BYC Café

[MysteryChicken]

It's pretty bad when you want something other then eggs for breakfast, & you have nothing else, but 4 dozen eggs in the fridge.
This is my issue right now.

 

[Building Bridges]

Two eggs were zipping when I left this morning

Peeps on the way!!!

 

[FortCluck]

Peeps on the way!!!

I might have to help one. I'm waiting till tonight though. Both looked to be white. One isn't smart and can't get out

 

[ValerieJ]

Happy anniversary @sourland and Princess!

 

[ValerieJ]

@FortCluck sorry about your grandfather.

Have fun at the swim meet!

 

[Shadrach]

I am interested to know what the options and keeping arrangements are that encourage broodiness. Not to use them, but to make sure my chickens don’t have them available. I hate broody breaking.

Only a few of my girls are not hatchery birds. Two of my oldest came from a nearby breeder and then four other hens were hatched here, so I will have to agree most of mine are of the, what did you call it, “not a chicken anymore” variety. Which is okay with me. They kept the part of being a chicken that I like, the egg laying.

But all joking aside now, I understand what you are saying and find it very believable. And if it weren’t for the intense broodiness of the chicken, the dinosaur kinfolk would no longer be here. If I were to allow “nature to take its course,” in due time the birds I kept would most likely begin changing back to real chickens, procreating as they were meant. I do believe that the concept of “backyard chickening” would rather have “the man-made version” of the chicken. Just my thoughts.

I've got to be honest and say if I did by some chance find a way of preventing a hen from going broody, I certainly wouldn't tell you.
I understand for some a broody hen means less eggs and more hassle; good, it's like keeping roosters, proper chickens do all that stuff.
Agian it has been different here for me. I get maybe 30 cases of broodiness a year, perhaps more and to me it's a sign of a healthy flock. In the past ten years though I have only had to resort to isolation once and I did that in my house. I have never needed to use the wire cage method, although I have no doubt it works. I just take the eggs away and destroy the nest.
I also let broody hens sit until their egg laying cycle switches off and then confiscate their eggs. This means in peak laying season they get a rest. I don't need the eggs.
A lot depends on your view of the chicken and what you want from them. I want them to be chickens if possible.

 

[ValerieJ]

I've got to be honest and say if I did by some chance find a way of preventing a hen from going broody, I certainly wouldn't tell you.
I understand for some a broody hen means less eggs and more hassle; good, it's like keeping roosters, proper chickens do all that stuff.
Agian it has been different here for me. I get maybe 30 cases of broodiness a year, perhaps more and to me it's a sign of a healthy flock. In the past ten years though I have only had to resort to isolation once and I did that in my house. I have never needed to use the wire cage method, although I have no doubt it works. I just take the eggs away and destroy the nest.
I also let broody hens sit until their egg laying cycle switches off and then confiscate their eggs. This means in peak laying season they get a rest. I don't need the eggs.
A lot depends on your view of the chicken and what you want from them. I want them to be chickens if possible.

If one has a lack of space and no one to give chicks to, having broody hens hatching them out makes for tough decisions as to what to do with all the excess chickens. This has been true for me, so I just didn't have roosters. Things are changing here and I'll have a large enough coop to accommodate broodies and their babies, so I'm keeping my two cockerels. We are not all as lucky as you with all that space and freedom.

 

[ValerieJ]

I should add, free ranging chickens here is just feeding the eagles and raccoons. They wouldn't last a season. I know. I have a neighbor who free ranges and is replacing his flock every year. That just seems wrong to me.

 

[FortCluck]

I've got to be honest and say if I did by some chance find a way of preventing a hen from going broody, I certainly wouldn't tell you.
I understand for some a broody hen means less eggs and more hassle; good, it's like keeping roosters, proper chickens do all that stuff.
Agian it has been different here for me. I get maybe 30 cases of broodiness a year, perhaps more and to me it's a sign of a healthy flock. In the past ten years though I have only had to resort to isolation once and I did that in my house. I have never needed to use the wire cage method, although I have no doubt it works. I just take the eggs away and destroy the nest.
I also let broody hens sit until their egg laying cycle switches off and then confiscate their eggs. This means in peak laying season they get a rest. I don't need the eggs.
A lot depends on your view of the chicken and what you want from them. I want them to be chickens if possible.

I know once mine go broody, I'll let them do their thing. I like animals doing what their body tells them too. I don't add supplemental lighting either because chickens should have a break laying.

I think some expect their chickens to not act like a chicken should.

If I get an animal I expect it to act like that animal. Chickens and their chicken behavior is truly amazing. I enjoy chickens for all that they are.

 

[FortCluck]

I should add, free ranging chickens here is just feeding the eagles and raccoons. They wouldn't last a season. I know. I have a neighbor who free ranges and is replacing his flock every year. That just seems wrong to me.

It's not wrong, it's the circle of life... Everyone needs to eat on this Earth. People get so angry when predators eat their livestock and it's the humans fault for not properly protecting them whether it's fencing, netting, or whatever. The animals are just doing what they were created to do... Survive.