Will i get any chicks?

[JILLY JACKSON]

[Well its day 20 for my eggs and the banties are sitting tight.Trouble is yesterday i heard a clunk when hanging out the washing and found one of the eggs on the ground.clumsy clogs Romany!I thought maybe it was addled(not fertile) so i put it in a jug of warm water and yes,a chick was moving inside,so despite a very small crack,put the egg back under her.this mornig i go down to open the door and there is a stone cold egg on the edge of the nest box!Not the same egg,this time i did not test it and put it straight back under her.Tomorrow is the due datefor the hatch.I'm beginning to wonder if i'll get any chicks at all.Will let you know.

[MaureenHall]

Well fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed that you do get some chicks

[Nicos]

I too was worried about cold eggs- but some I thought wouldn't have made it hatched....but...."don't count your chickens until they've hatched"!!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing some lovely piccies..and lots of good news!!

...how many eggs is Romany sitting on??

[JILLY JACKSON]

Thanks,i'll have to get my hubby to put the piccys on as i'm pretty useless at that sort of thing.Hope i get something to take piccies of!ha ha.

[JILLY JACKSON]

I do indeed have chicks!Unfortunately thrown out the nest and struggling to get back in when i found the first one,others still hatching so will have to keep an eye out for more abandoned ones.Romany is not just clumsy but nuts too i think! I have the first chick in a shoe box with a puppy hot water bottle.When the hatching is done i'll try to reintroduce this one.

[di]

Congratulations!Sorry Romany seems to be having a spot of barminess!!!
Are you sure she threw out the chick & it didn't just fall?One of ours did on either day one or two & Dandelion looked so stressed about it...she didn't want to get of the others but you could see she was desperate for the other one to be back under her...at the time it was an old fruit box nest,so even though I'd had the sense to move it onto the ground,I hadn't given any thought as to how high the sides were for a chick to get back in!
Hope you have more lil babies soon & look forward to the piccies!

[JILLY JACKSON]

wish she did want the chick,been doing her utmost to peck it to death!Will try again later.My friend has offered to take it home with her so i'll see what happens when the other chick appears.She may end up rearing both.

[Nicos]

Glad you have chicks- is the one in the cracked shell showing signs of life????

Is Romany a first time mum???? Only one of my 4 showed any common sense with the first broods!

[JILLY JACKSON]

the cracked shell one is this poor little thing .Sleeping in a shoe box at the moment!Yes,this is the first time for Romany,the last too!!! Cant take the stress!!!!

[JILLY JACKSON]

update,just gone to check,and found another chick pecked to death.Put the other two eggs in warm water but no sign of life in them,so one poor little chick remains.Its very sad.

[Nicos]

Oh dear....weird aren't they???fancy pecking a baby to death???


Lets hope the little one is a gal. x

[JILLY JACKSON]

yes i hope so,although it wont matter too much as my friend in Wales is having it,so crowing not a problem.I cant believe how upset i am,what an idiot,i eat chicken! Silly creature still sitting,on nothing,clucking her silly head off.Weird indeed!

[RichmondHens]

Er -Putting them in water can drown them inside the shell! If you wanted to keep them warm and see if they hatch then ideally get them under a lamp in a small box, but you must monitor the temperature carefully - no hotter than 37 degrees.

I wonder whether your broody has just stopped being broody. It happened to one of mine once. She sat for 20 days, then just got off the nest. The eggs were cold with no sign of life. I was also running the incubator at the same time and when the eggs in there hatched (same day) I tried to introduce the chicks to her, but she wasn't having any of it, and pecked at the chicks. I ended up rearing them under a heat lamp in my dining room.

[MaureenHall]

Oh that's so sad!!!! Poor little thing. Can you get another chick from somewhere to keep the lonely one company?

[di]

How horrid for you...and obviously the chicks.I think everyone would agree you're not an idiot for being upset...(((x)))