4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Pinkybijou]

I have a dilemma. I have two chooks and they get along really well and are both quite placid creatures (they have never pecked or fought). I really want one or two more. At the moment Dora is seriously broody, and has been for over a week now. She has plucked all of her underside feathers out and if allowed to, will sit all day in her nest incubating her imaginary eggs(!) If I move her out of the nest, she will sit brooding in her dust bath hole which she dug in the run, and then return to the nest at the first opportunity.

 

My friend keeps chickens and also has a cockerel so his eggs are likely to be fertilised. He has offered me some fertilised eggs for Dora to sit on. I am really, really keen on the idea. If I am successful with too many, or if they turn out to be cockerels he is happy to have them and has plenty of room for them, so that isn't a problem. I have loads of questions;

 

- Can I use the Eglu for Dora to have her babies?

- Can baby chicks be kept in the Eglu or will it need adapting in some way?

- Will Doris tolerate the new chooks (she is v.friendly and placid with humans)?

- At the moment I have an Eglu and run only. I can't afford a 2nd Eglu, and also don't want to leave Doris on her own while Dora is doing her funky thing with the eggs - can I keep them all together while chicks are young?

- If I put some eggs under Dora now, will she stay broody for long enough, given that she's already been broody for over a week? Would it be best to wait until she snaps out of it, and wait till she goes broody again?

 

Does anyone have any experience of this, particularly regarding how Doris will tolerate Dora being broody for several weeks and also having baby chooks?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but I know you friendly lot will offer me a wide range of advice on this! Thanks again.

[jjjj]

My daughter has 6 bamtams that go broody at the drop of a hat. Last summer she was given some fertilised eggs and 2 bamtams shared the sitting. When the chicks hatched - they were full sized Marans - all 6 bantams decided that they were mum. They piled on each other with the new chicks underneath the pile. As the chicks grew they followed one of the bamtams around as mum. Only 3 of the 6 eggs grow to adulthood. My daughter now has her original 6 bamtams plus 2 Maran hens and a splendid Maran Cockerel. She has experienced no problems other than broodyness, but she understands that bamtams are more likely to be broody.

My daughter can accommodate all these chooks as she lives in a small counrty village with only 12 houses and no shops or pub! so all her neighbours are country living folk. Two other neighbours also have chicks and a cockerel.

 

When her bamtams go broody now she turfs them out of the nest box, and if they persist, she make them as uncomfortable as possible. A nice box with a mesh floor, up on bricks - yes very drafty - for a few days and that seems to sort them out.

 

Hope this helps, although I'm sure others will have firsthand advice they can give you.

[Pinkybijou]

Anyone? any advice whatsoever would be really appreciated...

[Snowy]

Only what I've read on here, no first hand experience, but here goes: you've sorted the main problem which is what to do with any cockerels. If you put eggs under her now she should be OK (although you need to be prepared that she may not last, some hens don't make reliable broodies for some reason, but no way of knowing until you try)

 

The eglu is OK for brooding and raising chicks - either remove the roosting bars or fill the poo trays with aubiose to cover the bars. The chicks will need a flat surface.

 

As above, some people have successsfully hatched chicks in with other hens, but the concern is that the other hens may attack the chicks. If you only have the one other hen she may be OK. It would certainly be unfair on her to keep her alone while her friend is brooding as she will be lonely.

 

Hope this helps and someone will come along soon and either confirm what I think or tell you I'm talking rubbish!

[Egluntyne]

I think you are right Snowy.

[Pinkybijou]

Thank you so much! I've considered the options of getting ex-batts or other chooks also, and it's all very much in the 'thinking about it' stage at the moment. I never realized how keeping chickens would become so addictive and how you alter your life to fit around them! My garden is not the neat garden it once was, and what's more, I prefer it this way! I like to find the little potholes when I go out, it shows where my lovely girlies have been digging and dustbathing - and watching them is a joy.

 

It is sad at the moment to watch Doris wandering about on her own while Dora just sits on imaginary eggs. Even when I turf Dora out of the Eglu and run altogether she just digs herself a hole and sits in that al day!

 

Again, thanks for your thoughts - keep them coming!

 

love