My new little flock (14 hens, 2 roosters) is just about 8 months old, and have been laying for the last several months now. I've got a hen thats gone broody, and we havent let her keep any of the eggs (yet).
The poor little girl will will find one of the other nest boxes with a couple eggs in it, and claim those for her own, till we gather the eggs on our daily egg collection.
So anyways, a couple questions, to decide if i should let her sit on a clutch....
A: it's the end of Sept, and southern Alabama can run a little cool in the winter. Any concerns about winter temps for the chicks?
B: this is a young flock, and this would be the 1st chicks born into the flock. Not sure if the flock might be to immature still, to deal with newborn chicks... (the broody is pretty good at protecting "her" nest and eggs from the other hens tho), so maybe that translates to protecting the chicks from my immature flocks aggressions?
C: what might be a suggestion for how many eggs should i let her have, especially this 1st time around? I've got plenty of room for some new pullets, but not much need, so this is pretty much for the broody hens benefit, and my fun in letting it happen...
The poor little girl will will find one of the other nest boxes with a couple eggs in it, and claim those for her own, till we gather the eggs on our daily egg collection.
So anyways, a couple questions, to decide if i should let her sit on a clutch....
A: it's the end of Sept, and southern Alabama can run a little cool in the winter. Any concerns about winter temps for the chicks?
B: this is a young flock, and this would be the 1st chicks born into the flock. Not sure if the flock might be to immature still, to deal with newborn chicks... (the broody is pretty good at protecting "her" nest and eggs from the other hens tho), so maybe that translates to protecting the chicks from my immature flocks aggressions?
C: what might be a suggestion for how many eggs should i let her have, especially this 1st time around? I've got plenty of room for some new pullets, but not much need, so this is pretty much for the broody hens benefit, and my fun in letting it happen...
