bad and frustrating day yesterday

I was out with my birds just wondering around and sitting with them. Studying the growing pullets and looking at the older girls that have gone through their second moult. One hen in particular caught my eye. I have always liked her, she has such good size. Well she has moulted into the most beautiful pencilling. Her ground colour is a bit light, but she really is a lovely type of bird and has the pencilling I covet! Guess who didn`t come back from free ranging last night! RRRRRrrrrr! I should know better than to think highly of one bird, something always happens to them. I was so looking forward to breeding with her next year.

All day yesterday I had been struggling with a new broody. Eggs were hatching and she wanted to massacre everything. Stupid hen. I was taking chicks and putting them in the incubator. I am so mad at her! 4 dead this morning and 3 looking like they will not make it. Some of it is my fault, I should have just quit her last night, but I thought she may have settled overnight and gotten the hang of it. Nope, everything that hatched last night got savaged. I never would have set eggs if I would have known I was going to have to brood them.

So all and all a pretty bad day. I do have 2 lovely chicks and another egg hatching, but of course the chick that was the most important is not going to make it I don`t think.

Sorry to hear that Coopslave. Doesn't Murphys law strike fast! And finely tuned, you just had to think she was nice, not even name her out loud and pow.... hope she coems back, was she old enough to have gone broody?

Sorry about your broody and chicks, I'd leg band her so you know and don't mix her up with the normal ones. I am so impressed with our chanties this year, they are the reason I haven't bought anther bator yet. Do you have any going more broody you could surprise with week old babies? I have 4 starting to go broody again.... Maybe plant the broody seed by leaving the eggs in the nests a few days and see who rises to the bait?

I am soo mad at her! She is one of my chanties. She will go now. She is not the best type and her pencilling is poor. I was only keeping her as she was going broody a bit. NOT NOW! Stupid hen.

The only other hen I would trust with older chicks is the one that has raised a brood this year already and she isn`t looking anything like wanting to di it again.

I hope the lovely girl does come back. She may have gone off to sit, but she wasn`t acting like it at all. Sigh.....

Sorry to hear, Hope she shows up.

It is shocking and demoralizing to wander out to your setting hen and find little, dead bodies flung around. I've only had that happen once and she didn't last. I found it deeply disturbing that the maternal instinct was so utterly lacking. Then there's the guilt and internal dialogue that goes along. "I should have known, I could have prevented this, this is my fault, ugh..." I know how upsetting this is and I am sorry it happened.

That is too bad, sorry she didn't make a good mom but I guess they aren't all cut out for that...
Hope your favorite returns that is a real shame ... seems like you always lose the good ones all right

Sorry about your broody, I have never had much luck with them either. They either sit too hard and make all the eggs rotten or dead or they kill the babies as they are hatching. I am glad you were able to save a few, just makes brooding frustrating as well.
And you missing hen, that is terrible as well. I do the same, try not to put too much into liking a specific bird or they are always the ones to go missing.
Hope things pick up for you and your lovely hen shows up today.

Fingers crossed and sending all my positive hope that your hen returns. You are certainly shouldering a heavy load these days Coopslave. I hope things start to look up for you in all areas.

xo

I've had hens return after 2 or 3 days.

Actually, I got a call from a neighbour. She had wandered in the woods and then found his pen of meat kings.

I've also talked with people who had them show up after 3 weeks with a bunch of chicks.

Ah geez. I really hope your lovely hen finds her way home.

And what an absolutely awful thing to happen with the broody. I’ve heard of bad broodies turning on their own chicks. So awful. I’m sorry you experienced one. I would be getting rid of her too. Right into the stew pot...