Buy Chicks or Eggs or Lets See What Happens?

[vlflower]

Lost my flock of girls last summer to a fisher. Last fall I purchased a few mixed pullets locally, close to the laying age. They have just started to lay over the last couple of weeks YAY!

Turns out one of them is a Roo! Soooo, my question is do I wait it out and see if anyone goes broody or go ahead and buy some babies now. Never had a Roo before and honestly didnt want one, but he is friendly and beautiful so as long as he behaves he can stay lol.

If I choose to let somebody hatch out a batch, will the babies be safe with the momma in the run with the others? Just looking for opinions and previous experiences. If they babies will be safe, I may go the wait and see route...otherwise if I have to set up the brooder anyway, I may just get them now and start them sooner.

Thanks as always!

 

[SweetProvidence]

I have the same questions for down the road. Commenting to follow the answers you receive.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It depends on how badly you want chicks. There is not telling when or if any of your hens will go broody. On rare occasions a pullet will go broody not that long after she starts to lay, but that is really rare. Some hens never go broody. You can’t control that.

If you want to control whether you have chicks or not, you have two options. Either buy chicks or buy an incubator. Don’t depend on a broody at least not until you get some knowledge of your flock and their broody behavior.

Will the chicks be safe in the run with a broody? Can you drive to the grocery store and absolutely guarantee you won’t have an accident, whether it is your fault or someone else’s? These things don’t come with guarantees. I just read two threads on here where chicks died in a brooder. No adults involved.

Broody hens have been raising chicks with the flock for thousands of years. Enough of them make it that chickens are not extinct. Sometimes things happen. I once had a broody that killed about half her chicks when they hatched, but raised the other half. I had a two week old chick kill its hatchmate while the broody watched. Neither of those had anything to do with the other hens in the flock. I’ve never had a problem with a dominant rooster around chicks. It’s not an every time thing but usually the dominant rooster helps Mama take care of her chicks. They are living animals. I’m sure someone somewhere has had a problem with a dominant rooster around chicks, but I never have. I have on occasion seen Mama whip the butt of a hen that she thought was threatening her babies, but others occasionally report their broody hen did not do that. Most of my broody hens raise all the chicks they hatch.

I do think how much room you have makes a difference. If Mama has enough room to work with she usually does an excellent job of raising her babies. If space is tight it can be harder for her. But if space is that tight, you probably don’t have enough room for more chickens anyway.

 

[donrae]

What breeds are your hens? If they're production breeds, I wouldn't wait around for them to go broody. If you have some classic broodies--silkies, game hens, cochins, brahmas, orptingtons--you can give it a while and see if anyone's tempted.

Out of my hatchery production type birds, I've had LOTS over the years. I think I've had a total of 4 go broody. Pretty small percentage.

I keep my broodies with their flock and haven't had issues. Just make sure everyone has space and you'll be fine. You will need to have a plan for the ~50% roosters you're going to hatch out, though.

 

[vlflower]

Thanks for the input. I think Im going to end up either getting some hatching eggs or wait and grab some pullets from the feed store that my son in law works at. We thought we had a couple of EEs but even though they have the greenish legs I am only getting brown eggs so Im thinking their breeds were well crossed from the people I got them from. Im not too picky about that....just really missed getting the eggs.

Space isnt an issue...if I added 10 more it would bring me back up to where I was before the fisher came through. Guess we will let nature takes its course with what I have. Maybe hatch out some EE eggs from the Swap group I am with. I should be able to get rid of EE Roos through the swaps too. Now just have to learn how to tell the difference lol!

Thanks again! I know I can always get great input here!

 

[Mrs. K]

haha- generally Donrae and I agree, but I have had several hatchery birds go broody. Buff Orpingtons have several times for me, and my very first broody hen was a breed that is NEVER suppose to go broody!

If you get one, don't bug it, leave her alone is my advice, she knows more about being a chicken than any of us. But I do agree, in my experience, they don't go broody until they are a bit more than a year old.

mk