Cornish Thread

[CLSranch]

My hen has been setting over a week now. 13 eggs the other day and today another hen is sitting half on top of her still using the same nest box.

 

[JRNash]

My hen has been setting over a week now. 13 eggs the other day and today another hen is sitting half on top of her still using the same nest box.

That is one of the reasons I went to incubators. Also,the hens would forget WHICH nest they started out on

 

[big medicine]

That is one of the reasons I went to incubators. Also,the hens would forget WHICH nest they started out on

That, and when (if) the first chicks do hatch, the hen will leave the nest and later laid half baked eggs to die.

 

[CanadianBuckeye]

I marked the eggs, and remove any that are unmarked so that they are all the same age. I candle them too, to make sure duds don't break and kill the others.

 

[hellbender]

We learned quickly to re-locate all birds that weren't settled in to their own nests.

J.

ETA: This will be our last year with brood hens. All hens that were broody this year will be soup by next year. It has truly been a learning experience and lessons were well absorbed.

 

[CLSranch]

I've had 3 outta 9 hens all that have set, hatch out a batch without a hitch so far this year. Until this go round. If I lose a few eggs it's still better than my incubator percent I've been getting. And I work on the road. I leave tomorrow for 2 wks. Broody hens are less work for the GF to take care of while I'm gone.

 

[CLSranch]

Hellbender I know your not a fan of the broodys. I have a large critter problem. Less now that I moved. I have a very large turn over rate and like coming home to 12 new chicks to make up for the 2 less hens. She the GF has got a skunk and a 5 foot black snake out of the coop while I was gone this year. And a lot of possums out of the traps. I was getting 30 coons and possums a year at the old house next to the river. A coon hunters paradise. I'm not a coon hunter. I thinking about tying my male pup up by the coop now that he's bigger. Was wanting him sold 2 months ago.

 

[hellbender]

Hellbender I know your not a fan of the broodys. I have a large critter problem. Less now that I moved. I have a very large turn over rate and like coming home to 12 new chicks to make up for the 2 less hens. She the GF has got a skunk and a 5 foot black snake out of the coop while I was gone this year. And a lot of possums out of the traps. I was getting 30 coons and possums a year at the old house next to the river. A coon hunters paradise. I'm not a coon hunter. I thinking about tying my male pup up by the coop now that he's bigger. Was wanting him sold 2 months ago.

Your situation is certainly understandable. In fact, we're not totally out of the broody business either. We still have a 50%CX sired by a Dark Cornish setting on 11 eggs, about half of them are pure DC and the rest are from the setter and the same DC cockerel. Hope that makes sense.

I'm interested in keeping a cockerel or 3 of the .75% stock, provided they materialize.

J.

 

[JRNash]

I've finally got my 200 plus birds trained that exactly 8:30pm the coop door is closed. Its opened again at 5am. Hmmmm...well..at least one of us is trained .lol

 

[JRNash]

I was losing birds every night until i started closing them up at night