I had realized after I set them that I had Easter Eggers laying beige eggs even though they were guaranteed to lay colored eggs (they came from a breeder in Roy who is still making that false claim so I am sure I am not the only one with beige eggs from his birds). I am sure the auction is overwhelmed with chicks right now but I may end up taking some there if I don't have a local buyer for them because I don't want to keep raising them when they are not ever going to be part of my flock.

I should have some nice pullets to keep and start laying for the winter from the second hatch and I still have more hatches because I want to get some splash chicks from my blue rooster (I have a few so far and hopefully they are all pullets). Because the English type feathers so much slower than the American type, it will be easy to tell the crossbred chicks because they are the ones that are fully feathered while the English chicks are running around with naked rear ends, LOL.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

What's a broody buster and what are other ways to break that cycle? I will never have a rooster, so I dread this phase when it comes.

It's not so bad. No need to dread it.

Yes, the hen gets cranky. VERY cranky. LOL. But she gets over it eventually.

 

[DaveOmak]

Duck Dover - the little chicks i hatched from your eggs were very cute, and they put on weight fast compared to my lighter breed large fowls. It's amazing how much selective breeding changes their body shape even when young.

My egg production has dropped due to BROODY HENS! Argh. Luckily my absolute favorite hen is easy to break when she broods, it takes about 2-3 days in the broody buster and she is over it. Her daughter on the other hand spent and entire month with me trying everything to break her broodiness without result. I think I am going to get hatching eggs for her instead cause I don't want to fight her for a month again.

Afternoon..... I have read several methods for "busting" broodies..... Just curious as to your method..... Some I have read involve dunking the hen in water... putting in solitary.... Pictures may help this old mind comprehend how you succeed....

Thanks..... Dave

 

[Chickielady]

Afternoon..... I have read several methods for "busting" broodies..... Just curious as to your method..... Some I have read involve dunking the hen in water... putting in solitary.... Pictures may help this old mind comprehend how you succeed....

Thanks..... Dave

Not her answer here, but mine.
If I can, I toss the broody in a different coop...the native hens ther keep her running & that usually does the trick.
If it persists or you do not have various coops to deal with, get a smallish rabbit cage, and tie it to a tree branch or clothes line so it SWINGS.
Put your hen in there & set it swinging.
If there is no wind, set it swinging every time you walk by.
A day of this should do the job.
It works due to cool air hitting her breast...and the constant movement 'wakes' her up.
It is much kinder than dunking the hen in cold water (aka: madder than a wet hen)

 

[Chickielady]

YIPPEEEE!!! We are DONE butchering meat birds !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have ducks to go, and more than likely right after that we'll have the smoker going for salmon, then deer & elk...but MEAT CHICKENS are so GROSS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd rather butcher a deer !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now..............back to work, and salmon are getting very ready to come in the bay, they are stacked outside the tater patch waiting, and one going out in the ocean outside the bay will get ALOT of hits of 1 & 1/2 to 2 foot kingjacks (at this point)

OK, back to work for me~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Duck Drover]

Well, it turns out my daughter did not look under the shelter for Call duck eggs, assuming the hens would use the nest box. There were four eggs in there today and I know two ducks did not lay two eggs each in one day! I should put them under my broody Silkie but I already gave her a dozen Orpington eggs since I have another dozen and a half to set in case something hnappens to her eggs or they don't develop. I gave her the smaller eggs and the bigger eggs are going in the incubator tonight. I had chicks hatching yesterday but I don't want to give her any right now with so many bigger chicks in the Silkie pen already. I was hoping she would adopt some older chicks but she had already become too attached to her ping pong balls. I could always slip in the Call eggs and take away the eggs I just gave her but she was so happy to get them that I would have to do it at night when she can't see what I am doing, LOL.

 

[DaveOmak]

Not her answer here, but mine.
If I can, I toss the broody in a different coop...the native hens ther keep her running & that usually does the trick.
If it persists or you do not have various coops to deal with, get a smallish rabbit cage, and tie it to a tree branch or clothes line so it SWINGS.
Put your hen in there & set it swinging.
If there is no wind, set it swinging every time you walk by.
A day of this should do the job.
It works due to cool air hitting her breast...and the constant movement 'wakes' her up.
It is much kinder than dunking the hen in cold water (aka: madder than a wet hen)

Genius idea.... probably better than a trip to the freezer too.... (No, I wouldn't do that !!!).....