Ok, I was finally able to post the pictures.  They are under Michelle's
Dominiques.  One of the pictures is aof the ladies at 6 1/2 weeks old
and the other is a really bad picture of me with the chicks in the yard.

Michelle in WV

Hi Everyone,


I wanted to find out if we can feed our chickens some fish food.

Ok here is the background...we ran out of fish food(pond) and we bought
a different brand since the brand we usually buy was out of stock.  The
fish HATED the new food and we now have 50lbs of fish food.  We wanted
to see what everyone thought about feeding the chickens a little as a
treat until we use it up.  It is 32% protein.  Thanks in advance for
you advice.

Michelle in WV

Phoebe went broody a few days ago, so I put some more eggs under her,
and she seems to be ok. She doesn't want to eat, and I have to dip her
beak in fresh water a couple of times per day. If there is something I
need to be doing for her, let me know. She isn't staying in one spot,
but she doesn't really get up. She lays on one side of the pen, and
then rolls all of the eggs to the other side of the pen. In fact, I
hear her rolling them right now. Will she be ok for 21 days without
grass or sunshine? (her pen is in the house) If the chicks hatch, do I
need to keep them under a heat lamp, or does Phoebe provide the heat?
My chicken book walked away, while I was on vacation. Until I get
another one, is there info on this online? My searches aren't yielding
anything, except on how to keep them from going broody in the first
place. Since Phoebe comes inside to her pen to lay and roost, I'm not
worried about all the girls turning broody.

Phoebe should leave the nest each day for about 15-20 minutes to eat,
drink (and defecate). This is normal. Just make sure that she has food
and water available to her. She won't be looking for - or interested
in - sunlight and grass. Once the chicks hatch, she'll keep them warm,
if she's a good mama. You'll just want to make sure that they can't
get out of whatever pen she's in, so she doesn't lose any. Chicks are
little enough to slip through openings that hens can't, so she
wouldn't be able to go after them.

As to the rolling of the eggs. Is she not on a nest? The hen will turn
the eggs several times a day, which keeps the developing chicks from
sticking to the egg shell by keeping them more centered in the shell.
It also gives her the opportunity, as they get more developed, to move
some to the outer edges (cooler) or the center (warmer) to keep them
developing at the same rate (which means they'll all hatch around the
same time). If she's not in a nest that's indented, I suppose that
rolling the eggs would be the easiest way for her to accomplish this
and keep the eggs together enough to set on all of them, but without
seeing your set-up, I can't be sure.

One of my girls has been broody for a couple of weeks now. I had
thought to give her some of the eggs in the incubator, but realized
that the only place I have for her right now really wouldn't be safe
for the chicks once they hatch. (And, Lily, after hearing about your
little silkie chick slipping through the cracks and almost dying, it
didn't seem worth taking the chance.)

Hopefully, by the next time she's broody, we'll have figured out a
brooding pen that's good for her and for chicks. Who knows, by then I
may have some hatching eggs from my own flock of Russian Orloffs (I
hope!). This is the second year she's gone broody, and she is serious
about it - unlike our others who, so far, have, at most, been broody
for a few days and then gone back to normal when they realized they
didn't actually have eggs under them.

I will say that the first time you deal with a broody hen is an
educational experience. Ain't NOTHIN' gonna get her off that nest
until she's ready!  LOL!  She just flattens herself into a hen pancake
and glares and screeches. At least our Queenie is a sweet-tempered
thing. I can actually pick her up and move her, which I'm doing now to
hopefully break her broodiness a little sooner and get her back to the
rest of the flock (the head hen hasn't been happy about her absence,
as she lets me know - LOUDLY - every time I'm in the pen).

Now, Sweetpea, on the other hand - I just don't even want to be around
when she decides to go broody. She's nice enough generally, but
doesn't like anyone coming near her when she's on the nest - and we
have the pecked knuckles to prove it! If I have to move her to a
separate pen, I'll have to suit up in protective gear first. LOL!

Anyway, good luck with your Phoebe! Sounds like she has the makings of
a nice brood hen - and isn't it wonderful that some breeders haven't
bred that out of all the Dominique hens? Incubators may be a great
thing, but it's nice to have a choice, don't you think? I'd hate to
think that we've gotten so dependent on "equipment" that we couldn't
manage without, if we had to.

All the best,
Mary

I did find an online guide for you, as well:

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chicks.html

I've only had time to skim through it, but it looks very complete.



Good luck with your hatch!
Mary

I haven't written here in quite awhile, but I would like to inform
everyone that a hen eventually did set and hatch a clutch of chicks!
You can read about it and see pictures at
http://www.fairhillsfarm.com/weblog.

I figured out that it is best to find a hen that is already inclined
to set - that is, noticeably broody.  But I also figured out that
keeping the clutch pen away from the rest of the flock helps too -
that way there are less distractions.  Some of my hens used to just
get flustered and determined to get back to the flock whenever they
were in view of the coop and run.  The hens' attitudes appeared to
change when they were moved away from the flock.

One of the hens set for a few days, but then started kicking the eggs
out of the nest - about an egg per day.  When we cracked the eggs
open it was apparent that the embryos had died.  It got unseasonably
cold one night, so I assumed that had something to do with it.  As
soon as we reached the month of May we were able to find a hen that
set all the way through (we named her "Mayflower").

After the chicks hatched, all the hens seemed curious and several
started acting really broody.  I don't know that seeing the chicks
had anything to do with it, but it was pretty funny.  One of the most
curious hens was the first hen we tried to get to brood - and to
think that she could have been the mom if she had only cooperated!

In fact, we have a video of Mayflower fighting her away from her
chicks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsyWM4zLM88

~Amanda~


--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "victoryfarm" <ms-
victoryfarm@...> wrote:
>
> Phoebe should leave the nest each day for about 15-20 minutes to
eat,
> drink (and defecate). This is normal. Just make sure that she has
food
> and water available to her. She won't be looking for - or interested
> in - sunlight and grass. Once the chicks hatch, she'll keep them
warm,
> if she's a good mama. You'll just want to make sure that they can't
> get out of whatever pen she's in, so she doesn't lose any. Chicks
are
> little enough to slip through openings that hens can't, so she
> wouldn't be able to go after them.
>
> As to the rolling of the eggs. Is she not on a nest? The hen will
turn
> the eggs several times a day, which keeps the developing chicks from
> sticking to the egg shell by keeping them more centered in the
shell.
> It also gives her the opportunity, as they get more developed, to
move
> some to the outer edges (cooler) or the center (warmer) to keep them
> developing at the same rate (which means they'll all hatch around
the
> same time). If she's not in a nest that's indented, I suppose that
> rolling the eggs would be the easiest way for her to accomplish this
> and keep the eggs together enough to set on all of them, but without
> seeing your set-up, I can't be sure.
>
> One of my girls has been broody for a couple of weeks now. I had
> thought to give her some of the eggs in the incubator, but realized
> that the only place I have for her right now really wouldn't be safe
> for the chicks once they hatch. (And, Lily, after hearing about your
> little silkie chick slipping through the cracks and almost dying, it
> didn't seem worth taking the chance.)
>
> Hopefully, by the next time she's broody, we'll have figured out a
> brooding pen that's good for her and for chicks. Who knows, by then
I
> may have some hatching eggs from my own flock of Russian Orloffs (I
> hope!). This is the second year she's gone broody, and she is
serious
> about it - unlike our others who, so far, have, at most, been broody
> for a few days and then gone back to normal when they realized they
> didn't actually have eggs under them.
>
> I will say that the first time you deal with a broody hen is an
> educational experience. Ain't NOTHIN' gonna get her off that nest
> until she's ready!  LOL!  She just flattens herself into a hen
pancake
> and glares and screeches. At least our Queenie is a sweet-tempered
> thing. I can actually pick her up and move her, which I'm doing now
to
> hopefully break her broodiness a little sooner and get her back to
the
> rest of the flock (the head hen hasn't been happy about her absence,
> as she lets me know - LOUDLY - every time I'm in the pen).
>
> Now, Sweetpea, on the other hand - I just don't even want to be
around
> when she decides to go broody. She's nice enough generally, but
> doesn't like anyone coming near her when she's on the nest - and we
> have the pecked knuckles to prove it! If I have to move her to a
> separate pen, I'll have to suit up in protective gear first. LOL!
>
> Anyway, good luck with your Phoebe! Sounds like she has the makings
of
> a nice brood hen - and isn't it wonderful that some breeders haven't
> bred that out of all the Dominique hens? Incubators may be a great
> thing, but it's nice to have a choice, don't you think? I'd hate to
> think that we've gotten so dependent on "equipment" that we couldn't
> manage without, if we had to.
>
> All the best,
> Mary
>

Thank you for the helpful posts and links! I came home this afternoon
(gone about 2.5 hrs), and Phoebe was gone! I FREAKED
out! ....especially, since there was a terrible smell. The puppies
are in their crates, but Ed was out, and I always worry he'll resort
to acting like a dog, you know? Well, I found Phoebe in the bedroom,
and she had let go about a week's worth of pooh. Maybe the smell made
her break out of her pen. ;) Luckily, I had read on here about the
big pooh event, so I wasn't worried. However, when I put her back in,
and put the eggs back under her, they were cold. I didn't leave the
air on when I left, but they still felt cold to the touch. I hope
that isn't a deal breaker, because she is happily back to sitting on
them now. She is in her ICU pen. I think there is a picture of it in
my folder (Dominique Haven Farms), under Photos. If not, I'll put one
up. I had to go out, and buy a wire dog crate for Firecracker. He was
chasing Phoebe off the "nest", and eating the eggs! She lost four, so
she only has 7 left. Some of the broken eggs got on the shells of the
other eggs, so now they are "dirty". Is that going to affect a hatch?
There are pine shavings on the pen floor, but no actual nest. I just
found her laying on the pen floor one day, and she screeched when I
tried to approach her, so I left her alone (and put 10 more eggs
under her, laid that day). They are due around 2 July. I was supposed
to go out of town, but I've cleared my schedule for that week, and 6
weeks after that, just in case. --Deborah.

Sounds to me as though poor Phoebe went to take her daily
constitutional and got lost! LOL!

Even though they cooled, there is still a small chance that the eggs
will hatch, although I believe (and someone with more experience,
please correct me if I'm wrong) that the further along they are in
development, the less likely they are to survive a serious cooling.

If it were me, I'd give it a day or two, and then sneak one or two out
to candle - preferable at night, when she's less likely to get upset
by it (keep the lights dim). With a July 2 hatch date, you're about
halfway, right? Cool to the touch doesn't sound good, though.

The alternative is to just let her stay on them if she wants to, and
trust her to know if they are no longer developing, at which point she
should abandon them. But I think that would depend on how good she is
at this, and, since this is your first experience with her going
broody, you just don't know. (Definitely be aware of any rotten eggs
smells! LOL!)

I'd worry less about the dirt than about the cooling.

Good luck!
Mary

Deborah:

I would not give up on the eggs because they got chilled, it may just
delay the hatch date a bit.  However, the deal breaker may be in the
broken egg yolk on the remaining eggs.  The egg yolk will coat the
eggs and suffocate the embryo inside the egg (if it is covering a
large enough area) plus it is a breeding ground for bacteria which
can get into the egg and kill the embryo or weaken it to the point
that it may not hatch.  Plus, if given enough time, the outside of
the eggs can become smelly which will not only promote suffocation of
the chick inside but also other clean eggs in the nest with them.  If
it just one or two eggs, I would take the coated eggs out
completely.  If there are more than that, I would try to gently and
quickly wash as much of the yolk off as possible (even though that
may have its own setbacks).  Just don't scrub too hard.

Good luck with the broody and her clutch,
Julie Gupton


--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "ddhopkinson"
<ddhopkinson@...> wrote:
>
> Thank you for the helpful posts and links! I came home this
afternoon
> (gone about 2.5 hrs), and Phoebe was gone! I FREAKED
> out! ....especially, since there was a terrible smell. The puppies
> are in their crates, but Ed was out, and I always worry he'll
resort
> to acting like a dog, you know? Well, I found Phoebe in the
bedroom,
> and she had let go about a week's worth of pooh. Maybe the smell
made
> her break out of her pen. ;) Luckily, I had read on here about the
> big pooh event, so I wasn't worried. However, when I put her back
in,
> and put the eggs back under her, they were cold. I didn't leave the
> air on when I left, but they still felt cold to the touch. I hope
> that isn't a deal breaker, because she is happily back to sitting
on
> them now. She is in her ICU pen. I think there is a picture of it
in
> my folder (Dominique Haven Farms), under Photos. If not, I'll put
one
> up. I had to go out, and buy a wire dog crate for Firecracker. He
was
> chasing Phoebe off the "nest", and eating the eggs! She lost four,
so
> she only has 7 left. Some of the broken eggs got on the shells of
the
> other eggs, so now they are "dirty". Is that going to affect a
hatch?
> There are pine shavings on the pen floor, but no actual nest. I
just
> found her laying on the pen floor one day, and she screeched when I
> tried to approach her, so I left her alone (and put 10 more eggs
> under her, laid that day). They are due around 2 July. I was
supposed
> to go out of town, but I've cleared my schedule for that week, and
6
> weeks after that, just in case. --Deborah.
>

Well, today my husband went out to bring all the girls their midday
snack of bean sprouts. He visited Queenie in her tractor first. Opened
the door to the run and tossed some sprouts in - DIDN'T shut the door
- went to the access door to the nest box to see her and she shot out
of the nest, across the run and out the door!

He says he should have known better, especially since she had leaned
out to see what he was doing while he was tossing the sprouts in,
which she hasn't done during her broodiness.

Anyway, she (who is usually easy to catch and pick up) kept eluding
him, so he called for reinforcements (that would be me!).

Piece of cake. I grabbed a small box of raisins, got her attention
with a couple, and then just led her back into the run with a trail of
raisins.

I think her broodiness may be ending! LOL! (And right on schedule, too
- it's been just about three weeks.)

Poor David, though - and I know just what he felt, because she did it
once to me, too, before I had discovered her love of raisins. Now it's
no big deal. She just cannot turn them down. She did do a lot of
disgruntled clucking after I got her into the run, and she's back on
the nest again.

Oh well...

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "victoryfarm" <ms-
victoryfarm@...> wrote:

> Poor David, though - and I know just what he felt, because she did it
> once to me, too, before I had discovered her love of raisins. Now it's
> no big deal. She just cannot turn them down.

Have you tried peaches? I gave my chickens a peach, and they almost
took my hand with it! Apparently, it is their favorite so far.

Phoebe is getting restless, too, but she has a little ways to go yet.

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "ddhopkinson"
<ddhopkinson@...> wrote:
>
>
> Have you tried peaches? I gave my chickens a peach, and they almost
> took my hand with it! Apparently, it is their favorite so far.
>
>


We don't eat a lot of peaches, so we don't usually have them in the
house. I'm just too fussy - like my peaches perfectly ripe, and that's
hard to find around here. Local peaches are good, but small and
harder, and there tend to be other fruit I like better at that time of
year.

But I'll keep it in mind.

It was funny, I had had a dream one night that I had gotten up at dawn
and let the chickens into the run, carefully closed the run door and
went back to bed for a couple of hours. When I got up - and this was
all just crystal clear in the dream! - I walked into the kitchen and
saw one of the girls on the back step. Instead of getting panicky and
worried (as I probably would, since we do have enough predators around
here to make it dangerous for her to be wandering free), I very calmly
went to the cupboard and got a small box of raisins out. Someone had
opened the run and then apparently couldn't catch them! LOL! But, I
figured in the dream, they left the run door open.

It was a very strange dream in that it was so very clear, and I
remained so very calm (I tend more to nightmares and "busy" dreams),
but I guess it was just practice for when Queenie got away from David.
LOL! I'll probably never worry about one of them getting away from me
again.

Mary

I'm not sure we'll be having any chicks. I came home yesterday, and
Phoebe was laying on one side of the pen, and the eggs on the other.
There was also one broken one. The shavings were wet, but there was no
sign of a chick. The egg didn't smell bad either, which I thought was
odd. I cleaned it up, and she went back to sitting on the eggs, but I
don't think things are going well.
--Deborah.

Did you know that chickens like their feet washed? Firecracker got some
stuff stuck on his feet, so I set him in the kitchen sink, and used the
sprayer to wash it off. Now, he wants his feet washed all the time!
He'll come up to me, and do this little foot dance, as if to
say, "look, look at my feet". I'll put my arm down, he'll hop on it,
and take a ride to the "kitchen spa". Geez. I'll probably need to get
him his own monogramed robe now!  ;)

Phoebe is still setting. The eggs are due tomorrow or Thurs. I probably
should invest in an incubator, though.

--Deborah

I don't think it got posted here yet, but the Charlotte Observer did a
story about a rooster that visits residents of a local nursing home.
There are two links. One is the visit, the other is Mr.Joy taking a
bath. You'll appreciate it!  :-)

Enjoy!
Mary

http://videos.charlotte.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1899707

http://videos.charlotte.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1886354

Hello all- any help would be appreciated.

Monday, I had a Dominique hen die. She seemed healthy until Sunday
night when I put her on the roost. I then noticed that she was
breathing like she had water in her throat, like wheezing and she
sneezed once. I put some Vet Med down her and rubbed it under her
wings and put some on her wattles. The next morning she must've fell
off the roost, and when she tried to walk around she'd stumble for a
minute then seem to regain her balence. She refused to drink water,
she tried to eat, but didn't. She just sat down, holding her feathers
out, breathing hard and like she had water in her throat/wheezing
loadly. I also noticed that her crop was spongy before she died.

Now, I've got another Dominique hen whom I love dearly, who is also
wheezing loudly a bit tonight. Her crop is full and seems to be hard.
She seems very healthy otherwise.

I put some Terramycin in their water in case this morning and I'm
going to add ACV to the water tomorrow.

Does anyone have any clue what on earth this could be? The weather
here has been very wet and I found some mold/mildewy spots out in the
grass in the chicken yard, could it have anything to do with the
problems?

Thanks,
Shana

Shana, I am very sorry for your loss, and this horrible trial you and
your family are going through. All of you are in my prayers. Can you
get them out of that yard?
--Deborah

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "crazy_ch1cken_lady"
<ereiley@...> wrote:
> Monday, I had a Dominique hen die.
> Now, I've got another Dominique hen whom I love dearly, who is also
> wheezing loudly a bit tonight. Her crop is full and seems to be hard.
> Thanks,
> Shana

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "Shana" <ereiley@...> wrote:
>
If she continues wheezing today I'll take her to the vet. The problem
is, my vets are as clueless as I am about chickens.
>

I had the same problem. I just did research, research,
research....asked, asked, asked. Come to find out, there was an ag
extension office only 22 miles away. How did I learn about that? A
secretary at a real estate office! The extension office didn't even
have all the answers. I learn a lot here, books, Internet, ag office,
vet office, etc. Farmers have learned that I'm a newbie to chickens,
and stop by with advice all the time. I <i>always</i> double check info
with a second resource. Good luck, and please keep us up to date, if
you can.
--Deborah

At least one of the eggs started cheeping early this morning! There are
6 left, but she was only setting on 3 when I got home. The other 3
looked dirty, so I'm wondering if that's why she shoved them off. I'm
re-reading that article you posted (thank you very much), and heading
to town for supplies.

My friend convinced me that in order to promote the breed, I will have
to be willing to sell/give away chicks (not these), so we are going in
on a good, small incubator together (because he wants some for his
yard). People stop and ask me to sell the chickens all the time. Since
he knows how to build them, I'm going to design 3-5 coop designs to
sell as well. That way, even though I cannot prevent people from eating
them, at least they will have a happy, safe environment for their
lifetime.

Hope everyone had a happy 4th!
--Deborah

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "ddhopkinson"
<ddhopkinson@...> wrote:
>
> At least one of the eggs started cheeping early this morning!


Deborah-

I'm so happy for you! Please let us know how the hatch comes out.

I decided to hatch Russian Orloffs this year, and have 2 6-week-olds
and 11 one-week-olds. Quite a handful! I REALLY wish I had had a safe
place for our broody hen to raise some of these chicks! LOL! Probably
wouldn't be so bad, but I'm trying to handle them as much as possible,
so that I can find good pet homes for the ones I don't want in my
breeding flock. That can be time-consuming with this many chicks. But
I have some people tentatively interested in adopting, and they're
more likely to go through with it if the chicks are tame.

Still thinking about raising Doms someday. I do so love my four
Dominique hens! My husband had his chair in the run with them
yesterday, and they were eating out of his hand (even the skittish
one). The braver one will jump right in his lap to check out the
offerings.

I will say that one disadvantage the ROs have over the Doms is that it
is SO hard to tell sex until they are older! I'm FAIRLY sure that one
of my older chicks is a cockerel, but not sure at all about the other
one. ROs have a tiny comb when they are adults, so you can't go by
that - that's for sure.

Dominiques are looking better and better all the time! LOL!



Good luck on the hatch!
Mary

We have at least one! Give me just a minute, and then look at my photo
album (Dominique Haven Farms).  :D
--Deborah

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "victoryfarm" <ms-
victoryfarm@...> wrote:
>
> Deborah-
>
> I'm so happy for you! Please let us know how the hatch comes out.
> Good luck on the hatch!
> Mary

--- In dominique_chickens@yahoogroups.com, "ddhopkinson"
<ddhopkinson@...> wrote:
>
> We have at least one! Give me just a minute, and then look at my photo
> album (Dominique Haven Farms).  :D
> --Deborah
>
>


Congrats, Deborah!

Just goes to show what a determined Dominique hen can do!  LOL!

(Have I mentioned that Queenie has been broody for about 5 or 6 weeks
now, with NO eggs under her? Hmmmm.....)

The photos are great - thanks so much for sharing!

Mary

Dear Lily:

Sorry to hear you're all having a tough year, medically. I know how
that can be. Hope all is going better now.

Isn't Brinsea great to deal with? I have to get in touch with them
again. My used R-Com incubator has had an ongoing issue with the
floating valve. I cleaned it (decalcified it) thoroughly, as they
recommended, but I had some trouble with it at the tail end of the
last hatch again (in spite of using distilled water). And, on top of
that, the water level indicator seems to be malfunctioning. I hope I
can get replacements for those parts, since I love the incubator
generally. But that's what I get for buying second-hand, I guess.

As to the brooder - at least you had 7 babies in it, so, hopefully,
their combined heat was enough to keep them safe. I've learned that 2
is NOT the desired number in a brooder. LOL! But David suggested
tossing an old washcloth in the brooder with them, and, sure enough,
they would snuggle down in it together. Before that, it seemed that no
matter what the temperature was in the brooder, they just weren't
happy at night.

As to the banty with the deformed leg. You know I'd help you out <big
grin> if I had any bantams to keep it company, but my new birds are
going to be even a little bigger than the Doms, so that's not a good
mix, I don't think - one little banty and a bunch of mooses! However,
I'll keep an ear open and let you know if I hear of anyone looking for
a pure pet. How old is she? And how well can she get around? (As well
as my Ginger, that I got from you?) I'll ask around.

All the best,
Mary

Brian, My two young Dominiques have been laying each day for a few weeks,
and now with four days before our county fair, I am getting nothing, one is
broody, I know, I kick her out of the nest everyday, this week I was
getting one egg a day, today nothing.  We are four eggs short of our dozen
to show on Sunday, any ideas?  Thanks, Jamie Bowman

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