Bob Blosl's Heritage Large Fowl Thread

[Fentress]

X2 it would be nice to see the set up! I cannot picture it in my mind either and I would love to see it... Please

I had multiple hatches in the main coop this summer and did not loose any chicks. When the mother hen is not dominate she does not defend the chicks well, but it did not matter in my case. The dominate hen harrassed mainly the mother hen, more so than the chicks, for just a few days and then it was over with and everything settled down. Later I had the dominate hen go broody and hatch out and everyone left them alone. The dominate hen took her chicks to the adult feeder, the chicks jumped up into the feeder and the adults backed off and just looked at each other. It was hilarious! The subordiante hens took their chicks to a creeper feeder that I had set up for them. I have lots of room for everyone, including pasture. Make sure the hens have a place to bed down with the chicks at night where they can feel secure, a corner of the coop, under something, some little hiding place. Yellow House says that eventually you will learn that the broodies have to be separate from the flock. That might be true, there is a difference of opinion on this.

I too plan to breed next year with broodies. It creates some managment issues. When do you set up your breeding pens? When your hens go broody. When do hens go broody????? I would like to have a core group of broodies that would go off more or less as a group, within 4-6 weeks of each other and preferrably in the early spring. I doubt if that will happen, maybe a game breed would do that?

mark

 

[Fentress]

P.S. these were hatchery birds, so I assume standard bred would not be more aggressive, depending on breed.

 

[Yard full o' rocks]

I had multiple hatches in the main coop this summer and did not loose any chicks. When the mother hen is not dominate she does not defend the chicks well, but it did not matter in my case. The dominate hen harrassed mainly the mother hen, more so than the chicks, for just a few days and then it was over with and everything settled down. Later I had the dominate hen go broody and hatch out and everyone left them alone. The dominate hen took her chicks to the adult feeder, the chicks jumped up into the feeder and the adults backed off and just looked at each other. It was hilarious! The subordiante hens took their chicks to a creeper feeder that I had set up for them. I have lots of room for everyone, including pasture. Make sure the hens have a place to bed down with the chicks at night where they can feel secure, a corner of the coop, under something, some little hiding place. Yellow House says that eventually you will learn that the broodies have to be separate from the flock. That might be true, there is a difference of opinion on this.

I too plan to breed next year with broodies. It creates some managment issues. When do you set up your breeding pens? When your hens go broody. When do hens go broody????? I would like to have a core group of broodies that would go off more or less as a group, within 4-6 weeks of each other and preferrably in the early spring. I doubt if that will happen, maybe a game breed would do that?

mark

Mark

I had 5 different hens brood this past season. I had 2 BLRW girls begin brooding in March, then they did again in late June. 3 of my Columbian Rocks brooded (only once each) and those were also in June

I think every area/breed is different, but I LOVE a broody raised chick, some much healthier and much more active

 

[lawatt]

If anyone is in the area...I will be judging the Baker Creek Seed Heritage Expo here in Santa Rosa today. I will also be giving an APA judges test and conducting a seminar on Delaware chickens at 5:30. Say hello if you are on here.

w.

i'm hoping to be there sometime this afternoon, and will definitely say hi!
laura

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

X2 it would be nice to see the set up! I cannot picture it in my mind either and I would love to see it... Please

Yeah, sorry. I should have started with this ... Here is a link to a thread about building it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700786/greenhouse-coop-conversion

Check the end of that thread for a photo of how we added a separate fourth section of coop at the "top" with a shed between the main house and the single section room.

There is also a portable (with the forks on the big tractor) "pallet" coop and run across the yard from the main coop. We are using that for the ducks, but it could be repurposed. It is about 6 x 8 if I remember correctly.

 

[Fentress]

Mark

I had 5 different hens brood this past season. I had 2 BLRW girls begin brooding in March, then they did again in late June. 3 of my Columbian Rocks brooded (only once each) and those were also in June

I think every area/breed is different, but I LOVE a broody raised chick, some much healthier and much more active

I love them too and I am going to figure out a way to make it work. Due to a variety of issues (basically me being unprepared and experimenting with differenct methods) I observed that once they go broody, you can hold them for 2 weeks or longer before you set the eggs. They can't count! So, if I had to, after the hen(s) go broody, I could pull the breeders from the flock, set up the pens (chicken tractor), wait a week for the hen to clear from her past matings and then take the eggs for the broodies. How do you do it?

Mark

 

[aveca]

Thank you Lual ! We are very pleased.

Thanks Lual..We had a great time, great people and beautiful scenery lots to do in the area..so the hubbys dont get chicken showed out LOL ...there was a car show up the street and assortment of other things that kept the men occupied so it was nice for everyone..Im novice and still have a ton of things to learn and learned a few lessons this weekend like cost myself a bigger award with a little condition issue..But now I know so thats a good thing and I know how to handle that now..so its a constant learning curve..I used to clean body clip and braid dressage horses and Was very nit picky..I would not have a hair out of place in those pinwheel braided tails / manes..put on the spit shine...but when when Docs said no more horses, this has been a good replacement for me..at first the feathers freaked me out a bit , cant body clip off the bleached out stuff to new shine LOL..whole new ball game..

 

[chickadoodles]

Yeah, sorry. I should have started with this ... Here is a link to a thread about building it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/700786/greenhouse-coop-conversion

Check the end of that thread for a photo of how we added a separate fourth section of coop at the "top" with a shed between the main house and the single section room.

There is also a portable (with the forks on the big tractor) "pallet" coop and run across the yard from the main coop. We are using that for the ducks, but it could be repurposed. It is about 6 x 8 if I remember correctly.

Wow I love your set up! That is so nice! Thank you so much for sharing the pics with me.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I too plan to breed next year with broodies. It creates some managment issues. When do you set up your breeding pens? When your hens go broody. When do hens go broody????? I would like to have a core group of broodies that would go off more or less as a group, within 4-6 weeks of each other and preferrably in the early spring. I doubt if that will happen, maybe a game breed would do that?

mark

Mark, so far I'm working with hatchery birds, too. I figure there might be some surprises when I get the real birds, but I'm hoping we've set up decent, secure housing, reliable water, and have great feed sourced by then. Those are the things I've been really thinking about so far.

It seems there is a very good supply of broodies in the spring, and throughout the summer, with the occasional fall/winter broody. Unless/until I'm getting a TON of eggs I want to hatch all at once (hardly likely with only two hens in my first trio), I think this should cover my needs at first, but of course I'd be on THEIR schedule, more or less -- you can't force a bird to either lay or go broody, but you can keep eggs or broodies "on hold" for a while while you prepare the clutch.

My previous partner kept trying to get me to bring in a bunch of silkies to do the brooding/mothering, but we had two totally different opinions on managing silkies, and I refused to bring them here unless I could provide safe and comfortable housing for them, which for me meant their own coop/run that doesn't get any mud in the winter (hahahahaha!). And I'd rather figure out a system of raising decent quantities of birds that doesn't involve too many different coops ... IF that's reasonable ... save the separate housing for the breeding birds.

So far I'm counting coops/runs like this ...

First Season:
* One coop & run for the first trio.
* The main Coop/runs for the laying hens and broodies
* A Cockerel grow-out coop/run once the males become annoying

Second Season:
* X more houses/runs for more breeders?

And so on ...

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Wow I love your set up! That is so nice! Thank you so much for sharing the pics with me.

Thanks! It is very nice to read that.