Broody Hen Thread!

[crealbilly]

Best of luck
Can't wait to see pics ..of the redo and chicks ♡♡

This might just work out pretty well. I have 13 Jumbo Cornish Cross roos in a ajacent 165 sqft fenced in section of the chicken yard I'm going to process June 4th. After I'm done I could clean that area out and throw down a new bale of hay and put hen and her chicks in there until the chicks get big enough to join the rest of the flock.

I think I have a plan now... Thanks for helping me think through all of this.

BTW chicken Poop on top of hay makes for some awesome garden fertlizer. Just don't get any on the plants it will burn them. I like to till mine in a little beyond the plants leaf drip line. I grow some huge tomatoes this way. Cornish crosses generate a aewful lot of poop.

 

[WildHens]

This might just work out pretty well. I have 13 Jumbo Cornish Cross roos in a ajacent 165 sqft fenced in section of the chicken yard I'm going to process June 4th. After I'm done I could clean that area out and throw down a new bale of hay and put hen and her chicks in there until the chicks get big enough to join the rest of the flock.

I think I have a plan now... Thanks for helping me think through all of this.

BTW chicken Poop on top of hay makes for some awesome garden fertlizer. Just don't get any on the plants it will burn them. I like to till mine in a little beyond the plants leaf drip line. I grow some huge tomatoes this way. Cornish crosses generate a aewful lot of poop.

My father in law has been trying to grow grass on this bank behind their house for the past 2 years. I kept telling him to come out and get some of my older compost (99% stuff from coops and runs, with a little horse poo in there).. he kept telling me it wouldn't help, it's all clay dirt, nothing will ever grow..
So back in February, I took out as many buckets as I could fit in the back of my SUV and spent the day spreading it all over his bank..
This past Sunday I went out for Mother's Day, and his bank is covered in the prettiest green grass, one of their in laws from out of state commented about how much brighter the grass was compared to the rest of his yard and I just started laughing...

I have a converted horse stall that is my broody pen.. everyone can still see everyone, but no one but mom and dad can physically get to the babies. And everything is ground level or close (but I also use mainly Silkies as broodies and they're most comfortable low)..

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Yes it appears we caught the humidity problem just in the nik of time we now have 5 chicks out and 2 more that are finishing up their hatches.

Here is a pic of the first 4...

 

[Lady of McCamley]

This might just work out pretty well. I have 13 Jumbo Cornish Cross roos in a ajacent 165 sqft fenced in section of the chicken yard I'm going to process June 4th. After I'm done I could clean that area out and throw down a new bale of hay and put hen and her chicks in there until the chicks get big enough to join the rest of the flock.

I think I have a plan now... Thanks for helping me think through all of this.

BTW chicken Poop on top of hay makes for some awesome garden fertlizer. Just don't get any on the plants it will burn them. I like to till mine in a little beyond the plants leaf drip line. I grow some huge tomatoes this way. Cornish crosses generate a aewful lot of poop.

That sounds like a real plan.

And yes, CX produce a LOT of smelly poop. (So do turkeys, btw).

But even with layers, I've got plenty of poo. I too use the deep litter method only I've gone to pine shavings which makes a really nice mulch and disperses the poo better in my clay soil. (I had trouble with weeds from the grass seeds in the hay/straw bales and failure of the straw to mulch as well).

My farmer daughter and son-in-law drool when they see my soil.

I rarely have to dig out my own runs now. I've got friends and neighbors with gardens who come over, cheerfully, smiling, with buckets and shovels, who do that for me (there's a bit of Tom Sawyer in my soul.)

LofMc

 

[microchick]

LofMc I had the same revelation yesterday. I went out and turned over a shovel full of soil under some deep litter compost that I started in the spring and was astounded by the rich black color of the soil and it's smooth texture. I'm a believer. In fact I just went out and got a flower pot full of the black gold for myself. Who needs composted any kind of manure that comes in a bag when you have a flock that willing turns food into fertilizer for you.

 

[WildHens]

That sounds like a real plan.

And yes, CX produce a LOT of smelly poop. (So do turkeys, btw).

But even with layers, I've got plenty of poo. I too use the deep litter method only I've gone to pine shavings which makes a really nice mulch and disperses the poo better in my clay soil. (I had trouble with weeds from the grass seeds in the hay/straw bales and failure of the straw to mulch as well).

My farmer daughter and son-in-law drool when they see my soil.

I rarely have to dig out my own runs now. I've got friends and neighbors with gardens who come over, cheerfully, smiling, with buckets and shovels, who do that for me (there's a bit of Tom Sawyer in my soul.)  

LofMc

Last spring I posted an ad for free topsoil/compost..just told people to bring a truck and shovel n I'd help them load it.. everyone thought the ad was a misprint bc it said free...lol.. I'm all "listen, I've got more than I can use, why not.." I had people driving from over 2 hours away to get truckloads..

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Yes 6th chick is out and 7th Just finished hatching...thanks everyone for the prays and well wishes for this clutch i thought for sure we were going to lose most if not all of them when i found out how high they had the humidity set too.....sadly we just lost the 6th chick they said there was a lot of blood in its egg and well just guess it was just one of those things.

Fly free little fluffy chick
over the rainbow bridge where MellowYellow will be happy
to have a little sib
to love and show where
all the best treats are

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Last spring I posted an ad for free topsoil/compost..just told people to bring a truck and shovel n I'd help them load it.. everyone thought the ad was a misprint bc it said free...lol.. I'm all "listen, I've got more than I can use, why not.." I had people driving from over 2 hours away to get truckloads..

Heh, heh, yup....my friends are now contacting ME about spring time...so, how are the runs doing....do you need some help cleaning them????

LofMc I had the same revelation yesterday. I went out and turned over a shovel full of soil under some deep litter compost that I started in the spring and was astounded by the rich black color of the soil and it's smooth texture. I'm a believer. In fact I just went out and got a flower pot full of the black gold for myself. Who needs composted any kind of manure that comes in a bag when you have a flock that willing turns food into fertilizer for you.

And yes...it is black gold...deep rich composted soil. My soil used to be solid clay...as in the kind you could make bricks or pots with. I tried years of treatments...then I got chickens. Now I've got soil that my daughter and SIL would willingly haul back to their farm if it weren't half way across the nation....they got their own flock of chickens to help compost their soil. (Actually, 4 of those birds ARE my chickens....those they did haul across the nation.)

Yes, those lovely little ladies....making eggs for my breakfast, eating all those harmful bugs, and creating glorious soil to grow wonderful things...and providing hours of entertainment (without needing to be walked!)

LofMc

 

[the poppster]

Well here I go again! Just ordered 10 White Broiler Hatching eggs from Meyer Hatchery for the screaming broody hen I have...she Ghosts from one nest to another....and Screams as soon as you start to pick eggs....she needs something to do! And until I found out about the Broiler Hatching Eggs...I couldn't decide if I wanted to mess with chicks this summer, and I don't need 25 meat birds right now. If this works out it will be perfect. Has anyone else hatched broiler eggs? If so, how did it go?

 

[crealbilly]

Heh, heh, yup....my friends are now contacting ME about spring time...so, how are the runs doing....do you need some help cleaning them????



And yes...it is black gold...deep rich composted soil. My soil used to be solid clay...as in the kind you could make bricks or pots with. I tried years of treatments...then I got chickens. Now I've got soil that my daughter and SIL would willingly haul back to their farm if it weren't half way across the nation....they got their own flock of chickens to help compost their soil. (Actually, 4 of those birds ARE my chickens....those they did haul across the nation.)

Yes, those lovely little ladies....making eggs for my breakfast, eating all those harmful bugs, and creating glorious soil to grow wonderful things...and providing hours of entertainment (without needing to be walked!)

LofMc

you know I don't think I could have said it any better... Black Gold is right.