We let Broody have 3 eggs! Any advice?UPDATE: PICS Post #7

[drumstick diva]

Tell hubby turnabout is fair play. If he isn't a good broody, he'll end up in freezer camp. What a darling mama and baby, I wish them the best. I had to blow up the photo to see the chick, it looked just like an egg before I enlarged. Darling little snowball.

 

[jennh]

Quote:
Hi! I never had a barrier. I just let her sit on the eggs, and the other girls just went about their business, not even noticing her. Same thing now. The big girls don't even LOOK at the chicks. Now when I had gotten chicks from a hatchery, and tried to introduce them, that's a different story. The big girls just don't accept hatchery chicks like they do ones that are "born" into the flock. I will never buy hatchery again. I'll get eggs from the breed I want and let my broodies hatch the eggs. Certainly saves me a lot of work, and NO DUST in my house !!

Tha't how much I love my broodies!

Jen

 

[thespinningcottage]

Yes, the dust is certainly an issue here too! I'm a teacher and hatch in my classroom for my first graders, so we just bring them home after a week or so and raise them in the grow-out coop until d-day. Those several weeks inside the house before they go to the grow-out is certainly a time you don't want company over!
The set-up we put broody in is a large wooden crate we use as a brooder. It's about 4' x 2'. We turned it on its side and put the hardware cloth lid over the open front so everyone can see everyone. I think I'll just remove the lid today and let her keep baby in there with the chick crumbles and water. She can defend that if she needs to, but we're hoping she won't have to. She's so wonderful - she moved the unhatched egg and the baby over right beside the food and water so she can feed baby and still sit on the unhatched egg! The chick stays right under her breast in front, and she looks down at it and seems to actually caress it with her beak.

I'll post how it goes later. Thanks again!

 

[thespinningcottage]

Sad update. The removal of the barrier did not go well. We found the chick pecked, blinded and scalped lying in a corner of the coop, flung down and cast off. Lazy ol' broody was still sitting on her nest as if nothing happened. The chick is barely alive. I have put plain neosporin on the wounds and an ophthalmic ointment on the eye (socket). It's breathing, and has been placed in a glass tank under heat lamp. The back wounds look deep, but there's presently no bleeding - looks like puncture wounds. I have no happy vibes toward the broody right now, so if anyone has anything to say on her behalf it would be appreciated. I really don't want to be mad at her, I just had such high hopes that she would be a protective mother. I'm so jealous of everyone who has good experiences! Why are my hens so mean?

 

[jennh]

Quote:
You said puncture wounds. I don't think chickens can do puncture wounds. At least I didn't think so. Are you sure something else didn't get in there?

Jen

 

[mothersin2ition]

omg that is so sad

I hope lil chick survives.
I always separate my hens and chicks before/after they hatch. The others just pick on the babies too much. We built a smaller chicken tractor (8x4) just for this purpose.

 

[thespinningcottage]

Thanks. By puncture wounds I guess I just mean hard peck marks. There's the smooth dermis(?) that's dark pink, and then the deeper purple and still slightly bloody marks that look deeper and very isolated. Right now he's bawling his little beak off, the good eye open and very wobbly, but not interested in eating. He took a couple drops of the water with the electrolytes. If he doesn't make it, it won't because he's not a fighter! I'm not thinking that any of this was a bad idea, I just figure I've learned a little more about chickens. Little Bit probably won't make it, but he has taught us a lot about perseverance! I'll let you know how he's doing tomorrow.

 

[thespinningcottage]

Well, looks like he's a fighter. He's eating, drinking and pooping all over the place, and peeping like crazy. He's lonely! I hold him when I can, but I don't want to hurt him. His back is not oozy, but looks fleshy and well on its way to healing. He lost all the down off his bum, either from picking at himself or just being stressed. He is quite a homely little thing. Now, he's not opening the bad eye. I don't know if there's an eye in the socket or not. Does anyone know if that will heal on its own, or will it have to be checked by a vet? He's so tiny I'm sure he wouldn't survive any sort of procedure. I'm afraid of infection getting him after coming so far! I'll try to post a picture later.

 

[cryslynn26]

Hey there, I found this website about eye injuries on "caring for your flock" thought you might want to check it out it had information about eye, beak, wings, etc

http://books.google.com/books?id=mU...nepage&q=heal a missing eye of a bird&f=false