How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[Gallina]

I am tempted to buy half a dozen eggs on eBay and hatch them in my empty Eglu and run. I had the offer of an incubator, but decided it would be better to wait until there was a good foster mother and do it the natural way.

 

My Buff Orpington almost immediately started puffing herself up to twice her size, and now she is sitting inside the Cube much of the day. But whenever I pick her up and put her on the grass, she is quite happy and forgets about the phantom eggs she was pretending to guard.

 

Is she broody enough to be trusted with some real fertilized eggs? When she is broody, she is very very good; but she seems a bit half-hearted about it.

 

Would it be a good idea to put a few eggs under her and substitute fertilized ones when they arrive, so as to get her into the swing of things?

 

I know what I will do with the cockerels, and as I am unlikely to get more than three girls I know what I will do with them too. It's choosing what eggs to buy on eBay that is the problem: "Hatching eggs" (under Pet Supplies) brings up 1,060 current items!

[superjules]

Mine would quite happily sit on eggs but as soon as I took them away they'd forget all about it. Get her to sit on some eggs you don't mind wasting, or pot eggs or even golf balls. Make sure she is sitting for four days before putting your fertilised eggs under, if she's leaving the nest for more than about 20 mins at a time then she's not yet ready. Once she has started sitting, it's best not to move her, so separate her in the spare eglu beforehand.

 

Once you get the eggs from ebay, it's advisable to let them settle for 24 hours. When you give them to her, put them down by the front of her wing and she'll tuck them under herself. I wiped mine over with a sponge slightly dampened with poultry shield before putting them under to make surethere were no bacteria lurking.

 

Good luck and have fun choosing!

[Gallina]

Thanks for this helpful advice. Prudence tells me to postpone buying my eggs for a bit longer.

 

Presumably once a hen has been allowed to start warming the eggs up, the hatching process is set in motion and they will fail if they are allowed to get cold again. How long can they be left unprotected (given that it will be July, and it won't ever get bitterly cold)? I ask this because it would be possible for me to run and get an incubator from next door if things went wrong.

 

My next-door neighbours have eleven gorgeous chicks out of twelve eggs bought on eBay (Brahmas and Cochins) and they were so lucky: they were able to transfer the hatchlings straight under a hen that went broody, and seeing them poking their heads out from under her wing is wonderful: it made me realize that I wanted a mother for my chicks too. The pipping was exciting too: it was weird seeing beaks poking out of eggs that looked just like ones from the supermarket.

[superjules]

How long can they be left unprotected (given that it will be July, and it won't ever get bitterly cold)? I ask this because it would be possible for me to run and get an incubator from next door if things went wrong.

 

I've heard of people having eggs in incubators and suffering power cuts for a couple of hours and still getting a good result. If your broody abandons the nest, it takes about half an hour before the eggs feel cold to touch. Even in warm weather, they do cool down.

 

If you are buying eggs off ebay, don't let them get posted on a friday, unless you get them special delivery, in case they end up in the postal system all weekend.

[Snowy]

Sounds exciting Gallina!

I'm sure I read a bit on the Practical Poultry forum about the best and most reliable providers of eggs on ebay I'll have a quick look.

 

Yes, here it is: http://kelseyinfo.co.uk/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=ebay

[ubereglu]

Also look on the Pekin bantams forum for hatching eggs as there are some people on ebay who aren't trustworthy and you need to look out for!

[The Dogmother]

......seeing them poking their heads out from under her wing is wonderful: it made me realize that I wanted a mother for my chicks too. The pipping was exciting too: it was weird seeing beaks poking out of eggs that looked just like ones from the supermarket.

 

It is so gorgeous Gallina - go for it if she'll sit on some spare eggs.

 

I have just bunged Lavinia inthe broody cage yet again

[Gallina]

I am going to have a go with some bought fertilized eggs if my Buff Orpington doesn't come out tomorrow morning.

 

She has been on the nest all day. When I looked in to try to give her a titbit this evening, I could only see her rear end, which was fluffed up enormously like a huge fan. When I eventually found her head, she wasn't a bit interested in a treat. She won't move at all. She is much more static than yesterday.

 

She will be a gymslip mother: she was still on growers pellets in March. They grow up too quickly.

 

It's worth giving it a go. It will be a shame if the eggs don't hatch, but I don't think I will grieve over them (chicks would be a different matter).

[The Dogmother]

Sounds like she'd be a good mummy Gallina.

 

Prudence must have been listening to our conversation about broodies the other day.

[Snowy]

Do you need help choosing breeds to hatch Gallina?? :pray:

[The Dogmother]

Do you need help choosing breeds to hatch Gallina?? :pray:

 

Don't start that one Snowy It'll be worse than the 'which colour?' thread!

[Snowy]

Do you need help choosing breeds to hatch Gallina?? :pray:

 

Don't start that one Snowy It'll be worse than the 'which colour?' thread!

 

I know - good fun though!

[The Dogmother]

Window shopping for chickies - can't think of anything better

[Gallina]

I'm bidding on six white Cochin eggs: I will know tomorrow if I have won them.

 

I have never seen anything like my broody Buff Orpington. I put her out for some fresh air just now, and she remained like a giant puffball, then went back in to sit on her phantom eggs. I am worried about her mental state: not only is she sitting on eggs that aren't there (because I stole them), but she thinks I am the father.

 

Here she is: she looks like this all the time, except that sometimes her head disappears altogether:

[The Dogmother]

I have a miniature lavender version of that at the moment Gallina. I told her that she wil lose the use of her legs if she's not careful!

 

White cochins would be lovely.

[Snowy]

Bless, she looks like a big, orange chrysanthemum!