BREEDING FOR PRODUCTION...EGGS AND OR MEAT.

[DesertChic]

Well, Mama Lily is still super broody and wants to sit on those eggs, but she is definitely NOT ready for them to hatch. The first chick hatched, and she proceeded to try to kill it.

I rescued it in time and it is now the lone chick in the brooder and doing well.

 

[ronott1]

Well, Mama Lily is still super broody and wants to sit on those eggs, but she is definitely NOT ready for them to hatch. The first chick hatched, and she proceeded to try to kill it.

I rescued it in time and it is now the lone chick in the brooder and doing well.

That happens!

Try again after a couple of days and see if she will accept them.

Do you have an incubator for hatching?

 

[DesertChic]

That happens!

Try again after a couple of days and see if she will accept them.

Do you have an incubator for hatching?

Yep. The remaining eggs are back in the incubator and wiggling around like crazy.

 

[Kev]

That happens!

Try again after a couple of days and see if she will accept them.

Do you have an incubator for hatching?

Has any one really had an hen accept chicks after a week or less of brooding though?

I used to set and hatch peafowl eggs under hens and eventually most chicks due to dander allergies.

Never had a hen gladly accept and become mother to chicks within a week of setting.

2 weeks is generally better but some mothers were a bit lackluster about it.. either not leaving the nest on her own will and/or did not mother the babies as 'strongly'.

3 weeks onwards normally gives expected results- very excited mother, etc.

Seems the hormonal cycle is very important for the average hen. I'm sure there are exceptions, there always are.. but as a general rule with hundreds of hens and quite a lot of settings showed 2 1/2 weeks gave the best mothering results on average.

 

[ronott1]

Has any one really had an hen accept chicks after a week or less of brooding though?

I used to set and hatch peafowl eggs under hens and eventually most chicks due to dander allergies.

Never had a hen gladly accept and become mother to chicks within a week of setting.

2 weeks is generally better but some mothers were a bit lackluster about it.. either not leaving the nest on her own will and/or did not mother the babies as 'strongly'.

3 weeks onwards normally gives expected results- very excited mother, etc.

Seems the hormonal cycle is very important for the average hen. I'm sure there are exceptions, there always are.. but as a general rule with hundreds of hens and quite a lot of settings showed 2 1/2 weeks gave the best mothering results on average.

I have not had them accept soon after going broody either. I think that is correct.

 

[ronott1]

Yep. The remaining eggs are back in the incubator and wiggling around like crazy.

Good!

She will likely kill any that hatch.

You might need to wait a couple more weeks and get some from a feed store for her--after the hormones kick in.

Do you raise Cornish X for meat?

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

Ok well I just want to let everyone know how my hatch went it's not to good because my family opens the incubator every 20 minutes and suffocated the chicks that were already internally piped so we got 4 chicks but sadly one passed this morning and the other three are doing good and the one has splayed legs and he is having those fixed and I had it on yesterday and I took it off and found that he has gotten better on his feet and he still don't walk the best on and uneven surface that can move out from under his feet but he walks good on the floor but still not the best so I put his thing back on and he is in the incubator because the other two are over a week old and is to rowdy for him yet. But out of 14 eggs we got three chicks so pretty sucky hatch and today is to windy for the baby's to go outside and play the two older ones not the baby. But with my last hatch it was nice out and I had the baby's outside the day they hatched and they loved it every day when I would come to get them they were at the door ready to go tear up the grass and take a bath in the sand that I made them a little sand box. But any ways just an update I will let u know how the baby walks in a few days I am hoping that once he gets a little bit more up and not as tired he will figure it out how to walk a bit better.

that's a shame, it really is best to leave things be and be patient while eggs are hatching- hope you have better luck with the next hatch.

 

[DesertChic]

Good!

She will likely kill any that hatch.

You might need to wait a couple more weeks and get some from a feed store for her--after the hormones kick in.

Do you raise Cornish X for meat?

No, my focus is on the Naked Necks, but I hope to add some Dark Cornish to their bloodline in the near future.

 

[gevshiba]

The feral hog "epidemic" is one of the biggest government grandstanding schemes perpetrated on the populace in our times. Government biologist goes on TV on one of the fiftyleven Hogzilla shows, next thing you know, people are shocked and outraged and government biologists have job security for the next hundred years. Fact is, without constant restocking efforts, (usually thanks to fenced hunting preserves) or a darned near tropical climate, hogs populations don't do what the reality shows tell you they do. West Virginia is a working example of that, they have been coddling those things for thirty years, non-residents can't even shoot them, residents can only shoot one a year, and you would have to look real hard to ever see one or the evidence of one.

Interesting that this came up today. I caught this guy as I was driving down the road this morning. We see them all the time. As you can see, they don't care what time of day it is. Here in TX, these are prolific pests. It's always open season on wild pigs. The only ones restocking here are the pigs, themselves. Last year I saw a herd with 4 females. I couldn't count all the piglets, they were everywhere. I haven't seen them this year, but they were up tearing up the horse pasture and there were piglet tracks galore.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I never seen any before here in pa