MAY 2016 "Land of the Free Because of the brave!" Hatch-a-Long Hosted by, Mike & Sally

[shahtir101]

One chick is standing. The other isn't falling into a torpedo position anymore.

 

[shahtir101]

Both are standing and have their eyes open. They are in the broader with heat and the 1 day old chicks. I won't let those hens have chicks anymore

 

[BantyChooks]

Oh good!


Bad broodies.

 

[PaisyQ]

There is cheeping coming from underneath my broody. She, of course, is being a nerd, and acts very offended if I so much as look at her, so I guess I'll have to wait a while before I get to figure out how many her eggs hatched. Technically, it's two days early. I thought that only happened with incubators.

I had the opportunity to spread some learning yesterday. During a conversation I was having with several coworkers, knowing that I keep chickens, one coworker made a half-joking comment about pregnant chickens. I casually mentioned that chickens don't get pregnant; a comment that was met with blank stares, then the hesitant statement from said coworker that of course they must, because they have babies. My reply, 'Yes, they have chicks; they lay eggs, and if the eggs are fertile, they can hatch them out' lead us into the conversation of how a hen doesn't need to mate in order to lay eggs, and then into misconceptions around what can and can't happen with fertile eggs. One coworker routinely had been throwing out any store-bought, refrigerated eggs older than 2 weeks, for fear they might start developing. It's always a surprise to me when I find myself in these types of conversations; so much of this seems like plain common sense now. It does make me wonder what misconceptions I carry around that I could use some correcting on.

 

[shahtir101]

There is cheeping coming from underneath my broody.  She, of course, is being a nerd, and acts very offended if I so much as look at her, so I guess I'll have to wait a while before I get to figure out how many her eggs hatched.  Technically, it's two days early.  I thought that only happened with incubators.

I had the opportunity to spread some learning yesterday.  During a conversation I was having with several coworkers, knowing that I keep chickens, one coworker made a half-joking comment about pregnant chickens.  I casually mentioned that chickens don't get pregnant; a comment that was met with blank stares, then the hesitant statement from said coworker that of course they must, because they have babies.  My reply, 'Yes, they have chicks; they lay eggs, and if the eggs are fertile, they can hatch them out' lead us into the conversation of how a hen doesn't need to mate in order to lay eggs, and then into misconceptions around what can and can't happen with fertile eggs.  One coworker routinely had been throwing out any store-bought, refrigerated eggs older than 2 weeks, for fear they might start developing.  It's always a surprise to me when I find myself in these types of conversations; so much of this seems like plain common sense now.  It does make me wonder what misconceptions I carry around that I could use some correcting on.

Hoping for the best with your broody! These are my first not so good mothers that I've had so keep an eye on yours!

 

[darkbluespace]

The dang broodies! Good thing I left them with only 2 chicks! I just found them lifeless and sprawled out in the coop! They are in the incubator and I am going to give them electrolytes! Anything else I can do?!

Sounds good! Sometimes broodies together are a death trap for eggs and chicks. They can be so busy fighting with each other that they don't even take care of their babies. If I really want eggs to hatch, then I separate the broodies but then it's hard to reintegrate them.

I have two girls in one coop and I gave them each a basket and wired the baskets together so they can only pick a basket to sit in, not tip them over or try to get the other's eggs. I have two girls in another coop that killed all their eggs last time and just went broody again. I think they are trying to be more careful this time... We'll see.

I hope your chicks recover quickly!

 

[mlm Mike]

Both are standing and have their eyes open. They are in the broader with heat and the 1 day old chicks. I won't let those hens have chicks anymore

Glad you found the chicks and were able to help them.

 

[shahtir101]

Sounds good! Sometimes broodies together are a death trap for eggs and chicks. They can be so busy fighting with each other that they don't even take care of their babies. If I really want eggs to hatch, then I separate the broodies but then it's hard to reintegrate them.

I have two girls in one coop and I gave them each a basket and wired the baskets together so they can only pick a basket to sit in, not tip them over or try to get the other's eggs. I have two girls in another coop that killed all their eggs last time and just went broody again. I think they are trying to be more careful this time... We'll see.

I hope your chicks recover quickly!

Thanks! They are recovering. The weird thing is they have had them for a week and have been fine. I don't know what happened. They weren't great mothers anyway so no more chicks for them.

 

[darkbluespace]

There is cheeping coming from underneath my broody.  She, of course, is being a nerd, and acts very offended if I so much as look at her, so I guess I'll have to wait a while before I get to figure out how many her eggs hatched.  Technically, it's two days early.  I thought that only happened with incubators.

I had the opportunity to spread some learning yesterday.  During a conversation I was having with several coworkers, knowing that I keep chickens, one coworker made a half-joking comment about pregnant chickens.  I casually mentioned that chickens don't get pregnant; a comment that was met with blank stares, then the hesitant statement from said coworker that of course they must, because they have babies.  My reply, 'Yes, they have chicks; they lay eggs, and if the eggs are fertile, they can hatch them out' lead us into the conversation of how a hen doesn't need to mate in order to lay eggs, and then into misconceptions around what can and can't happen with fertile eggs.  One coworker routinely had been throwing out any store-bought, refrigerated eggs older than 2 weeks, for fear they might start developing.  It's always a surprise to me when I find myself in these types of conversations; so much of this seems like plain common sense now.  It does make me wonder what misconceptions I carry around that I could use some correcting on.

I saw a craigslist ad someone posted on Facebook that had pregnant chickens for sale. It is hilarious but I just can hardly believe it. Especially because they actually owned chickens and was apparently waiting for them to birth some chicks!

I will say there are certain tidbits of information I was clueless about before I started incubating, so I try to have some compassion for folks that are totally clueless.

 

[draye]

71 out so far. Giving them until tomorrow afternoon before I call it finished.