what is wrong with me!

Today I realized as I checked on the chickens there was one who was on the nest almost all day. The thought popped into my head" I wonder if she's broody"? I actually wanted her to be broody. Are you crazy? I said to myself. There is finally peace in the coop everybody knows their place .There are no little ones trying to hop on the roost and getting pecked off. I finally have no extra roosters to deal with. It is so easy . We have 30 hens , more than enough for our needs, So why am I finding myself surfing the net looking for nice buff coloured breeds of chickens(I love buff) I told myself I was going to be satisfied with the ones I have. What is wrong with me? I think it is a disease. I love watching broodies hatch eggs and mother the little ones , I love guessing what sex they are and what rooster was the dad. I love watching them feather out ,to go from awkward and ugly to big and beautiful. I love seeing them everywhere on my property as we go about our day. I love the differences in the breeds. I think I am incurable.

I often dream of chickens ... and I don't even have any, currently.

I have a massive spreadsheet outlining all of the start-up costs of renovating my coop, purchasing chickens and supplies and feed ...

I build things, on a yearly basis, for a bridal show that I co-produce. This year, I am building some of those things to certain specific dimensions ... so that they can be repurposed into a chicken tractor. I never repeat a design twice at the bridal show, so why not put it to good use somewhere else?

I have the chicken sickness, and I don't want to be cured!

No! Really! You don't have any currently??

I am amazed....

Me too have been waiting for this buff cochin hen to lay an egg for 3 days.. Just stuck there all purry, have not seen a broody for a while I guess, but there she is now. Good thing, I have a hatch in 5 days. She can take all chicks and raise them. No problem putting 30 chicks under a big ball of fluff like that.

I hope you'll post pictures of the chicks, Piet! I'd love to see them.

Hah! I have been waiting for weeks for my pullets to lay. After next week's show I want to set up some breeding cages. Well! Today I got the mother lode! Now I just have to lug my dog pens out to the barn and I am good to go!

Piet wrote: She can take all chicks and raise them. No problem putting 30 chicks under a big ball of fluff like that.

Oh Piet, be careful. Yes, a cochin could easily cover 30 chicks, but in two weeks I really doubt if she could cover that many. Be careful. I don't know your set up there, maybe you have a heated area or heat lamps, but those babies grow really fast and with 30 chicks, it won't be long before she just could not cover that many. It is still really cold and those ones that cannot fit under her anymore could get very chilled.

I think we are all sick, I know I can't help myself from wanting more chickens too, especially little babies!! Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

CynthiaM wrote:

Piet wrote: She can take all chicks and raise them. No problem putting 30 chicks under a big ball of fluff like that.

Oh Piet, be careful. Yes, a cochin could easily cover 30 chicks, but in two weeks I really doubt if she could cover that many. Be careful. I don't know your set up there, maybe you have a heated area or heat lamps, but those babies grow really fast and with 30 chicks, it won't be long before she just could not cover that many. It is still really cold and those ones that cannot fit under her anymore could get very chilled.

I think we are all sick, I know I can't help myself from wanting more chickens too, especially little babies!! Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

You are right and I just candled and looks like there won't be near that many...the next hatch a week after that is showing far better fertility, there is about 85% growing. I am always prepared and have a lot of heatlamps and brooders and that is where they will normally go anyway. In Alberta you can start whenever you want, because if you were to wait on nicer weather you might never start. In May you can have -20 and a snowstorm and the same again in September, there are just three months in between there.. Therefor I say the hell with it and begin breeding beginning of February, the rabbits also. That way, once they are in full feathers they can go outside and enjoy green grass and do most of their growing in ideal conditions. If I start when it does not freeze overnight anymore, the chicks won't get enough benefit from summer weather and will face snow by the time they need the nutrients the most. Heat we can always provide for the ones who need it.

Phew, Piet, you had me worried , that the buff cochin would have 30 babies and maybe not be able to keep them all warm when they were so much bigger. But it sounds like you got it totally under control with the warm areas, yay!!

Ya, I know, can't wait for the weather, gotta start somewhere. I had a disastrous hatch with only 2 hatching. I am giving those babies to a girl who hatched chicks from my eggs yesterday. She is getting them today, so they can mingle with hers. I cannot look after just 2 chicks here, just doesn't work, I don't have the room, guts nor gumption for only two, that takes too much special care and that is something I can't do in winter. Something went terribly wrong and I don't know what.

But I am so sick with this chicken disease that vic's chicks talks about, smiling, this has not deterred me. I have another hatch coming next week and things are looking awesome, but yep, never count your chickens before they're hatched. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Cynthia, I can remember in the fall when we were both dealing with broody orpingtons with winter coming on and we weren't too happy about it. If I remember correctly we both gave in and let them hatch. We have had a really easy winter here so those little ones are doing fine, almost grown up. So now I have had a break from dealing with broody chickens except for a barred rock who has been sitting for three or four days then changing her mind all winter. So I think I am ready to handle it again. How do you manage with so many orpingtons. I only have two but they have consistently been broody since they started to lay. I love, love ,love buff coloured chickens, but I am afraid to get anymore orpingtons because of their broodiness, so I have been looking for another less broody buff variety,

My first hatch of the year burst from their eggs starting Friday, a couple are still working their way out and a couple others are undecided as to whether or not they want to hatch. My eggs, some of them having been frozen, had about 75% fertility, so I think I'm doing alright. Come second week of march, I'll get a couple broodies settling in and put a batch under them. I just love broody girls, they teach me so much.