When setting eggs under a broody...

[Mimi13]

@NatJ, I just happened up on one chick on her back and then two chicks. She got up to walk off (I guess I disturbed her taking pictures) and they both hung on for a good bit.

But, you can see the comb size and color on all three. And they are 3 weeks old today. I’m thinking all male!

 

[NatJ]

I'm thinking I agree with you

 

[Mimi13]

I'm thinking I agree with you

Yeah, that’s my luck. In that last pic, the chick the furthest back on Mrs. Biggles with the yellow legs is 3/4 Welsummer and 1/4 BPR. I’ll be curious to see what he turns out looking like. The other two are 1/2 BCM, 1/4 Welsummer and 1/4 BPR. I’m sure they’ll be table birds.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

@NatJ, I just happened up on one chick on her back and then two chicks. She got up to walk off (I guess I disturbed her taking pictures) and they both hung on for a good bit.

But, you can see the comb size and color on all three. And they are 3 weeks old today. I’m thinking all male!
View attachment 2123119View attachment 2123125View attachment 2123130

So little chicks do abuse their moms too and use them as heating plate and high-ground platform?
What are you going to do with three roosters?

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Yeah, that’s my luck. In that last pic, the chick the furthest back on Mrs. Biggles with the yellow legs is 3/4 Welsummer and 1/4 BPR. I’ll be curious to see what he turns out looking like. The other two are 1/2 BCM, 1/4 Welsummer and 1/4 BPR. I’m sure they’ll be table birds.

OK, that answers my last question...
Lucky you, you can slaughter. - I can't, i'm too weak...

 

[Mimi13]

So little chicks do abuse their moms too and use them as heating plate and high-ground platform?
What are you going to do with three roosters?

Well, those three plus it appears I have two more with the other broody makes five males and only three females (again, my luck). The 3/4 Welsummer cockerel I will keep my eye on as a possible keeper, but the other four will go either in my freezer or someone else’s willing to pay me $10 each. No shame in the food game here! I have not eaten one of my hens though!

 

[Mimi13]

OK, that answers my last question...
Lucky you, you can slaughter. - I can't, i'm too weak...

I’ll admit slaughtering is not easy, but I quickly learned how to ‘peacefully’ slaughter when on my very first incubator full of chicks I had 1 female and 7 males. The learning how to slaughter came sooner than I had expected though when one of my TSC chick purchases was an accidental roo that turned aggressive. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-deed-is-done-my-flock-is-now-at-peace.74152/

It definitely isn’t something I enjoy doing, but it’s part of what I have to do because I cannot have a bunch of ya-hoos running around terrorizing me, my grandson or my hens.

 

[Mimi13]

Well we are down one more chick. The 3/4 welsummer chick just was hit by a falling board in the run that was knocked over by a chicken. I just happened to be in there refilling water when it happened and immediately picked it up thinking a broken leg or wing. As I was holding it, it started flapping its wings and I thought oh that’s good, but then it died. Damn it!

I gotta start looking around for other things I don’t even notice as a day to day hazard (to grown chickens anyway.) All it took was one board that I had placed in there for a ‘run behind’. Another hen got into it with one of my broodies and bam, it fell! I am utterly pissed! No one’s fault but my own! My poor little Gabriela, she’s lost two babies now.

Side note of something strange though. As soon as the little chick started hollering, of course Gabriela was going nuts, Mrs. Biggles came running from the other end of the run and jumped on Gabriela. I guess she thought one of her babies had been hurt.

Yep, I’m sad and mad all at the same time.

 

[Mimi13]

I’m just about short of ignorant. It wasn’t the 3/4 Welsummer that died, it was a 1/2 BCM. I have no clue what I was thinking earlier. Duh!

Mrs. Biggles has the 3/4 Welsummer chick.

 

[Mimi13]

I’ve been away for quite a while it seems, but I still have pictures and stories of these broody babies.

During a quick necropsy of the little chick that suffered a blunt force trauma death, I learned something new. Curiosity forces me to look at most and I’m glad I looked this particular time. When looking at the intestines of the chick I saw a strange little nub attached to it. I had to start researching what it could be. I had never seen this before.

The internet can be a wonderful thing. I found this particular site to be very informative. https://poultry.extension.org/articles/poultry-anatomy/avian-digestive-system/

This little nub, as I called it, turned out to be the Meckel’s Diverticulum, and come to find out has a very important job. This is quoted from the website mentioned above.

The Meckel’s diverticulum is formed during a chicken’s embryonic stage. In the egg, the yolk sac supplies the nutrients needed for the embryo to develop and grow. Right before hatch, the yolk sac is taken into the navel cavity of the embryo. The residual tiny sac is the Meckel’s diverticulum.

This is for any curious minded folks such as myself!