I agree that it seems like a broody boot camp! I am really starting to believe that it is more environmental than genetic, I had 2 hens go broody who were raised by a broody but their parent stock is not broody type at all.... so I seriously think the power of suggestion can be a very strong thing. The group broods I am still trying to figure out. I can understand the ones who were raised together as 'sisters' being more prone to it, but the communal attitude with the chicks has really been evolving over the past couple of years and I have seen 2 different young hens 'drop off' their chicks to an older broody with chicks of the same age in the evening and then go up to roost on the shelves... in the morning they come down, pick up their own 'kids' and head outside to start their day. The two young hens who did it are actual sisters and I have never seen that from any of our other hens. It is amazing to watch the 'babysitter' just shuffle the extras in for the night. Rarely do any hens fuss about a 'neighbor kid' stopping in for a visit. We have a security camera in the coop with night vision, it is cute to watch the little ones spill out of nests in the evening one or two at a time, run to the waterer and then head to different box for a visit, then eventually end up back with their own broody. As far as the easy part... we have been blessed, but their have been some heartaches along the way, which is an inherent danger when raising chicks in a flock scenarios. We have had a couple of unexplained fatalities found in the fenced run which we attributed to chicks being stepped on by big birds who weren't paying attention and a few who died overnight in the nests with the hens who may have been natural or suffocation, but no way to tell. Using large fowl broodies can be a frustrating thing for eggs being at risk of breaking during the brood or a few even broken when non-broody hens decided to hop in the broody's nest to lay their egg for the day. A few of the hens we provide more separation for, but I don't want to have to set up totally new areas and keep the chicks separate through the entire brood... I hate seeing these things happen, but DH and I have talked about the safeguards and risks and we just still come back to the fact that we prefer the flock environment for our goals in our coop. I love your set up.Fisher: All your girls do well...you flock is broody bootcamp....you always have many and have reported numerous 'group broods'....imho, you have it way to easy...loltotally agree...Auro: I've seen this too...everything changes in a flock every day...your midnight may regain her dominant status after the brood or others my claim the space....midnight may be comfortable being a mid level girl or may exert her dominance...may take months to know....
. Enable much?Doesn't it make us feel better to know someone else is even crazier. I wonder if the normal people around you will think you're less crazy if you tell them about people like me? On the topic of incubators, Jeffers has an incubator on sale for $35. Still air and no turner, but it's digital and those seem to have more powerful heaters than the ones with wafers. It is super easy to add a computer fan for free and I prefer a separate, low-power fan for use as a hatcher because I think air flow worsens shrink wrapping, so I unplug the fan when the chicks are starting to hatch, and only turn it on again if the humidity spikes above 90%. If you want to try an incubator and need it to be cheap, or if you are thinking about adding a separate hatcher, you might want to go look at it.over one hundred more than last year! And I thought it was crazy that I went from 15 to 28! Lol.
Little Giant Digital Incubator
The snow storm that didn't happen has made my little lady one unhappy girl (except for this pic, it was her 5th birthday last week). She has even taken to bad mouthing Tom Clark (he knows nothing and fibs and Santa will not be stopping at his house!) Out of the mouth of babes! What a cutie you've got! I hope the hot pepper works out for you and LMP. I'm going to start trying the hot pepper seeds today. Our egg count has been terrible. I'm thinking we may be at a spot where our old girls are stopping and the new ones haven't started but not sure. I actually had to buy eggs at the store. As far as the coyotes, they are very brazen. We've had one on the porch. I won't let my daughter go out with me to feed right now and the dog is escorted at night when he goes out. I'm calling my nephew and his buddies and going to organize a hunt.This is the third day of hot pepper seeds..they are eating like mad-birds..but still no eggs...i am a very patient person ..sometimes..they will have the rest of the week for hot seeds..then I will have to start squeezing them!! Hope everyone made out okay with the "snow storm"...we are very fortunate, didn't get a thing here in central PA.