MJ's little flock

[Shadrach]

I'll see how bad they are tomorrow before deciding. If they're only a little dirty with yolk or albumen, I'll leave them be. But if an egg is more than half covered, I'll give it a gentle wipe with warm water and mark it with texta.

A bit late now but...
Don't wash the eggs. As Perris mentions, it destroys the protective film on the egg shell. Wipe with a dry cloth to get the worst of the egg off the shell and leave it at that.
Don't wash the hen either. Pick off the worst of the egg that may be stuck to her belly/chest and dump her in a dust bath. Clean is nice but more important is not sticky. If she is sticky underneath when/if she gets back on the nest other eggs are likely to stick to her underside and she won't be able to turn them and other unbroken eggs may stick to her and act as a wrecking ball in the nest.

 

[MaryJanet]

A bit late now but...
Don't wash the eggs. As Perris mentions, it destroys the protective film on the egg shell. Wipe with a dry cloth to get the worst of the egg off the shell and leave it at that.
Don't wash the hen either. Pick off the worst of the egg that may be stuck to her belly/chest and dump her in a dust bath. Clean is nice but more important is not sticky. If she is sticky underneath when/if she gets back on the nest other eggs are likely to stick to her underside and she won't be able to turn them and other unbroken eggs may stick to her and act as a wrecking ball in the nest.

She wasn't sticky at all and she was mostly dry - I mean she was humid but not wet at all.

I have a feeling she may have cleaned herself up in a dust bath before going back to the nest this afternoon.

 

[MaryJanet]

thank you everyone for advising to not wash the eggs.

If they have excessive debris or albumen or yolk stuck to them, I'll wipe them gently with a dry, clean cloth.

 

[BY Bob]

I have a feeling Peggy will make a challenge first chance she gets. My job is to make sure that doesn't happen until any little ones are agile enough to get away from her.

Interesting. Aurora's response is the exact opposite. She loves the chicks.

 

[BY Bob]

Share a photo?

Once I find it.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm back from investigating and clean up.

I believe the Welsummer egg was broken by one of the false eggs, possibly because the Welsummer egg had a thin shell.

Here are the two false eggs.

View attachment 3967688

View attachment 3967689

In my haste, I mistook one of the remaining Welsummer eggs for a false egg, dropped it into a bucket stuffed with a sheet (soft landing) then dropped a real false egg on it. And cracked it v disappointed in myself. Again, a thin shell may have been in the mix? But certainly my foolishness carries most of the blame.

Here's the cracked Welsummer egg.

View attachment 3967690

She has all the bantam eggs and one Welsummer egg.

Here's my procedure, which was good.

I prepared a Mary-sized plastic tub full of straw and a bucket stuffed with a sheet. Soft places for eggs.

I placed a white sheet on the roof of the coop to aid visibility when inspecting Mary.

I picked Mary up and placed her on the white sheet.

I picked up all the eggs and had my catastrophe with the Welsummer egg.

The good eggs were put in the tub of straw. The false and damaged egg went in the bucket.

I examined Mary as quickly as I could. @Perris you were right. The nesting straw had absorbed the egg that had broken in the nest. She had some straw stuck to her but she felt dry.

I put her in the tub, on the eggs.

I removed all the old straw.

I didn't see exactly what I removed, but there was some solid in there, presumably congealed yolk and shell.

I pulled out the tray and saw where the egg had seeped across because it had straw dust adhered.

I got a clean cloth and put bleach on it and wiped the tray. Then I used a second clean cloth to wipe the bleach away and replaced the tray.

I put Mary back on the roof.

I looked closely at the remaining four eggs, which were dry, but one had one of Mary's feathers stuck on, so I peeled it off.

They went into a different part of the bucket.

I stuffed the straw from the tub into the coop quick as I could and evened it out so all spots were equally thick.

I put the eggs in.

I put Mary in.

I put everything away.

I checked and Mary was on her eggs.

One improvement for next time: have more straw on hand so Mary can continue on the eggs in the plastic tub while the new nest is put in place. I'll stock up tomorrow and always keep two spare bales on hand.

Tomorrow when she gets up for self-care i will be making a fuller examination of the eggs and nest, and possibly add more straw just in case. It's thick enough but I'd like it thicker just in case.

All thoughts or comments are welcome.

Sorry about the second Welsummer egg but aside from that I think you managed it well.

I did not think to mention putting visible marks on the real eggs before you placed them. I also have a big "F" on all my fake eggs so I can easily ID them.

 

[BY Bob]

I was freaking out a little.

Sometimes I can't believe the things I get done...

You are amazing. I would trust you my chickens with no reservations.

 

[BDutch]

Remember this is all about giving Mary the broody experience; it is not about growing the flock.

sorry to hear your ‘golden’ eggs were so thin

Should I clean the eggs tomorrow in plain warm water?

No (as others say).
I had pooped eggs a few times. Just wiped the very dirty ones with a moist cloth. Even with poop they can hatch.

I was freaking out a little.

Sometimes I can't believe the things I get done...

Wish I could come over to give you a hug

I made plenty of mistakes with broodies too in the past 10 years. Difficult learning curve too. My last hatch was certainly not what i hoped for during the process. Finally I’m very happy with 2 pullets.

 

[MaryJanet]

Interesting. Aurora's response is the exact opposite. She loves the chicks.

I hope Peggy is the same but I have my doubts. She is a known chick killer already, but that was Ivy's chick.

If any chicks hatch, I'll do what I can to evaluate her attitude and behaviour and if necessary, maintain segregation until they're big enough and fast enough and know their environment enough to get away from her.

 

[MaryJanet]

Sorry about the second Welsummer egg but aside from that I think you managed it well.

I did not think to mention putting visible marks on the real eggs before you placed them. I also have a big "F" on all my fake eggs so I can easily ID them.

I marked the bantam eggs so I could be sure they were being turned, but I forgot to mark the Welsummer eggs.