Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

I've got a question for the OTs:
I was just at the feed store, talking to the chicken guy that I bought the chicks from, and telling him how I plan to add a few more to the flock next spring. I was asking him the best way to add a few new chicks to older hens, and he said that when I get the brand new chicks, if one of the hens is broody, I can put them under her and she will tend to them and protect them. He also said that you can induce a hen to go broody by leaving fake eggs under her in preparation for fostering. Anybody use this method who can advise me?
(I have 5 pullets right now, about to start laying.)
Thanks for any insight you can provide.

If you want to stick the chicks under a broody mamma hen, do it at night when she's sleeping. Not just any hen will go broody. Some breeds go broody multiple times a year and others might go broody once in a lifetime if at all. What breed(s) are your pullets?

 

[al6517]

Quote:



Yes that's true, for what the cost of meat is nowadays 10-15% solution is allot to pay for water.

As far as the older birds I just label them as to their age so when it comes time to cook I know I have to use the chicken or cook it in special ways as to limit how tough it is. You too often hear how home processed meat is tough, well of course it certainly can't be the cook right

. I feel 90% of the birds folks prepare for the table are not the chikens fault but the cook, I know folks who say they think they are good cooks until they mention they can't live without their microwaves LOL.

Use tender young birds for roasting and frying, or baking.
use older birds for broth and stock, cut up, chopped up and used in recipes that limit it's toughness. Slow cook them, use seasoning that increase their flavor and reduce firmness, use them mixed with other ingredience things like that. there are a ton of ways to help with it, I feel the worst chicken can be a treat if someone really truely knows what their doing in the kitchen, not fair to blame the bird, blame the cook. it's that simple.

 

[stonykill]

I don't know that I've ever seen a chicken induced into broodiness by the mere presence of eggs left in the nest....it is a hormonal flux that causes broodiness and not the presence of eggs in a nest, fake or otherwise.

Yes, you can foster chicks under a broody and I've done it with 100% success quite a few times. Has to be done at night, very little light during the process, works best if the hen is in a separate brooding area where she can be kept quiet and on the nest of chicks all night.

I do this often. Leave ceramic eggs in the nest. I have done it for years with my Sumatra's to nudge their natural broodiness. Works like a charm with them. This year I tried it in the RIR coop. I've had RIR's for 7 years and never had one go broody. This year since I left the ceramic eggs in a nest all of the time I have had 2 RIR broody's. Both are hens I have had for 3 years and never showed even the slightest ingcling to go broody. Foolproof method, not in the least. But with my flock it seems to be working.

 

[bruceh]

the best chicken soup i ever made was from an old hen. in fact i never use a young bird for soup. when i was younger i grew up around the markets. this is how i learned about chickens. those men were poor and their lives depended on selling good chickens. i always had to special order an old bird. i remember those guys had those chickens in cages and you picked one out. they would go in the back with your chicken and come back out in less than 15 min. with your chicken wrapped in paper.

 

[Beekissed]

I do this often. Leave ceramic eggs in the nest. I have done it for years with my Sumatra's to nudge their natural broodiness. Works like a charm with them. This year I tried it in the RIR coop. I've had RIR's for 7 years and never had one go broody. This year since I left the ceramic eggs in a nest all of the time I have had 2 RIR broody's. Both are hens I have had for 3 years and never showed even the slightest ingcling to go broody. Foolproof method, not in the least. But with my flock it seems to be working.

That's good to know....never had that happen at my place but it's good to know it CAN happen.

 

[stonykill]

That's good to know....never had that happen at my place but it's good to know it CAN happen.

when it comes to broody hens I'm not sure we can ask for more than that. Unpredictable moody things

 

[TonySorrento]

[quote name="Beekissed] I'm not familiar with the breed and this just may be their conformation but he looks like he's standing a little hunched or hunkered down for a roo...could be the breed or just the timing of the pic, but he doesn't have a strong, normal appearance in how he is standing or holding his head.&nbsp;</p>[/quote]

Now that you say that, his posture is totally different from my Buttercup Rooster .... the Dorking is hunched over compared the the BC .... thanks for the answer, Bee ... you are still my favorite

 

[fowlman01]

Now that you say that, his posture is totally different from my Buttercup Rooster .... the Dorking is hunched over compared the the BC .... thanks for the answer, Bee ... you are still my favorite

Dorkings are built this way, although this looks like a hatchery Dorking.....his legs are longer than a Dorkings should be....but in any event, he is close enough and that is the stance/station they carry.

I would not breed from any rooster that let the flock pull his tail feathers out. As Bee noted there may be a reason the other birds are doing this.

Walt

 

[TonySorrento]

Quote: Dorkings are built this way, although this looks like a hatchery Dorking.....his legs are longer than a Dorkings should be....but in any event, he is close enough and that is the stance/station they carry.

I would not breed from any rooster that let the flock pull his tail feathers out. As Bee noted there may be a reason the other birds are doing this.

Walt

He has a bent fifth toe and he sits down alot ... kinda weird ... here are a few just today pics ....

 

[fowlman01]

He has a bent fifth toe and he sits down alot ... kinda weird ... here are a few just today pics ....

He has a bent fifth toe and he sits down alot ... kinda weird ... here are a few just today pics ....

Dorkings have five toes, but if he is sitting down a lot, there is something wrong with him. Visually he appears to be OK...his wings are up and folded tight to the body and he is carrying himself like a Dorking. The only thing I see about him that is unusual, is the his legs are too long for a Dorking.

Walt