Pinkybijou Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 After much thought and deliberation I have decided to give Dora some (hopefully) fertilised eggs to sit on seeing as she's been broody for over two weeks and is steadfastly trying to incubate absolutely NOTHING! I've wanted a couple more chickens for ages now, and I think this is the way forward for us. My friend has a cockerel so his eggs are likely to be fertile and he's given me two, one speckeldy and one regular ginger one. He hoped to bring four but the little ******* must have known and didn't lay any more in time. I had to time it so that day 21 is a day when I am not working, you see. He has some larger chickens too, but I opted to just have the eggs from his two smaller chickens. One of the eggs is only about 40g! Will this one hatch do you think? The chick within would be teeny. Dora is only on day two of brooding these real eggs, so 19 days to go! I am very excited and hopfully Doris will be less lonely once Dora stops brooding and we have a new chick or two. I'm hoping Dora will hatch her chicks in the Eglu and that Doris will tolerate this OK - she is a placid little thing. She climbs on top of Dora to lay her egg every other day, and Dora just takes it nicely and pops it under her bald chest with the others! I've left a rubber egg in with the real eggs too, reckoning that she won't be able to count the difference between 3 and 4 when I remove Doris's egg every couple of days? ANY advice about all of this whole undertaking would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and my friend will take back any cockerels as he has the space for them, so that isn't a worry. Thanks to everyone who already gave very helpful replies about the suitability of the Eglu for hatching too, this forum is brill! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Ooh.....an exciting prospect, and good to hear that your friend has offered a home to any boys. It will be interesting to hear how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 I have hatched in the rablu and it was excellent. I made sure that it had a non-slip flooring for the chicks and a piece of wood outside the door so that they could get back in. They loved it and thrived. You will need a shallow water saucer filled with stones of marbles to stop the wee things from drowning themselves and another saucer for the chick crumbs. They won't need any feed or water on the first day though. Make sure that you tip Mum off the nest twice a day to get her to eat and drink something - this is a good time to check and candle the eggs. I hope that you get at least one chick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinkybijou Posted June 1, 2008 Author Share Posted June 1, 2008 Thanks Claret for the advice - I'll be looking for a suitable chick crumb feeder now. Maybe I'll make a little ramp for them to get into the Eglu, what do you think? Anyway, the update is that I candled the eggs today (day 4) and they are live! There is a little dark pea sized area with spider veins coming from it in both. My boys are VERY excited now (as am I, if I'm honest!). Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Good luck with it - sounds very exciting . Keep us posted on every stage . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Hi Pinky, We've hatched pekins in the eglu and although they were really tiny (like bumble bees!) they only needed a little step up for the first couple of days. They are coming up to two weeks old now and can flutter/hop/jump into the eglu with no problems at all. I bought a little chick drinker but didn't bother with a feeder, the Mums pick the chick crumb out of the grub and drop it for the little ones. It's lovely to watch. Good luck with your hatch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Remember to make sure that you have some non-slip matting in the eglu or they will get splay legs if they slip. You realise that we will expect photos of the chickies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 How exciting! We're on day 15 with our big fat speckled hen but she's sitting on 12 She was on 13 but she either accidentally or on purpose broke one and ate it! I tried candling some of them yesterday but got it all wrong and couldn't see a thing (dim lightbulb ) then I was worried about having the eggs too long as Speckle was NOT impressed. Fingers crossed for a hatch, ours are due next Sunday / Monday. Mrs Bertie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Fingers crossed for you Mrs B. I use a small Maglite torch, which has avery bright light - if you cup your hand round it, then balance the egg on your hand - works well. We were up at Phil's folks farm yesterday and Derek was showing Rosie an abamndoned pheasant nest with about a dozen eggs in it. Shame they were old or I'd have hatched them under my broody and they could have raised the chicks for release. I took some pix of the nest on my phone; I'll have to load them up to my blog tonight when I get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinkybijou Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Mrs B, like Clare, I used a torch with my hand cupped around the top. I used a really bright LED one which is only palm sized but as bright as a four cell big maglite. I couldn't resist but candle our two again today and the teeny chicks have grown so much in two days! There are definite red spider veins running from the little blobs now. Keep us updated Mrs B - very excited for your brood! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
