am giving up hatching my own

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karminski

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think i am going to stick to rescuing ex batts in the future , lsat years hatching with a broody went ok and i got 2 chicks out of 4 eggs as 2 were not fertile but this year :( :( :( nothing , hatched one lot and all 3 chicks pretty much died right away am thinking its cause mum had 2 many eggs { should of had 6 but had 8 think i forgot to remove 2 that was not fertile } so i took the risk and gave her another 2 eggs 2 days after the first lot were meant to hatch as she was really stressing and she wanted babies everything was fine the broody has coped very well and has still maintianed most of her weight etc but today 1 of the chicks died within an hour of hatching and tonight i have checked and the other egg and its all cracked but with the membrane intact from what i can tell under her so i have decided to leave her to it i dread to think what i could find in the morning .
 
Don't give up! There must be a reason they die so quickly. Could it be a prob lem with the eggs----dietary probs in parents, too closely related parents etc??? What breed were they? Were they all from the same supplier? Another thing to exclude too is the dreaded Red MIte ------just some thoughts.Ros
 
hi ros , i cant see what probs they could be and both sets of eggs were from different people i think its just one of those things and i have just spoken to foxy on the phone as she always seems to put my mind at rest although she gave me some ideas but even she said it can be so so differcult to work out what goes wrong the only thing that i can think of is that last year the broody was in a shed and that was a lot lower to the ground and i placed her inside a cardboard box but this year shes been in the rabbitt hutch which is about 8 inches or more of the ground so maybe to much air as got up underneath and dropped the temp of the hutch i dont know but although this is sad at least i can learn from it .
i know they are only chickens but it so sucks when it all goes wrong but i pray my friend may be able to give me a few chicks over the weekend to see if my maran will except them which i really think she will but i do still have 1 more chick to go so i pray for 6 am to hurry up and get here :lol: .
 
I wouldn't give up - this year has been very strange - a lot of chicks dying in the shell just after pipping - eggs not fertile - I know if one well known breeder up here who has only had 4 LF birds hatched out from 5 incys - other breeders are same the same thing - don't lose heart
 
have just been out again to check and the shell was all broken but no movement or noise from the egg but the chick is there i dont know if its dead or alive or even if it had trouble getting though the membrane :( :( guess i just got to wait tell the morning .
 
the last chick didnt make it , the egg was the same as last night although it had manged to just get a bit of his beak though the membrane :( and this one had a crown showing so i think it was going to be a cockeral i am so disheartened about this got togo move my broody now which wont be fun.
 
My comiserations :|

It's been a weird year for weather/humidity and many other things that might effect the situation :-)06 I tried to incubate 4... :-)11 ... yup, that is FOUR times ! :shock: To get success this year, and that was just with realy bad luck... nothing to do with all the variables brave souls like you (and your broody) endure. I aspire to get a broody Orp ... :-)17 ... one day :mrgreen:

Stiff upper lip old girl .... Stiff upper lip ...


*Reb walks off trying to whistle but it comes out more like a raspberry due to a trembling lip*
 
the poor girl keeps going of into the house looking for eggs { or the chicks } i hope she gets over it soon the loevly foxy told me to keep her away from the brood area so shes now being kept in the extension area of the run but shes lonely and i cant get hold of day old chicks no one in my area does them :(
 
i must admit iknow how you feel, i have had no luck whats so ever with broodies , i even borrowed a super broody from a friend and that was a waste of time to, i think i will invest in a 20 auto turn brinsea for next yea
 
i have the chance of geting a few 2 day olds from my friend as i cant stick anymore eggs under although i have been tempted as when i opened the door on her this morning she proper throw a wobbly at me as if she was still sitting on eggs, but my friend wants to keep the chicks under the heatlamp tell later then i will collect them i know that she will take to them right away but what i will do is pick her up first get her smell on my hands then give her the chicks :D
 
I hatch about 500 chicks a year - and although we can always learn in this case I wouldn't wait - your bird would normally have little ones under her now - she is far more likely to accept little one now than when the chicks are off heat in fact she more than likely wont accept them and you can't keep your broody in limbo for ever - she will get weak - she should be getting out and about now - with little chicks - you can't leave her sitting for another couple of weeks when the others will be off heat also the chicks rarely accept a broody much later on- I often leave broodies sitting on golf balls for the 21 days and hatch in an incy - and then when they are dry I put them under the broody at night - go for the chicks now - you don't need smells etc, just pop them in under the broody at night time - next morning they will be as though they were her own hatching
 
hi i mentioned on another post that i got her 2 little ones that are about 1 1/2 days old from my freind i did put them under her this morning as he was going out tell late today but shes well and truly excepted them :D :D i get the wings up and dont come near me now look when i check on her :lol: lets put it this way shes very contented so hopfully tomorw sometime she will bring them out to eat but i will be at work so i wont be able to keep an eye on her .
 
karminski said:
think i am going to stick to rescuing ex batts in the future , lsat years hatching with a broody went ok and i got 2 chicks out of 4 eggs as 2 were not fertile but this year :( :( :( nothing , hatched one lot and all 3 chicks pretty much died right away am thinking its cause mum had 2 many eggs { should of had 6 but had 8 think i forgot to remove 2 that was not fertile } so i took the risk and gave her another 2 eggs 2 days after the first lot were meant to hatch as she was really stressing and she wanted babies everything was fine the broody has coped very well and has still maintianed most of her weight etc but today 1 of the chicks died within an hour of hatching and tonight i have checked and the other egg and its all cracked but with the membrane intact from what i can tell under her so i have decided to leave her to it i dread to think what i could find in the morning .
Click to expand...
Hi Karminski, No don't give up. Some broodies are better than others. I don't know what breed you are using?
Possibly you are using too few eggs. A clutch if the eggs are from a breed the same size as the broody you are using could be up to 13 eggs! I nornally sit eleven. If there are too few they may be over heating. Another thing is that when you collect the eggs to put under the broody you should be very careful how you handle them. If it is necessary to wash them use luke warm water and DO NOT turn the egg round and round. Broodies should always be sitting on a flat surface with earth or straw underneath them so that the eggs cannot roll. However some birds do roll their eggs a lot and these should not be used as broodies. I hope this is helpful.
 
thanks , i ended up giving her two day old chicks which she took to like a duck to water but i had to have one culled the next day so now shes down to one and wow shes the best mum but i do have 2 polish bantams under heat in the garage to go with the lone chick when shes old enough to come of mum i would love for mum to take on these other 2 but i dont think she will they are a week old now and my chick is about 2 weeks .

thing is i have leant from this year so maybe i will have better luck next year if not then i will use the inccy and then give her the day olds to bring up :)
 
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