Cochin Thread!!!

[Sanna]

Say you incubate the eggs yourself and put the chicks under her? Would she accept them? I've heard some people grousing about the ways their broodies disassemble chicks.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I gave one of my hens a couple of chicks in the summer she didn't hatch and she took very, VERY good care of the babies. But she had already been sitting on eggs that never hatched so she was thrilled to have the chicks.

 

[cracrzy4chicks]

Say you incubate the eggs yourself and put the chicks under her? Would she accept them? I've heard some people grousing about the ways their broodies disassemble chicks.

I tried that once.................. my 2 girls WILL NOT accept other chicks. I had a mixed bantam that sat on the eggs 'til they started to hatch, as soon as the little buggers were out of the shells, she proceeded to dine on them...............Bad Momma. I tried putting the chicks under the cochins, they wanted nothing to do with the chicks they didn't hatch :-( Ended up bringing the little buggers in the house & put them in a brooder.

 

[NanaKat]

I have played with several methods of using a broodie Cochin hen and each method has worked.
1) Let her sit on fresh eggs I have selected thru hatch and raise her chicks.
2) select eggs for her to incubate, then move the eggs to a incubator just before hatch and give her day old chicks to raise in exchange
3) Incubate eggs and give to a broodie hen to hatch and raise. I have found that the hen needs to have been sitting tight on the nest for at least two weeks for the transition to work.

Right now I have three hens that are broody. They have been sitting on eggs for two weeks that I moved to an incubator. I gave each 5 new eggs to sit on for two weeks until 50 chicks hatch on the 20th. These hens will then get the new hatch and their eggs will go into the incubator. Also I have two Australorp hens that adopt chicks if I put them in a pen with the two hens....they are natural nurturers.

 

[Mr. Ree]

I have played with several methods of using a broodie Cochin hen and each method has worked.
1) Let her sit on fresh eggs I have selected thru hatch and raise her chicks.
2) select eggs for her to incubate, then move the eggs to a incubator just before hatch and give her day old chicks to raise in exchange
3) Incubate eggs and give to a broodie hen to hatch and raise. I have found that the hen needs to have been sitting tight on the nest for at least two weeks for the transition to work.

I have done all of these as well and have not seen much difference in how they accept the new eggs or chicks, as long as they are set tight on a nest for a bit. And if she isnt moved from that nest. I have had birds stay in a nest box, and I could pack that thing with them in it everywhere, but if I tryed moving them to another nest box from the original, I had issues.

~Casey

 

[NanaKat]

I set portable nest boxes on the floor in the brooder room. A hen that picks a floor nest can then easily be moved into a brooder cage because she sticks tight to her nest....so predictable. Lol

 

[thecochincoop]

I incubated duck eggs under my hens and they sat for a couple months until I took the eggs away. I kept changing the eggs once a week and moved them to the hatcher when it was time

 

[ki4got]

3) Incubate eggs and give to a broodie hen to hatch and raise. I have found that the hen needs to have been sitting tight on the nest for at least two weeks for the transition to work.

LOL my oegb hen last summer had been sitting 3 days solid when i gave her hatching eggs... she was an OK momma but had a tendency to 'lose' chicks now and then. i'd hear them crying and have to round them up and back to her.

 

[Fancy Feathers]

I had 3 broody hens, they hatched and raised a bunch of chicks together. A few weeks later I had some new chicks and decided to see if I could use a hen rather then a heat lamp. I put them in a tub and put 2 of the hens in with them. One girl just wanted out, the other one hunkered down and spread her wings and took those new babies like they were her own, even though the older chicks they had been raising hadn't been relying on the mother hens much anymore.
This is the reason I wanted Cochins in the first place, I wanted broodies!
(& now the hen who didn't want to mother new chicks is setting on a clutch of eggs)

Nanakat that's a good idea!

 

[cochins1088]

Hey guys, I went out and took a couple pictures of my three 3 month old silver laced bantams. I don't have the SOP yet, and I was wondering if the incomplete lacing is something that I should avoid. I should be getting more hatching eggs from an experieneced breeder next month, and hopefully a pair or trio this fall.

Here are some pictures of the pullet with the 'incomplete lacing'.

 

[HooverHenHouse]

Can anyone point me in a good direction to find some barred bantams...I have messaged most of the breeders from the 2012 directory under this variety, and havent heard back from anyone.

I am very interested in being put on a list for eggs/chicks/started birds...and would love it if I could find a quality rooster, and maybe a couple hens.