AUSTRALIAN POULTRY FORUM™

We have been blessed with chicks again and are doing things a little differently this time round after the errors which resulted in 1 birth from about half a dozen eggs and the short life of Blarfy. RIP Blarf.
This time round our White Pekin X Silkie hen Pecker was the brooder and probably the mother of some/all babies with assistance of a white Silkie Rooster named Derek.
After about 1 week of brooding Pecker was removed (with eggs) from general population of Silkie Land to the solitude of the Chook Tractor then on Friday her first two eggs hatched. On Friday night, she and the first two chicks with remaining eggs were relocated to the Maternity Ward (A Timber Dog House with a small ramp and mesh run). Saurday morning brought us another two chicks and so far today another with one egg remaining.
We are now unsure as to whether we should leave everything be for a few weeks or remove the chicks in a week or so and place them in a large plastic container (similar to CL and Ernie's procedure). My boss at work has had great success with Silkies by doing pretty much nothing... ie... leaving the chicks with mum etc etc but he does have a slightly different setup to mine re free ranging area is larger, different hen hotel and no problems with eagles other birds and stray dogs...
What should I do ?
As a second silly question, 3 of our Silkies were brooding on eggs so we decided to move one of them plus the eggs to the Chook tractor yesterday in the hope of a similar result to the one mentioned above..
Silkie mom Maxine decided she did not want to brood anymore and so the eggs spent the evening cold and nowhere near her bottom.
I would imagine that these eggs are now duds after the cold night. Would this be so ? We have not candled them.
Just to annoy us, we returned her to Silkie Land where she went back to her brooding spot and nuzzled her golf ball.
What errors have I made this time, can the eggs be saved, what should we do with Pecker's babies, and Thank You very much for the time taken to read my diatribe and offer help/suggestions.....
I have posted pics of the new babies, Pecker and the Maternity Ward

HI Noddy, I would leave the chicks with mum but in a safe place where the crows can't get the babies as they are so small just yet. Crows will nick a chick so fast. I tend to use rabbit hutches to keep mum and babies safe for the first few weeks. Your little maternity ward looks good as long as the chicks can't get out on their own.

How long was second mum sitting on eggs. If only a few days they may still survive. Always a good idea to move mum as soon as she goes broody and sit her on her golf ball. If she stays broody then give her the eggs to incubate in the new area. If she insists on being broody elsewhere in the main pen and other hens are not adding to her clutch then I would leave her there and just take the chicks off her as they hatch (after about 12 hours)and bring them up in a brooder (plastic box with warmth). You probably will not be able to give them to the other mother hen as her and the other chicks will most likely attack them.

Hi CL,

One week on and all is well.
Egg number 6 failed to survive, the little baby inside was not quite strong enough to break out of it's egg on it's own
The five others though seem to be quite happy and healthy
I have put a blue tarp over part of the little wired up verandah section of the maternity hospital to give some extra protection from the elements.
I also acquired a large old bird cage and a cheap dog house to build their next home which they will move into when they either need more space or, when the maternity ward is needed by another chook.
As for the "broody" silkies, 2 of them stayed broody after being moved back so we slipped the eggs back underneath just to see what might happen. Since then the two "broodies" have added a few eggs although I am unsure about the fertility of them so I will just see if anything changes in the next few weeks.
Thanks for your helpful comments

Hi Noddy - what a great read! Thanks for this thread - it is really interesting to follow.

I would agree with CL about moving broody hens with dummy eggs first - that way you don't risk your real ones.

Good luck with your remaining clutches, and keep us updated.

Deb

having had broodies leave eggs too,I no longer move them unless I really have to,I allow them to brood where they have chosen(they picked the spot I assume it is best) and move the hen and chicks when they hatch---I keep them in hutches to protect them from predation and seperate from the other birds----the only exception is when the site chosen is outside the pen (foxes)---just thought I would post that I don't move broodies unlike most people, and let you know there are always different ways of doing things, do what works for you,cheers pam

Sounds like your doing heaps better this time noddys If she is a good mum , which it sounds like she is , you can let her do all the hard work for you and she will raise them no problems, I have a few that I use as mothers , some are brilliant and some are just plain silly , but I am slowly working out which ones are the good ones and reserve the best eggs for them . Good Luck .

Two weeks in now and all appears to be going well
Moved the Hospital a few metres so that Mum and the kids could play with a different section of grass. (Pics posted)
During the week we acquired two nice little Frizzle Chicks who will move into a new home with the Silkie/Pekin babies in a week or two, when their Mum moves back in with the Silkies.
The two Silkie broodies who played up are still nesting and Lisa (blackish with grey) has decided that anyone who puts their hands near her or her eggs requires pecking.
I think that in a week or so, we will either see some more little chicks or maybe just some smelly yolks...
Either way we may invest in a small incubator.

Yes was a good read, we all learn as we go along which is half the fun, so they say
Cheers Drew Smith

Well, just over a week later I have an update... not particularly exciting but an update nonetheless.
Over the weekend we built the Jimboomba Chick Care Centre which consists of a newish Dog House and a "cage pallet" with small grid mesh around the sides.
I also extended the Precinct in which the Chick Care Centre and Maternity Hospital are situated to allow for future building...
Pecker and her babies moved across from the Maternity Hospital on Saturday and seemed to like the new surrounds which included a larger play room with a timber roof to keep things cooler in the upcoming warm weather.
On Sunday, we took a punt and decided to move Maxine and her eggies across to the Maternity Hospital on the off chance that she might have a genuine reason for broodiness. She seemed to settle in quite well and as always was quite content to lay as flat as possible over her eggies.
After checking each day since, this afternoon Mrs Noddy discovered a new baby lurking under Maxine, hatched from one of the eggies marked W23.
This egg was one of the ones which Maxine had originally chosen to not brood over way back in the original post of this thread which had remained cold and unloved for around 48 hours !!!
Maxine is still nursing a few other eggs marked 23 so it was indeed fortunate that the eggs were not disposed off.
Lisa's eggs (She is still broody over about 6 or so eggies) are all marked 5 and onwards so I have a small amount of time before I have to build another wing to the Maternity Hospital.
So we still have a chance of more smelly eggs and a chance of more little babies although to her credit, Lisa tends to kick out any eggs which she loses interest in.
Pics of the new Chick Care Centre, Maxine and baby and also the Frizzle's new room with a view have been posted in the Gallery.

Sounds like everything is working well at you place Noddy. Congratulations on your new babies.