Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Stumpfarmer]

Is it unusual for a hen to go broody during the summer? We have a Buff Orpington who is over the moon happy, sitting on a clutch of eggs in the shed. We've never had fertile eggs before this, and probably won't again. The neighbors hate our rooster.   I've heard you can douse them in a tub of cool (not cold) water, and that is supposed to break the broodiness, but I've never tried it. Good luck with your hen. Happy Independence Day!

This has been going on at my house for eight days:

Cheery Littlebottom is sitting on seven B'dA eggs in a two-gallon nursery pot (the tulle was jammed in the back to keep the bedding from leaking out the drain holes).

After having an incubator batch and then Malvina's eight, I view broody hens as a gift from St. Brigit of Kildare, patron saint of chicken keepers. Hens know what they are doing (one of the funniest things this week was Cheery getting off her eggs and strutting around complaining about the heat) and their chicks do not need so much insane-making care.

 

[Hinotori]

Is it unusual for a hen to go broody during the summer? We have a Buff Orpington who is over the moon happy, sitting on a clutch of eggs in the shed. We've never had fertile eggs before this, and probably won't again. The neighbors hate our rooster.   I've heard you can douse them in a tub of cool (not cold) water, and that is supposed to break the broodiness, but I've never tried it. Good luck with your hen. Happy Independence Day!

This has been going on at my house for eight days:

Cheery Littlebottom is sitting on seven B'dA eggs in a two-gallon nursery pot (the tulle was jammed in the back to keep the bedding from leaking out the drain holes).

After having an incubator batch and then Malvina's eight, I view broody hens as a gift from St. Brigit of Kildare, patron saint of chicken keepers. Hens know what they are doing (one of the funniest things this week was Cheery getting off her eggs and strutting around complaining about the heat) and their chicks do not need so much insane-making care.

You named your chicken after a dwarf? I wanted to name our german shepherd Angua.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Is it unusual for a hen to go broody during the summer? We have a Buff Orpington who is over the moon happy, sitting on a clutch of eggs in the shed. We've never had fertile eggs before this, and probably won't again. The neighbors hate our rooster.   I've heard you can douse them in a tub of cool (not cold) water, and that is supposed to break the broodiness, but I've never tried it. Good luck with your hen. Happy Independence Day!

This has been going on at my house for eight days:

Cheery Littlebottom is sitting on seven B'dA eggs in a two-gallon nursery pot (the tulle was jammed in the back to keep the bedding from leaking out the drain holes).

After having an incubator batch and then Malvina's eight, I view broody hens as a gift from St. Brigit of Kildare, patron saint of chicken keepers. Hens know what they are doing (one of the funniest things this week was Cheery getting off her eggs and strutting around complaining about the heat) and their chicks do not need so much insane-making care.

You named your chicken after a dwarf? I wanted to name our german shepherd Angua.

Well, she's a very small chicken with a beard, you know.

Angua is my favorite; I just finished rereading The Fifth Elephant last night and the interchange at the end between Angua and Carrot is so heart-breaking.

 

[Hinotori]

This is the silkie coop right now.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

This is the silkie coop right now.

Hee! They look like what I cut off Baaachus today.

 

[Duck Drover]

I hatched three Silkie chicks in the incubator last week and one came out with an empty eye socket and a cheek bulge that I suspect is the missing eye. I figured it would die but instead it is thriving. I don't know if having a misplaced eye is genetic or developmental but I suspect either way the best thing to do is to cull the chick. I just can't bring myself to kill something just because it is disabled. Is there anyone with a heart for a one-eyed Silkie chick? It appears to be black or a dark blue color. I planned to keep all the Silkie chicks I hatched but I could possibly let another chick go as a companion when my next batch hatches this weekend. My hatch rate on Silkies has been low with too many infertile eggs from hatching eggs I bought from others so I am glad my own flock is producing, I just hope this deformed chick is not typical of what I will hatch in future clutches of eggs. I have a broody hen I am considering allowing to hatch some Silkie eggs to see how she compares to the Little Giant incubator.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote:
LMAO! Chucks of black and white wool all over the place!

The silkies probably are moving just about as much as well. All four of them went broody within a day of each other.

Quote:

You named your chicken after a dwarf? I wanted to name our german shepherd Angua.

Well, she's a very small chicken with a beard, you know.

Angua is my favorite; I just finished rereading The Fifth Elephant last night and the interchange at the end between Angua and Carrot is so heart-breaking.

I haven't read The Fifth Elephant in a long while. It's somewhere out in the shed. There are like 60+ boxes of books out there. We really need a library so we can find what we are looking for easier.

We'd picked up the most recent book when it came out. DH read it, then it got lost. If I can ever find it, I'll read it. I do miss Rincewind's adventures. Need more of them. And what else has happened with Susan and her grandfather? Dang it. I really want to read Reaper Man again.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

This is the silkie coop right now.

Hee! They look like what I cut off Baaachus today.

LMAO! Chucks of black and white wool all over the place! The silkies probably are moving just about as much as well. All four of them went broody within a day of each other.

You named your chicken after a dwarf? I wanted to name our german shepherd Angua.

Well, she's a very small chicken with a beard, you know. Angua is my favorite; I just finished rereading The Fifth Elephant last night and the interchange at the end between Angua and Carrot is so heart-breaking.

I haven't read The Fifth Elephant in a long while. It's somewhere out in the shed. There are like 60+ boxes of books out there. We really need a library so we can find what we are looking for easier. We'd picked up the most recent book when it came out. DH read it, then it got lost. If I can ever find it, I'll read it. I do miss Rincewind's adventures. Need more of them. And what else has happened with Susan and her grandfather? Dang it. I really want to read Reaper Man again.

Of all the authors who should live long and write more, Terry Pratchett would be the one I choose, and he's mostly trying to keep going to finish the stories he can remember while he can... Have you read the Tiffany Aching ones? ETA, also, Susan and her Grandfather show up in The Hogfather. There's a great TV version of that, with Michelle Dockery who went on to play (Lady Mary on Downton Abbey) as Susan.

 

[DeltaBluezTess]

Speaking of Silkies.....all of mine decided to go broody and a RIR and Brahma.....what gives?

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

I hatched three Silkie chicks in the incubator last week and one came out with an empty eye socket and a cheek bulge that I suspect is the missing eye. I figured it would die but instead it is thriving. I don't know if having a misplaced eye is genetic or developmental but I suspect either way the best thing to do is to cull the chick. I just can't bring myself to kill something just because it is disabled. Is there anyone with a heart for a one-eyed Silkie chick? It appears to be black or a dark blue color. I planned to keep all the Silkie chicks I hatched but I could possibly let another chick go as a companion when my next batch hatches this weekend. My hatch rate on Silkies has been low with too many infertile eggs from hatching eggs I bought from others so I am glad my own flock is producing, I just hope this deformed chick is not typical of what I will hatch in future clutches of eggs. I have a broody hen I am considering allowing to hatch some Silkie eggs to see how she compares to the Little Giant incubator.

That's a bummer about the Silkie. It may not be a genetics issue, but an incubation issue. Hard to say. I would not use it in a breeding program. Post it on Craigslist, there are lots on there that take "Special Needs" birds.