You try to do everything right with your first one.....

AndyCrows247

Hatching
Oct 18, 2021
4
8
6
So here's the story of our family. Leaving out the 3 dogs and the cat for now. It's a LONG story but there are questions at the end so you can rush to those if you want.
Last year we bought 3 baby chicks - Lula (Buff Orpington) with Andy & Ollie (supposedly Silkies but apparently Americauna/Silkie mixes). Of course one of them developed into a lovely and rage crazed rooster.
Andy. I know you're not supposed to have a favorite but he was my cuddle baby. I hear it's pretty common for baby roos to be the most lovable and sweet; often the favorite. Until puberty. Then he went nuts. But we love him still b/c he does his job well. He's aggressive towards threats (my boots and sometimes my knees), he keeps watch over his girls and does... what roosters do.
Lula showed up one morning doing a Telly Savalas impression (i.e. BALD!!) and we decided Andy needed to start sharing the love so we got 2 new pullets. An Easter Egger (Rabbit) and a Frizzle (Cammie). Young enough to adapt to the flock but old enough to handle what Andy was dishing out.
Rabbit is a flighty nutcase but Cammie was very calm and happy enough to sit in my lap which was nice for a change.
Unfortunately Cammie died of unknown causes after only 3 months leaving us with 3 hens and 1 rooster. They're a happy bunch with a big coop to run around in. Once a day I let them roam the yard and Andy always calls them home.

But who doesn't want more babies when their first bunch don't need you anymore? Ollie went broody when we first introduced Rabbit & Cammie but she gave it up b/c we kept taking the eggs. Seemed more like she was sulking really. Then I had the hankering for more babies and I let nature take it's course.
I think nature got lost.
Here's where planning ahead helps - would have helped rather. I should have marked the first 5 eggs and removed the new unmarked ones each morning. Ollie didn't start laying on the eggs until there were 9 in there. I finally marked them but by then she was fully committed and I couldn't take any of the eggs from her. No big deal except Lula and Rabbit kept sneaking in and laying more. Being part Silky, Ollie just took them in with the others. At final count there were 15 eggs. Possibly more. Blue, white and cream.
Ollie is the size of a pigeon. Truly an abnormally tiny chicken. I couldn't believe she'd be able to hatch that many eggs.
3 days ago there was a tiny head poking out from under her wing and peeping coming from under her butt. We have 9 chicks so far and 6 more eggs. Unfortunately I can't remove the unhatched eggs when I should b/c there was 2 weeks in between the first egg and the last. In truth I have no idea when the last egg was laid.
I don't think she'll be able to keep the eggs warm enough b/c all the chicks are under there now and the eggs are around the outside. It's also getting cold.
Should I take them out and get rid of them? Or take them out and keep them in a warm spot in the house for a few days? I'm not getting an incubator. We didn't need this many chicks and while I feel terrible about losing even one its going to be hard to rehome these guys in the late fall/early winter.
Anybody have any suggestions? Also how do chicks handle cold weather? We're in Texas so it doesn't get too cold until end of December or January but it's already getting real chilly at night (it's October 19th today).
My other question is what to feed these guys? I've got chick crumbles in their brooder (can Ollie eat that for now?) but when I gave Ollie an apple she started making the same noise Andy makes when he's dolling out treats to his ladies. Buh buh buh buh. And she fed them tiny bites of apple. Same with squash. I figure mother knows best but is this okay for them? They've been eating the crumbles too and though I haven't seen them drinking they must be.

Also...Anyone in Austin need some chicks? They are mutts but very cute (all have fuzzy legs so far and all 3 moms are bantams). Super super friendly right out of the shell. I've been holding every single one of them and they run out from under Ollie whenever I open the door.
 
So here's the story of our family. Leaving out the 3 dogs and the cat for now. It's a LONG story but there are questions at the end so you can rush to those if you want.
Last year we bought 3 baby chicks - Lula (Buff Orpington) with Andy & Ollie (supposedly Silkies but apparently Americauna/Silkie mixes). Of course one of them developed into a lovely and rage crazed rooster.
Andy. I know you're not supposed to have a favorite but he was my cuddle baby. I hear it's pretty common for baby roos to be the most lovable and sweet; often the favorite. Until puberty. Then he went nuts. But we love him still b/c he does his job well. He's aggressive towards threats (my boots and sometimes my knees), he keeps watch over his girls and does... what roosters do.
Lula showed up one morning doing a Telly Savalas impression (i.e. BALD!!) and we decided Andy needed to start sharing the love so we got 2 new pullets. An Easter Egger (Rabbit) and a Frizzle (Cammie). Young enough to adapt to the flock but old enough to handle what Andy was dishing out.
Rabbit is a flighty nutcase but Cammie was very calm and happy enough to sit in my lap which was nice for a change.
Unfortunately Cammie died of unknown causes after only 3 months leaving us with 3 hens and 1 rooster. They're a happy bunch with a big coop to run around in. Once a day I let them roam the yard and Andy always calls them home.

But who doesn't want more babies when their first bunch don't need you anymore? Ollie went broody when we first introduced Rabbit & Cammie but she gave it up b/c we kept taking the eggs. Seemed more like she was sulking really. Then I had the hankering for more babies and I let nature take it's course.
I think nature got lost.
Here's where planning ahead helps - would have helped rather. I should have marked the first 5 eggs and removed the new unmarked ones each morning. Ollie didn't start laying on the eggs until there were 9 in there. I finally marked them but by then she was fully committed and I couldn't take any of the eggs from her. No big deal except Lula and Rabbit kept sneaking in and laying more. Being part Silky, Ollie just took them in with the others. At final count there were 15 eggs. Possibly more. Blue, white and cream.
Ollie is the size of a pigeon. Truly an abnormally tiny chicken. I couldn't believe she'd be able to hatch that many eggs.
3 days ago there was a tiny head poking out from under her wing and peeping coming from under her butt. We have 9 chicks so far and 6 more eggs. Unfortunately I can't remove the unhatched eggs when I should b/c there was 2 weeks in between the first egg and the last. In truth I have no idea when the last egg was laid.
I don't think she'll be able to keep the eggs warm enough b/c all the chicks are under there now and the eggs are around the outside. It's also getting cold.
Should I take them out and get rid of them? Or take them out and keep them in a warm spot in the house for a few days? I'm not getting an incubator. We didn't need this many chicks and while I feel terrible about losing even one its going to be hard to rehome these guys in the late fall/early winter.
Anybody have any suggestions? Also how do chicks handle cold weather? We're in Texas so it doesn't get too cold until end of December or January but it's already getting real chilly at night (it's October 19th today).
My other question is what to feed these guys? I've got chick crumbles in their brooder (can Ollie eat that for now?) but when I gave Ollie an apple she started making the same noise Andy makes when he's dolling out treats to his ladies. Buh buh buh buh. And she fed them tiny bites of apple. Same with squash. I figure mother knows best but is this okay for them? They've been eating the crumbles too and though I haven't seen them drinking they must be.

Also...Anyone in Austin need some chicks? They are mutts but very cute (all have fuzzy legs so far and all 3 moms are bantams). Super super friendly right out of the shell. I've been holding every single one of them and they run out from under Ollie whenever I open the door.
It's fine if the mother hen feeds them.
 
So one thing I will say is when selling the female chicks (or all if you're selling st run,) put in your add that since they hatched in fall, they're more likely to start laying early spring (usually October hatched are laying by March). People might be willing to deal with chicks now if it means they get eggs around when everyone is getting chicks shipped
 

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