Sooo much pooping

[jon888]

I got home from work tonight and went through the usual routine, stroked the dog opened the back door so him and the cat can go out then out to check the birds. I checked the walk in and 2 ducks and 2 chickens all present and accounted for. I then went to check my broody in her run which is a house with a run about 6ft by 3ft with 3 ft walls all round made with plywood. To my horror i find 6 white eggs with no chicken on them. 1st thought "oh heck something has had her." So i double checked the walk in and checked the house and there she is sat on 2 eggs from the other hens. How she got there me nor my girlfriend know as the run has a lid and would have to have had the door opened to get in. She was still in her house at 11.30 this morning when my girlfriend walked the dog before going to work. At the moment we suspect our neighbour moved her thinking she was in the wrong run, as he has right of way through our garden to take bins out etc, but he's rarely around so cant ask him at the moment.

 

So she was off the fertile eggs for about 6hrs and they had lost their heat when i put her back on. She 1st sat on the eggs on sunday night so has been sitting for about 36hrs. Has anyone any experience of hens leaving the eggs for more than the usual for food and water? Are these eggs no good now?

 

I have now put 6ft walls on the broody run and a lid to make sure nothing can get in and a note saying do not move the chicken. Needless to say i'm not happy that someone has moved her.

[Egluntyne]

6 hours at this time of year - not good. All you can do is wait and see and maybe candle them when she has had a chance to warm them up again, to see if there are any signs of life.

[jon888]

I think thats all i can do. I was going to wait until between 7 and 10 days to candle. What would i see now after a couple of days?

 

Still completely bemused as to why someone would take her out of her run and put her back in with the others. She could have been quarantined for a more serious reason other than just being broody.

[craftyhunnypie]

We had some miracle eggs early this year. Started off by my silkie sitting. She sat on them all day, then tottered off to bed at night & abandoned the eggs! Then our big cochin cross girl sat on them, but soon got fed up. They had also got totally filthy by her - thick in muck where she'd rolled them about. She also ate 3!

Then our little frizzle sat on them. Perfect! She got off twice a day morning & evening for toilet & food duties. She hatched 3, but squashed 1. It was an absolute miracle we ever got any. So there is a chance. Candle in a couple or so days if you can. Or let nature take its course. She will boot out or eat any that aren't viable - usually.

 

Emma.x

[Lewis]

36 hours really isn't very long into development, so they're probably more fragile at that stage and the weather isn't on their side either.

 

Good luck - maybe candle on day 7 and see if you can see anything

If not maybe wait until next year when its a bit warmer

[jon888]

so i got a little impatient when locking all my girls up tonight and slipped a couple of eggs out from under florence while she was sleeping. Shone my torch through and in the 3 that i checked they all showed veins starting to develop out of the big end. So it looks like they may be ok. Florence is doing a brilliant job and gets off once a day for her own needs leaving me not having to worry about her.

[Lewis]

The veins may have been there from before, but still sounds promising

 

Good luck !

[jon888]

Candled the eggs last night and 4 have little chicks inside moving. The other 2 have further developed but i couldnt make out any movment like the others. Was quite excited by it all. Even ran back in the house to get my girlfriend to have a look. 10 days till D-Day.

[Lewis]

 

Good news. Hope you get some soon

[jon888]

Thanks. I'll try and upload some photos of the young uns when they arrive.

 

I intend to let the mother hen do all of the looking after and i've built them a seperate WIR which has plastic roofing going on this weekend. Its currently on old paving slabs. is straw ok to put down in the run for them as i can get that at £2 a bail? If not what is the best covering? in the house at the moment there's woodshavings and I intend to add a bit of straw once their hatched to help keep them warm.

 

in the event of florence ignoring them once their born i have salvaged an old rabbit hutch and will use that in my shed with a heat lamp. hopefully it wont come to that.

[Lewis]

Straw in the next will be ok

Aubiose/Hemcore will be best to use of the floor in the run - is really absorbant + as its covered it should last quite a while.

Maybe keep them in for the first 4/5 days to make sure they're warm enough + dry off ... they probably wouldn't go out anyway.

 

Are there covers around the bottom or sides of the run? Its really cold out atm so might be an idea to keep draughts out

[jon888]

I shall pop into one of our local horse feed suppliers and see if they have some. Cheers for the advice.

 

The bottom of the run is made from some old wardrobe doors that i salvaged from the big bonfire that is being built in the pub car park behind my house. The same place i got the old rabbit hutch. I'm not a scrounger but dont like to see perfectly good items go to waste.

 

9 days to go.