Enchanted1s
Songster
So, please allow me to introduce Whitey. It is a long story as to how we acquired her. I was told she was Amerecana (Sp) and Flowery 55 mix. She was supposed to be the same age as the cockerel she was replacing when we got her (9 weeks) but I always estimated her to be about a month younger - based on her size and weight. I think my guess was probably closer than the seller as she stared laying about 3 ½ to 4 weeks later than her adopted litter mates. So she has always been the smallest and most picked on. When she came to us, we had our first -raised as babies- girls that were born 27 Nov 17 - two Crested Cream Legbar hens and one Buff Orpington. And, this group of 4 babies that were 9 weeks, born 1 March 18, when Whitey joined them - two Black Sexlinks and one Crested Cream Legbar Cockerel.
Whitey laid her first egg on 9 Sept 18. Her egg was neither white nor blue, as the seller had promised, but yet another shade if brown. So e are clueless what breed(s) she is, but just a couple weeks later, she went broody! I was still healing from the sting of a different long sad story of trying to break our broody and swore never to try that again, so on 26 Sept 18 we gave her six fertilized Crested Cream Legbar eggs. Of course she chose everyone's favorite nest box. We let her stay there for about a week to be sure she was going to stay. But, Buffey (Buff Orpington) was making Whitey leave her nest - and not nicely. So - we moved Whitey to her own maternity ward. Worrying about her not being able to go out and stretch, we tried leaving the small door open so she could go out if needed - but again, Buffey came in and forced her out. I think this is when two eggs may have been broken. We then stopped leaving that door open unless we were there to supervise, but it wasn't until the next day or so I noticed a bit of yolk while cleaning and learned that there were only four eggs remaining and egg yuck all over Whitey. Too late to see well when noticed, the following day we inspected her more closely and used scissors to clip most of the egg yuck off of her. Since moving her to the maternity ward ?about a week ago? she has only been outside when forced to leave the nest. Each time, she has returned to her favorite nest box instead of her clutch in the maternity ward! She happily stays when I move her back to her clutch.
Should we force her to go out and stretch her legs? She has access to food and water in the maternity ward. We have no idea if she will be a good mother or not, so we have a camera on her and plan to set up a brooder in the house - just in case. Thanks for reading our story. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...
We have not been chicken tenders very long - just over one year now. Here is there casa. On the left is the original coop in a box that I used for part of their original coop / run in Oct. 2017. In December, we broke ground on the Hen House addition - on the right. The two are connected with one roof. I used the coop in a box section for the maternity ward, where the red light is
. She is in the nest box section with both straw and shavings. I have since winterized the structure, so the only entrance/exit is the small chicken door, inside the run. There is one small chicken door that can allow access (or deny) to the Hen House.
Here are a couple of pictures of our Whitey...
And Whitey's remaining clutch.
The rest of the flock.
Whitey laid her first egg on 9 Sept 18. Her egg was neither white nor blue, as the seller had promised, but yet another shade if brown. So e are clueless what breed(s) she is, but just a couple weeks later, she went broody! I was still healing from the sting of a different long sad story of trying to break our broody and swore never to try that again, so on 26 Sept 18 we gave her six fertilized Crested Cream Legbar eggs. Of course she chose everyone's favorite nest box. We let her stay there for about a week to be sure she was going to stay. But, Buffey (Buff Orpington) was making Whitey leave her nest - and not nicely. So - we moved Whitey to her own maternity ward. Worrying about her not being able to go out and stretch, we tried leaving the small door open so she could go out if needed - but again, Buffey came in and forced her out. I think this is when two eggs may have been broken. We then stopped leaving that door open unless we were there to supervise, but it wasn't until the next day or so I noticed a bit of yolk while cleaning and learned that there were only four eggs remaining and egg yuck all over Whitey. Too late to see well when noticed, the following day we inspected her more closely and used scissors to clip most of the egg yuck off of her. Since moving her to the maternity ward ?about a week ago? she has only been outside when forced to leave the nest. Each time, she has returned to her favorite nest box instead of her clutch in the maternity ward! She happily stays when I move her back to her clutch.
Should we force her to go out and stretch her legs? She has access to food and water in the maternity ward. We have no idea if she will be a good mother or not, so we have a camera on her and plan to set up a brooder in the house - just in case. Thanks for reading our story. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...
We have not been chicken tenders very long - just over one year now. Here is there casa. On the left is the original coop in a box that I used for part of their original coop / run in Oct. 2017. In December, we broke ground on the Hen House addition - on the right. The two are connected with one roof. I used the coop in a box section for the maternity ward, where the red light is
. She is in the nest box section with both straw and shavings. I have since winterized the structure, so the only entrance/exit is the small chicken door, inside the run. There is one small chicken door that can allow access (or deny) to the Hen House.
Here are a couple of pictures of our Whitey...
And Whitey's remaining clutch.
The rest of the flock.
good luck with the hatch!
