June 2015 Hatch A Long HAL

[wornoutmomto3]

One of my broody hens disappeared this morning! During this morning's chores I discovered that one of the broody hens was gone and only 3 of the 13 eggs were still in the nest, cold! Also, one of my juvenile ducks is gone also. No blood! No feathers! Just gone! I thought maybe a fox got them, but there are no signs of a struggle. I also keep a dog around the property. He is very good with the animals, and typically keeps all the predators away. I think this is the first issue since he was been patrolling the property at night.


The other broody is still here. She was in a separate nest sitting on three of her own eggs that I gave her the other day, since the missing hen was more dominant and kept hoarding all the eggs. I put the three remaining eggs under the remaining broody.


I have never had a chicken go missing right out of the pen before this. Very disturbing.

That is so odd!  I wonder what it could be.  Do you have any two-legged chicken predators where you are?  Broody hens are easier for people to walk off with because they don't run away.  Just tossing out ideas.
So sorry you lost them, though!  That is terrible.

If it was a two-legged variety predator it would have to be a total stranger. All of my neighbors have chickens of their own. Earlier today I went and checked on the other hen with the remaining eggs, now there is only one. I was thinking a fox might have taken her and the eggs, but it was a clean disappearance. DH thinks a raccoon may have snuck into the pen. The other hen is very flighty and DH suggests that that could be why she is still here and alive.

Is broodiness contagious? LOL! I think I have a third hen sitting on eggs now

I think it is. Whenever the dominant hens started brooding another was always with her.

 

[frenchiegirl21]

yeah just keep in mind they may be a little behind with development with lower temps. Good luck!

Thanks! Just another 2.5 weeks lol

 

[ChickzNSilkiez]

Hang in there, we have had successful hatches under some pretty bad circumstances.

 

[ChickzNSilkiez]

We have had the same issues this year. One was a skunk and another coon. Both visual confirmations. Both took entire birds out of pen. My husband trapped one, and still working on the other. They love peanut butter in bread, traps all critters fast. Good luck!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Four days till lockdownish.

 

[ftpagain]

the quail eggs I've been trying to hatch have been quitting on me and the adults i was trying to breed got eaten two days ago. now i have zero quail left. so i understand the frustration

 

[Purpletie3]

I am sorry you lost your broody hen . Hopefully, your dog will find the predator!

 

[Purpletie3]

We have been hatching for two days. All but six eggs of 26 were purchased from Ebay. Silkie bantams. I read reviews and only chose the sellers that had multiple high fertility (ensured high roo count) and hatch rates, and repeat buyers (as well as quality birds). With that said, always a crap shoot. So far 16 (three of our eggs) so 13 from shipped eggs. At aprox 50% hatch for shipped eggs I am thrilled. Incubator varied in temp a bit, had to really stay on top of it. Once up to 102, so was on the fence as to viability. Still waiting another day as we had a power outage for 8 hrs, and a few may be a bit slower. Happy Hatching all! Expecting a second incubator hatch on the 17th as well as saving for the next incubator full. Difficult to get quality birds locally (many great breeders in Michigan, but I am very rural) so decided to try the online shipped eggs. Glad I did, this hatch anyway. So many variables! Good luck all! It is so disheartening to have a hatch fail, but what a feeling when it works. My first hatch on my own. My husband has done it for years. Some of the babies. One is a porcelain D'Anver. Looking forward to color and gender determination.

Super cute chicks! Congrats! There are a lot of members on here with beautiful flocks and hatching eggs. If you like some of them PM them and see if you can purchase from them! When you have enough posts you can buy on the Bin threads and auction threads. Best of luck !

 

[avocado]

Lockdown this morning! It's now 23.33pm in the UK on a Monday night. 11 healthy looking babies to come out on Thursday - I hope! Best of luck to everyone else.

 

[ChickzNSilkiez]

Super cute chicks! Congrats!
There are a lot of members on here with beautiful flocks and hatching eggs. If you like some of them PM them and see if you can purchase from them!

When you have enough posts you can buy on the Bin threads and auction threads. Best of luck !

I am working on the posts! I really enjoy and find the forum to be a wealth of information, even for farmer folk. I will be purchasing hatching eggs when i get my post count high enough. Amazed at the quality of chicks I am getting! Shipping is worth the risk, I have sold eggs in the past but never purchased for myself. Thank you for the info!