BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

Maybe that is what I am doing wrong here ... I want broodies.

That's gotta be it! When I wanted to them to be broody none of them would cooperate. But as soon as I decided "no more hatching for three months", four of my girls almost simultaneously turned broody.

 

[bnjrob]

Maybe that is what I am doing wrong here ... I want broodies.

My first thought is where did you get your chickens? If from a feed store/hatchery and not from a breeder of standard-bred birds, that may be why they aren't going broody. Of course even an SOP breeder could be selecting away from broodiness if they have gotten frustrated with too many broody birds like mine seem to be sometimes.

 

[draye]

My first thought is where did you get your chickens?  If from a feed store/hatchery and not from a breeder of standard-bred birds, that may be why they aren't going broody.  Of course even an SOP breeder could be selecting away from broodiness if they have gotten frustrated with too many broody birds like mine seem to be sometimes.

I've got mostly hatchery chickens and there are plenty that try to go broody.

 

[bnjrob]

I've got mostly hatchery chickens and there are plenty that try to go broody.

Yes, hatchery birds do go broody. But it is bred away from due to the fact that hatcheries require large quantities of chicks and broodiness decreases number of eggs hatched. Hatchery birds do not tend to go as broody as often, or in as large of numbers, as birds that have been selected for broodiness or at least not culled for broodiness. My friends with hatchery birds do not have broodies in nearly the number or the amount of time as I have in my flock, where most of the hens go broody and do it very frequently.

 

[dfr1973]

My first thought is where did you get your chickens? If from a feed store/hatchery and not from a breeder of standard-bred birds, that may be why they aren't going broody. Of course even an SOP breeder could be selecting away from broodiness if they have gotten frustrated with too many broody birds like mine seem to be sometimes.

The "Wheaties" come from Luanne and have a solid track record of setting golf balls for weeks on end. The bantam crosses I picked up at a farm swap, and did not expect them to go broody (dunno why). The Flashy Girls are from ideal hatchery and I am not expecting them to set much if at all, same with the still-too-young Pretties from Cackle Hatchery. The Silkies from Cackle are also still too young.

Maybe I ought to go out there and inform them I now have an electric incubator and don't need them to set eggs now?

My neighbor has broodies from both the farm swap and from Ideal hatchery ... she just has the best luck when it comes to setting hens. Or maybe it's because she doesn't collect eggs every day.

 

[bnjrob]

The "Wheaties" come from Luanne and have a solid track record of setting golf balls for weeks on end. The bantam crosses I picked up at a farm swap, and did not expect them to go broody (dunno why). The Flashy Girls are from ideal hatchery and I am not expecting them to set much if at all, same with the still-too-young Pretties from Cackle Hatchery. The Silkies from Cackle are also still too young.

Maybe I ought to go out there and inform them I now have an electric incubator and don't need them to set eggs now?

My neighbor has broodies from both the farm swap and from Ideal hatchery ... she just has the best luck when it comes to setting hens. Or maybe it's because she doesn't collect eggs every day.

Have you tried making the nestbox darker? I had to staple up a feedsack curtain of sorts over the nestbox to get one group of hens to lay in the nestbox instead of on the ground. When I did that, then they really wanted to be broody more often.

Yeah, could be that your neighbor not collecting every day causes it more often. I've had problems when I put a fake egg in a nestbox to give a stupid pullet or hen the hint on where they are supposed to lay - and they go broody on a fake egg after it stays in there more than just a couple of days.

The last couple of years I've been fighting broodies left and right. It's a good thing and a bad thing.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Maybe I ought to go out there and inform them I now have an electric incubator and don't need them to set eggs now?

I'm sure that'll do it. Mine do the opposite of what I want as well. I swear, chickens are really cats with feathers...

- Ant Farm

 

[hellbender]

The "Wheaties" come from Luanne and have a solid track record of setting golf balls for weeks on end. The bantam crosses I picked up at a farm swap, and did not expect them to go broody (dunno why). The Flashy Girls are from ideal hatchery and I am not expecting them to set much if at all, same with the still-too-young Pretties from Cackle Hatchery. The Silkies from Cackle are also still too young.

Maybe I ought to go out there and inform them I now have an electric incubator and don't need them to set eggs now?

My neighbor has broodies from both the farm swap and from Ideal hatchery ... she just has the best luck when it comes to setting hens. Or maybe it's because she doesn't collect eggs every day.

Go out and inform them you have an Old Hickory Butcher Knife...Ought to do the trick.

 

[dfr1973]

I swear, chickens are really cats with feathers...

- Ant Farm

Hubby has made that exact same comparison before ... although IMO chickens are a little easier to catch than cats (especially on flea treatment day).

 

[dfr1973]

Have you tried making the nestbox darker? I had to staple up a feedsack curtain of sorts over the nestbox to get one group of hens to lay in the nestbox instead of on the ground. When I did that, then they really wanted to be broody more often.

Yeah, could be that your neighbor not collecting every day causes it more often. I've had problems when I put a fake egg in a nestbox to give a stupid pullet or hen the hint on where they are supposed to lay - and they go broody on a fake egg after it stays in there more than just a couple of days.

The last couple of years I've been fighting broodies left and right. It's a good thing and a bad thing.

I will try the "privacy curtain" idea ... cut-up feed bag, as I refuse to make ruffled or lace curtains for the hens. They have golf balls, and half end up out on the ground on any given day. Since the ones who ought to go broody are not any of my breeders, I would consider it a good thing, but I can understand how frustrating it can be when your breeding hens want to set instead of lay.

I am also thinking of changing out cockerels in there, to one who has already gone beak-to-beak with Bossy and got her to back down. If it isn't pouring down rain tonight, I have some chicken moving to do.