Broody Hen Off Nest a Lot

[cmom]

I just got done dunking a whole bunch of Dorking Austrolorp and GLW in water and chucking them in rabbit cages. 6 of them had a zero percent success rate. They are broody, but not broody enough to actually hatch eggs. Just enough to be annoying. Compared to my games that have had a near %100 success rate. Had some flooding is the only problem the games have had, but the one that lost a clutch is back on eggs. Never again on the crappy "heritage" breed broody hens, but that is what I said last time.

My Heritage "pure standard" breeds are my best broody's.

 

[varidgerunner]

I hatch several hundred chicks a year under broodies. The heritage bred standards just don't do it for me. I like a bird that you know is going to go broody, not a bird that I think might go broody. They should start at 6 or 8 months old and raise 3 or 4 clutches a year, every hen, not just one or two out of a group of ten. I like them to start in february and keep going until october. No quitting, giving up, deciding another nest full of eggs is better. I also like for them to either eat or carry off the bad eggs, makes for better hatches. Some of mine will carry them 100 feet from the nest if they are able. The heavy build and fluffy feathers on most standard bred chickens don't help them any, my best ones are light and shed off all belly and leg feathers. The fluffy birds carry too much junk into the nest, and then they break one or two, and next thing you know you have a clutch of five or six instead of 12 or 15. I usually give mine 3 eggs per pound of hen. I especially like the ones that come out of the woods with a dozen half grown chicks that I've never seen before. Those are the ones I try to catch and put in a breeding pen, after they pull that off for several years.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

We all do things differently based on our circumstances.
What breeds do you use? Games?
You must not live in the US or anywhere there are tons of predators afoot.
I think hens and eggs on a nest in the woods here might make it to the second night.

 

[varidgerunner]

I am very much in the US. I have games. Tons of predators. Fox coyotes hawks bobcats possums coons skunks owls eagles mink and bears. Had turkeys, guineas, and different kinds of chickens through the years. Game chickens have been the only thing that increased to above stocking levels. They have plenty of cover here, they will use that to their advantage. I do provide some predator control, but basically they hang around where there is larger livestock and they spend a lot of time around my kennels where I keep a few hounds. Favorite roosting spot. Turkeys and guineas wandered too far into the open. I still lose a few chickens. Natural culling, the dumb slow ones have no place passing on their genes. The good proven ones get some layer eggs put under them if I know where their nest is. The very best go in a breeding pen. I want chickens to eat waste grain and spread poop and eat bugs and ticks. Sometimes I have to cull aggressively when the hordes of woods grown game chickens start to become a nuisance around the barn getting into things. Possums, coons and skunks will be removed if they get to familiar with the place. If a fox, coyote or bobcat gets one I am overjoyed, because that bird was not alert enough for my program or didn't know how to pick a good place to roost or nest. Those predators need their energy to provide hours of entertainment to the hounds. Don't have much problem out of hawks, keep a rooster loose that could probably take them, and the hens and young usually listen for him to tell them when it is time to hide. Yard roosters are seldom straight American Game, they usually have some oriental influence so instead of a four and a half pound bird he is more like seven. I pick one that is not too hot, keeps the stags in line, but doesn't go out of his way to kill them before I have a chance to pick through them and look at toe punch marks and put them in the eat, sell, or keep and watch develop pens. I hear owls all the time, I guess they don't like the dense branches over the dog pens where chickens prefer to roost. I don't think any nest real close, because I leave crows alone around here and have a huge flock that share the carcass pile with the chickens. The owls and hawks don't really have a good vantage point to get the feel of the place, because all the big trees with dead limbs have had a date with Mr. Chainsaw.

 

[varidgerunner]

There are predators in southeast asia and there are wild chicken progenitors there as well, still surviving just fine. Doles, mongoose, tigers come to mind but I am sure there are plenty others. The key is that the chicken is a forest creature, if there is no forest, they can't evade predators. The rooster sounds an alarm, the hens and chicks hide, and the rooster either leads the threat away or meets it head on. He must be able to dodge and weave through the forest if he has to escape. He isn't going to win a foot race with a canine, he isn't going to win a soaring competition with a hawk. Give him a multiflora rose bush or two under a canopy of trees (and a few junk cars and farm implements) and you will lose more blood than he will if you try to catch him. Cover, it's all about cover. If you have birds that know how to use it. A proper hen on a nest gives off very little scent. If her nest is full of poop, fouled and rotten eggs it does, but a properly maintained nest site does not. Not if the hen sets tight and doesn't move a feather. If her first twelve eggs went undisturbed for the days it took her to lay them, she is inclined to believe that her nest site is not on a main predator runway, and it is worth setting on. The main threat facing wild chickens is the mixing of chickens that have been intensively dumbed down over many generations for human use. They have coexisted with predators for millennia.

 

[cmom]

We all do things differently based on our circumstances.
What breeds do you use? Games?
You must not live in the US or anywhere there are tons of predators afoot.
I think hens and eggs on a nest in the woods here might make it to the second night.

I agree what works for you may not work for others. I prefer to put my eggs in an incubator and also hatch out a few hundred chicks yearly. I have game cameras in different places and most nights see plenty of predators roaming around on my property.

 

[varidgerunner]

I have game cameras as well. Had three different bear last week, and a host of other smaller predators.