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The Poultry Keeper
The Independent Forum for Poultry Keepers
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Quackers
Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Hi Yes they are full sized, one is a cross road island red and wellsummer? the others full pedigree but no papers so the crossbreed is smaller. I feed them both in the nesting box and they trust me to do this , cockrel wasn'thappy at first but is ok now. I have just checked my dates and they are due in 5 days time....first lot for me can't wait. Can you use an ordinary torch to candle them dies anybody know? |
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Sandra Hilton
Joined: 09 Jan 2008
Posts: 237
Location: Gwynedd, North Wales
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| Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Hi Quackers. Mine hatched today, 7 out of 8 eggs hatched and well at the moment, one egg still there, but perhaps it is dead in the shell or something. I just stuck 3 other chicks which hatched in the incubator yesterday under the broodie as well so she has 10 of them to look after now, hope she can't count and is colour blind! LoL
S x |
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Quackers
Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 11:57 am Post subject: |
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| congratulations mine are still laying and hit and miss with the brooding (ducks that is) hens are doing well infact a 3rd is now taking over and doing some brooding in the same nest box. bless em |
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tracey061196
Joined: 08 Feb 2008
Posts: 108
Location: Somerset
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 7:24 am Post subject: |
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The 2 broodies i have i put in the same pen a cat box each and a seperate piece of card down the middle.
Eggs are due next week 1 has 8 due on tuesday and the other has 10 due on Thursday.
I used my buddy machine to detect heartbeat and good little machine it is, i first candled the eggs and put aside the ones not sure of, the machine detected heartbeats in 6 out of 7 not sure ones.
1 is sat on my eggs, i have 3 cockerals (wellsummer and 2 light sussexs) the hens are wellsummers, light sussexs, rhode island reds, black/grey marans and a barnvelder.
What will i get out |
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Itsybitsy
Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 1220
Location: Midlands
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:34 am Post subject: |
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| Quackers wrote: | | My hens get on well together and even share the eggs when the other has a break trying to keep all 22 warm, then when the other returns they move up to let her in. I have only just started this year though and not sure what i am letting myself in for, i thought they only had 9 eggs but my other two hens have been filling it up, they all have a nest box each (4) but only use the one box. there must be 10 days apart from the first egg hatching till the last one now, do i move them once some have hatched? |
Sorry nobody else seems to have answered this one and I have only just looked at it.
Between 24 - 48 hours after the first chick has hatched, the broody will move them, so in theory you cannot have a hatching that goes on for 10 days, the remaining eggs or newly hatched chicks will get cold and die, so when the first lot are due to hatch you will have to be very vigilant and be prepared to move one of the broodies and the chicks. The broodies bond with their chicks during that first 48 hours anyway so after that you will struggle to introduce any more and as Kitsune said strange chicks can get pecked to death by a broody. You can then leave the remaining eggs with the second broody and hopefully she will hatch some off as well. It'sall very well saying you prefer to let nature take it's course and I myself prefer to let a broody hatch my chicks, but in nature the hens would find their own spot to lay their eggs and then sit on them, we introduce small areas and nest boxes, so when things go a bit wrong we have to do a bit of interfering, in future when you get a broody it's best to move her when she's settled into something like a rabbit hutch where she is quietly on her own and nobody else can add any eggs, then you can keep a close eye on her and give her enough eggs that she can successfully incubate. Good luck with it.
Itsybitsy |
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Quackers
Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| ok some really useful advice, iam going to order an incubator today i think, so hopefully we can avoid any deaths.with a third hen now going broody maybe it will work out, its a learning game i guess. |
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