Yes, they can go broody when they are no longer laying. My 5 1/2 year old hatchery light brahma just hatched out 3 welsummer chicks. (and she is a wonderful mother) She has never been broody before, and she has only laid the occasional fart egg for the past year.
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I have feathers everywhere, it looks like I've been plucking in the chicken yard.
It has been getting quieter around here too. In the last couple of weeks I've sold about thirty laying hens and a couple of roos, gave away five roosters, sent 27 roosters to my person that buys birds for the freezer and yesterday took 35 small/bantam roosters and two gimpy pullets to the auction.
I STILL hear crowing constantly, but it's certainly quieter.
I need to do one more sort through my breeding pens (who needs ten hens of the same breed???) and we will be down to 75ish birds from the high of around 500 we had.
Now I'm not counting the 50 growouts, the thirty chicks that hatched over the weekend, the dozen eggs on lockdown or the 30ish on the counter that DH wants set. Those don't count, you always need "up and coming" birds.
Now I'm not counting the 50 growouts, the thirty chicks that hatched over the weekend, the dozen eggs on lockdown or the 30ish on the counter that DH wants set. Those don't count, you always need "up and coming" birds.
Wow, down from 500? That's great!Wow, It has been getting quieter around here too. In the last couple of weeks I've sold about thirty laying hens and a couple of roos, gave away five roosters, sent 27 roosters to my person that buys birds for the freezer and yesterday took 35 small/bantam roosters and two gimpy pullets to the auction.
I STILL hear crowing constantly, but it's certainly quieter.
I need to do one more sort through my breeding pens (who needs ten hens of the same breed???) and we will be down to 75ish birds from the high of around 500 we had.
Now I'm not counting the 50 growouts, the thirty chicks that hatched over the weekend, the dozen eggs on lockdown or the 30ish on the counter that DH wants set. Those don't count, you always need "up and coming" birds.
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We've been doing some serious downsizing around here for several months and eliminated quite a few breeds altogether, including all my breeding turkeys.
Oh, I just remembered..............when I counted how many birds were left, I forgot the waterfowl. We have around 30 ducks and geese.
Yes Kathy, DH and I are both retired. When the feed bill hit around $1,000 per month and I was having to hit my savings each month to stay up, I realized the hobby had gotten ridiculously expensive and I needed to cut back. We went down to the breeds we actually show and then a few that aren't recognized, but we just like (tolbunt polish, jubilee & crele orps, the cemani, etc.)
I'm also trying to cut back, but every time I sell something, a duck or chicken appears from a hidden nest with a bunch of babies and the cycle starts over. I do try to keep the eggs collected, but there's a lot of places on 7 acres for them to hide from me.
-Kathy
Included in the 30 chicks over the weekend were 8 secreted by the bantam barred rocks. The other 20 were Golden & Silver Campines, Lakenvelders, eggs from my breeding project and a few cochins.
Almost finished a small "bachelor" coop. Still need to stain it and get it level on blocks. Made a new nest box for one of my other coops with the scrap wood
Trisha
Solitary! Looks good.
