The desperate mama, a small account (PIC HEAVY) UPDATE

[Featherland26]

My name is Poppy, all the pictures from my phone,so excuse me for the rubbish quality pics.

This is an account about the desperate mama 'Rounge'..

Rounge and her two friends hatched on the 26th march last year, I was Ecstatic because three out of three eggs hatched! Rounge was a cross between a wyndotte/orpington and a commercial egg-laying breed, so Roung was a strange misfit. I was excited to see how she was going to turn out.

Rounge is the cute little black chick

With a stroke of luck all three little chooks were girls. Rounge was thankful that she didn't have to deal with fiesty boys! She grew up with her two friends and happily lived a lovely life a chicken, one day rounge and Sunny was up to mischief on ther roof, I took ages getting them off the roof.

All was good...

Until Rounge started acting strange........

 

[Featherland26]

(I am sorry about this thread, I have been so busy recently!)

Rounge was Broody on the 20th June, she stayed in the nestbox and growled at every living thing! I was thinking "Yay, I might hatch some chicks!" So I grabbed some eggs from the past tree days and popped them under Rounge. The broody put five eggs tightly under her and happily layed on them a few days until she went to the other nest of eggs and ignored the eggs she was just sitting on! I was very annoyed, I decided to put rounge in a indivdual nest box with an enclosed cage with six new eggs under her.

Here she is on 11th of July

I appeared home one day and found a smashed egg. Why was it smashed?!

I will never know. I was anxiously waiting 3 weeks for the chicks to hatch, then it became 22 days..23 days.. 24 days.. I knew then they were never going to hatch. I was so sad. I remember the grim memory of shaking the egg afterwards and feeling what felt like a ball inside it

I had to dispose of them. I think I interferred too much, cheking rounge etc and moving the broody house around on new patches had disturbed the eggs and I didnt have the right ventilation either so that affected temperature and humidty.

I let Rounge back into the flock. Never again would I let her hatch chicks after what has happened.

For almost two months, it was constantly everyday Rounge went back to the nest box, I had to push her off and even shut the hen house. I had to remove the eggs in the morning everyday. She was being a nuisance. Eventually on the 20th of september I gave up and let her have a second try of hatching

. I leaent my lesson from last time, so I put her in a different house with good ventilation, gave her a perminant base and left her well alone! I got different eggs from someone else with good hatching rates. There was three welsummer eggs and one pekin bantam egg (cochin bantam). I gently put the eggs under the broody on 1st of september, which meant it was very easy to remember the hatch date. 21st september!

Here she is in her new house.

I hoping she was going to hatch some chicks, she is certainly detemined to hatch some!

Then Disaster happened,

Rounge cracked yet another egg!!!

Why!!!
Her chances of haching any has gone even lower with now only three eggs.

Hatching day..................

Suddenly ONE welsummer Chick appeared !!!!!! YAY!

Then the next day..............

two chicks appeared !!!!!!!
I was soooo happy for Rounge, 100% hatch rate!

The I realised there was another anxious wait, if they were pullets or cockerals.

Here are two welsummer chicks and a Pekin Bantam chick at four days old. I was giving them the ultimate hard-boiled egg treat, Rounge turned into a crazy clucking maniac while a chick lifted one leg in excitement and the adult hens wondering what the racket was.

Be afraid!!!!

All was going well, Unfortunatly there was no chick crumb availiable so I have to grind growers pellets to feed the chicks.

Here they are a little bit older

I decided to name the chicks as if they were cockerals. They were called Chipmunk , Kellog and the little pekin Pingu.

They are a week and few days old and they are already copying mama sunbathing, preening, drinking, eating and resting. Here pingu who loves sitting on mama.

One of the welsummer chicks copying mama preening herself

Chicks and Rounge are nicely tucked in bed.

Massive time jump here................

These are more than three weeks, looking more like a chicken. Still cute in my eyes. So it was mid october then. Salmon feathering was coming though both welsummer so i was convinced they were girls and Pingu was a ?.

I had a major worry one day when the sheep knocked the brood cage slightly, a gap small enough for a chick. Of course they all escaped while broody was still in the cage, I was sooo worried the chicks could have died from the cold or tacken away by something else. I was very thankful they were safe.

About two weeks ago, black feathering and a noticeable coon appeared on a welsummer chick,

I dont know what gunna happen to him however i do have a Welsummer pullet and Pingu still a ?

After a llooooonngg story, Finally a pic update from yesterday 3ard November.
They are about 6 weeks and 3 days

Here's Kellog

Chipmunk

My favourite, Pingu

Family picture is very comical, chicks are getting a bit big for mama now!

Pingu still love sitting on mama!

THANK YOU FOR READING, I HOPE YOU ENJOED IT!!!

 

[Rosaleen]

Lovely pics...thanks for sharing.

 

[Life is Good!]

YEAH Momma!
Gotta love a good success story. Thank you for sharing these marvellous pictures.
Makes me anxious for next Spring, as my own will likely go broody. Much to learn this winter season! Much to learn....

 

[BooBear]

She made a good momma and has an adorable chickie family.

 

[Featherland26]

Long time since on this topic......

On the seventh week, mama was sill looking after them

The next day I decided to let them free-range, first thing they did was dust bathe

Pingu Posing

At ten weeks, the cockeral has gone, Its sad but I can't deal with total of three cockerals. Chipmunk, Pingu and Mama happily live together, at this point Mama may be tooo good being a mama.

Chipmunk is getting little too big for mama.

Yet she still fits under her..

At 11 weeks......

Few days later......... They were bombarded by Barrry, mama's saying "Run for your lives!"

Barry is eyeing them up again, doing a lot of dancing!

At 12 weeks took in cute Pingu to the house to tame her, my camara just caught Pingu's posing in time, in her taming sessions she seems to like flying up to my solders and snuggle her face in my hair, however she did leave a few presents in the house.

 

[chicmom]

What a cute story! I love the pics....Haven't had a successful broody yet, but a little Cochin bantam frizzle has gone broody, so I'm counting my fingers....

Sharon

 

[Featherland26]

At 12 weeks..........

Mama is still looking after Chipmunk and Pingu.

At 14 weeks (yesterday)

Mama still clucks food for the pullets
Pullets still follow Mama constanly and literaly cry when they are not with her
Has the pullets under her as if they were little chicks, I tried putting in a perch, didn't work.
clucks constantly!

Mama never treats the pullets badly, I've never seen her peck them, she truly loves them, Pingu amd Chipmunk love her too. They are inseparable even when Mama has a chance to leave them.

It's been half a year since Mama has been broody and layed an egg, Is that a record? Its going to be 15 weeks tomorrow, will she ever stop brooding the pullets?

 

[fishnet1971]

awwwww I just love how momma still hovers over them. looks so funny!!! what a good girl.

 

[theoldchick]

I enjoyed your story! Who know when she'll start laying again with those teenagers in the house!