It's been a while since I was last on here... About time I show my face again!
Our 3 chicks are growing well, they're almost 8 weeks old by now and no longer fitting under "mom's" wings, as the broody is a Wyandotte bantam and the chicks are all Brahma x Brahma/Barnevelder :gig
This picture is...
Oof.... The "teenagers" just scared the living daylights outta me! :barnie
It's 1 at night and I hear sudden SCREAMING from the coop! I'm sure a fox or some other predator must've gotten into the pen, they're making such a ruckus. So I go out there in the rain, in my pyjamas, heart about to...
Our wyandotte hen hatched 3 out of the 5 eggs. Not too bad! They are lively and mom is very protective of her babies.
A 4th she broke open herself, it looks like, because the chick was dead with the yolk not taken into the stomach, and the shell was far away from the nest. The 5th was all black...
More broody news! My wyandotte bantam Kaatje has been sitting on her eggs very dutifully.
The eggs are 6(/7)-10 days "old" and I candled all 5 eggs tonight. I am not experienced at candling eggs by any means, but I do think all the eggs may be developing! It was too dark for pictures, sadly, and...
I could put 2 wyandotte bantams in the cage we have, yes. I've done so when I introduced 2 adult hens to my group, early spring of this year. They don't have a ton of space, but its fine for the 1-2 weeks they need for that.
Currently it only houses the one hen, as she's the only broody and...
@abpatchy handsome boys!!!
@Phaedra Geiermann I have one broody hen, she is separated in a wire dog crate. It's easier to make sure she's eating and drinking despite her broodiness that way (has her own food and water available) she started out with 2 eggs, now she has 5 or 6. This Sunday and...
Kaatje/Katy is very angry. 😅
We moved her into her own private suite (the dog crate/broody jail) with the two eggs that she was sitting on (our Silkie x Barnevelder Emmy's eggs). No idea if they are fertile. I cherish my fingers too much to try and take them for candling. 🤣
And our outdoor...
We had initially intended for her to try and hatch some of our current chicks, but she lost interest in brooding completely, a day before we got our eggs. She came to us a little underweight, so I wanted to let her gain some more weight first and then try to have her hatch some eggs next year...
Our one broody hen, Kaatje/Katey is broody once again. :rant
I've put her in "broody jail" (a dog crate in the indoor run) several times now. Every time she quits, then gets right back at it the second we let her back out. It's gotten to the point where the other 4 adult hens have been...
My heart aches thinking about all the things the people evacuated had to leave behind, oftentimes including beloved pets.... I was sad all of yesterday because of it, today I tried to focus on other things and stay grounded in the "here and now". Plenty of chores to do in and around the house...
On the matter of feeding scraps - our chickens (and 2 bunnies) get quite a lot of foodscraps every day. Our "neighbour" has a large vegetable garden and she collects food for our chickens regularly, especially in the summer months when the garden is growing more than she can eat all at once...
They outgrew the heating plate we had, which is why we use the lamp instead! Good to know it's probably okay for them to be without it though. They don't seem to huddle under anymore during the day, not sure about the nights! Then again, they're in a shed, in a coop, so it's not like they'll be...
The chicks are 6 weeks old today, and at least 4 of the chicks seem to have discovered they can sit on the branch I put into their "pen". Smart girls/boys! :D
I really enjoy watching them grow and learn, so much of the "typical chicken behaviour" (scratching the floor searching for food...
Our broody is broody no more. Thankfully, because she had lost quite a bit of weight already in the short amount of time she was. Maybe if she goes broody again next year, we'll let her hatch some eggs.
The wyandottes and orpingtons are growing well! They're 6 weeks old on Tuesday and are...
I have a very broody hen now too... But we already have 15 chicks 😅 so I have been taking her off the nest, hoping that'd be enough, but unfortunately not.... and she pecks something awful!
So she's separated in a kennel now, much to her disagreement.
If she gets broody again next year, we...
They're beautiful! Look at those round fluffy butts 🥰
@BDutch I share that sentiment! I can tell the chicks would like to go outside already, but since they've not even been introduced to the flock yet.... Seems too dangerous in our lil woodsy area with all the buzzards that live here...
I remembered to take a picture of the coop today, while it's still somewhat light outside. (Unlike yesterday!)
As you can see, the plank for them to get to the coop is pretty steep/short. Now that I see it on a photograph, I do think I may have to find a longer plank to fit in its place.
I...
They're stubborn! Ours decided to huddle under the ramp... Despite having put them in the warm coop! They just waddled on downstairs.
Didn't want to risk them getting too cold, so I put their heating plate in the spot they chose to sit and covered the run with fleece blankets to keep out as...
My buff orpington chicks (4) found their way up and down there just fine. They're the ones that are the most curious though, so I'm not surprised they're the ones that figured it out first. But the other 11 (blue laced orps & silver laced wyandottes) were all huddled downstairs, peeping because...
Does anyone have an idea on how to teach our chicks to walk the plank to their coop?
We moved our chicks outside today. They had outgrown our indoor rabbit cage, and we don't have the space for anything larger inside. They're in their own separate little run, right next to the chicken coop and...