tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post3466450931207806358..comments2024-03-15T08:01:40.449-04:00Comments on Murano Chicken Farm: Broody hens, how to care for themLA Muranohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-43622053785608254292020-05-19T17:55:17.705-04:002020-05-19T17:55:17.705-04:00I would probably give her 6 just to play it safe. ...I would probably give her 6 just to play it safe. A good silkie mama can probably cover 8-10 eggs though. Good luck!<br /><br />LisaLA Muranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-56467018305855233592020-04-28T09:24:21.089-04:002020-04-28T09:24:21.089-04:00How many guinea eggs do you recommend a silkie hen...How many guinea eggs do you recommend a silkie hen is able to hatch?Olive Oylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04059658488311432284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-85946152705769483642019-06-25T20:05:56.153-04:002019-06-25T20:05:56.153-04:00Oh no! That's so sad. Sometimes they do kind o...Oh no! That's so sad. Sometimes they do kind of lose it if you move them when broody. Hopefully the rest will hatch out. Let me know how they do! She might be pulling her feathers out if she was stressed. They should grow back in shortly.<br /><br />LisaLA Muranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-60981898855229376242019-06-23T21:16:41.267-04:002019-06-23T21:16:41.267-04:00I have a hen that has been setting since May 23rd....I have a hen that has been setting since May 23rd. That is 31 days. She had 12 eggs under her and at two weeks I moved her into the Broody pen. Two hours later I went to check on her, and she had busted 7 of the eggs that had chicks. I just wanted to cry. I never dreamed she would murder her babies! So needless to say, I put her and the remaining five eggs back into the nesting box. I should be having chicks hatch any day. Or at least I'm hoping. She has lost all of the feathers on her neck. It's completely bare. Is this normal? Or should I be concerned? This is my first year of having chickens. I have 2 other hens setting and due to hatch any day. Their necks are just fine. They've only been setting 20 days.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15965211757353291159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-9567507801529336912019-01-17T11:21:11.393-05:002019-01-17T11:21:11.393-05:00Crazy clucky...I love that! I'm so glad she go...Crazy clucky...I love that! I'm so glad she got to raise some babies. Mama hens with baby chicks is about the cutest thing to watch ever!<br /><br />LisaLA Muranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-36121118126689761172019-01-11T02:18:49.266-05:002019-01-11T02:18:49.266-05:00Love this post . Just started raising chickens. ...Love this post . Just started raising chickens. One of my Orpingtons went crazy clucky. I ended up getting some day old chicks and popping them under her at night. She has gone from being one mean mamma sitting on her eggs, to the sweetest chicken in the hutch, proudly walking her babies around. No one messes with Mamma Hen. I am hoping she brings her chickens up to a good age - although after reading this I am looking for a back-up plan in case they get a hard time.<br />Vickiiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755944271727255905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-86923449270987359392018-08-27T07:48:05.826-04:002018-08-27T07:48:05.826-04:00Do you have an area the littles can live in till t...Do you have an area the littles can live in till they're big enough to hold their own against the adults? Some hens raise their chicks till they are full grown and other 'get over it' when they chicks outgrow the little stage. Or if you can just separate Bertha and Blanche for a few days, they might be nicer when they come back. That often works to upset the pecking order just enough to calm things down. <br /><br />I love your roosters name! LOL You never know roosters are going to get along, keep an eye on them as they grow and watch for any fussing. 2 of mine don't get along, but the young one stays far away from the older one so there is no problems at all. Yours might work it out on their own and if not, I usually make soup from the meanest one. <br /><br />Hope that helps!<br />LisaLA Muranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-60844896338312648952018-07-14T00:29:15.405-04:002018-07-14T00:29:15.405-04:00yeah...well...now, they're 12 weeks old, and s...yeah...well...now, they're 12 weeks old, and she's picking on them and chasing them around the run for seemingly no good reason. She and her sister, Blanche, pick at them when they try to sit up on the roosting perches, so they've taken to sleeping in(and in front of..on the "step up perch") the nesting boxes at night...I'm getting really tired of picking out the little poopies every morning, so the ladies can lay eggs in a clean nest. I think I may have two cockerels, so maybe that's why she's chasing em? But she's chasing the one I'm pretty sure is a pullet too. Last night she grabbed each and every one of em and physically pulled them each out of the nests and chased them out of the coop into the run...then didn't want to let them back in. And now one of my Black Astrolorps is going broody...really bad timing(upcoming travel) or I'd let her have some eggs too...and Bertha is kinda half-assed clucking broodily WITH her, but only sitting "part time"! :-\ So much drama in the coop lately! Between the broodiness and the others being a little "sensitive: to the drama, I'm lucky to get one egg a day! :-\ Any ideas??? Should I just let em work it out on their own? Or ? So far Gregory Peck(my Roo) isn't really bothering them, but they ARE afraid of him, and run when he gets close to them. If they get along, I dont really feel the need to get rid of them, but I cant possibly get THAT lucky. :-\ I'm sure we'll be having chicken dinner at some point here...just a matter of when. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13483263995124309003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-13758156710489303842018-07-12T10:09:57.971-04:002018-07-12T10:09:57.971-04:00Wow, what a great first broody experience! I actua...Wow, what a great first broody experience! I actually giggled picturing grown chickens being scared of the chicks! lol I'm so glad that it went so easily for you. A good broody/mama hen is worth her weight in gold and it sound like Bertha is just perfect at being a mama!LA Muranohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00827994015402999638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8613339135823962078.post-9486815843598656102018-07-06T18:51:21.320-04:002018-07-06T18:51:21.320-04:00My first Broody/chicks experience was even easier ...My first Broody/chicks experience was even easier than you explained here! I dont know if I'm just lucky, or too inexperienced to have worried about the possible problems! ;-) I have a hen who likes to go broody every two months or so, so when the timing was right for ME ;-) I let her have her way. Once I noticed she was going broody, I moved the nesting box she chose down to the coop floor and placed in inside a cardboard box on it's side(so she had protection on the top and back, and both sides, but could hop out the "front". THis was mostly cuz the only place on the coop floor that I could put her was right in front of the other nesting boxes, and I didn't want the other hens to constantly be kicking bedding down on her head, cuz they do a lot of "nesting" before they settle to lay their eggs. I added an additional "roof flap" on her box so that she'd have a little more privacy, but could still easily climb out from underneath it when she wanted to. I gave her food and water in the box, but she mostly came out into the yard to drink/eat/poop once or twice a day, so I could have left that out until the chickies hatched. I knew I would be home when the chickies were due, so a day or two before the "due date" I just started spending a LOT more time in the coop and watching for potential problems with the other hens or my rooster and the new chickies...there were NONE! Everyone pretty much ignored Bertha and the babies until they started coming out into the yard...and then they ACTIVELY ignored and tried to get AWAY from them....I think they didn't know what they were! Even my Roo kept his distance! From Day 1, the chickies were in the coop with all the other hens and Roo, and after about a week, they started coming down the ramp and playing outside(always VERY close to mommy). Bertha was a wonderful mommy...plopping down and letting them crawl under her anywhere and anytime in the yard when they started peeping that they were cold, and she was constantly showing them how to scratch and find food in the yard. Their yard is completely enclosed and 100% predator-proofed, so the only possible threat was the other hens/roo, and I kept a close eye on them...left them alone for longer and longer periods when it was clear that they meant no harm. Bertha let me handle her babies from day one...never having a problem with me picking them up, checking them out, and putting them back under/beside her. I think that's why still today at 11 weeks old, they come flying up to my shoulders/arms when I enter the run, and they often "roost" on my knee and take a little afternoon nap while I hang out with them in the run. The chickies are SO much more tame than their parents were at this age, and SOOOOOOO much easier to raise! (I *didn't* really raise them at all...Bertha did it all!) I did have a backup plan...several of them! I had a brooder box ready and waiting just in case Bertha was a better broody than mommy...just in case she didn't take care of the babies...didn't need it! I also had a length of chicken wire, posts and hooks at the sides of my run ready to stretch a "fence" in one quarter of the run just in case the other hens/roo bothered the chicks or Bertha...didn't need it!(but I'm keeping it, just in case I need to separate potential roos...I think one or two of the babies might be boys, and I want to be able to separate them QUICKLY if any squabbling starts up.) So I have three new babies in the flock this year, and I cant WAIT to do it all again! It was SOOOO easy, and now I have all the "equipment" figured out(very little actually, but I saved everything!). So that's my story...super easy! I'm sure I just lucked out, but hey...I'm not complaining! :-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13483263995124309003noreply@blogger.com