Cream Legbars

[Sonia]

I don't do shows lol at least not yet ;-) I'm way down in push co. And hardly ever go to the city.

 

[KPenley]

I have my first broody! Lucy has been acting a bit broody...so i gave her this week's eggs, and a few more appeared today...and tonight I discovered she was sitting on 15 eggs! After I removed the whole egg box to a covered kennel on my porch, I took a few eggs away since she couldn't cover them well, and gave her back a couple of mystery dad Silkie eggs. I hope she stays on the her first clutch!
Here goes my great record keeping...I'm going to be playing who's the mama until they start to grow crests

!

For anyone who uses a broody, do you put their food and water right next to them, or a bit away so that they have to get up to go get it? I only have incubator experience.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

I have left the food and water in the regular place in the coop and the hen gets up and down once or twice a day to do her duties. I have heard that it depends on the hens personality- some hens really won't get up while brooding and you have to put the food and water close.

 

[Sonia]

I set up food and water right next to my mamas. The three I have flat out refuse to get up and will set two or three clutches in a row. I have one right now that I think might be permanently broody :/. I even put her in a hanging wire bottomed cage and all she did was freak out for days. When I let her out she went and sat on an empty nest for six weeks! I ended up giving her more eggs and set fresh food and water next to her daily. She has been setting with and without eggs now for approx 13 weeks not counting the week in the cage.

 

[1muttsfan]

I boot my broodies of the nest once daily to check their eggs and remove any extras (make sure to mark the eggs she is setting and with something more permanent than pencil). They usually go out and furiously stomp around muttering dire threats, have a drink, meal and poop, and return to the nest on their own.

 

[GaryDean26]

I isolate the broody so that other hens jumping in the nest to added their eggs to the clutch don't disrupt the hatching eggs. I have marked eggs before and left the hen with the flock up to a few days before hatch, but those hatches were never successfully because the hen would leave the nest to let others lay and then if it was still occupied when she came back she would often go to a new nest. I would never hatch with a flock. The flock must think that the newly hatched wet chicks are mice or something when they come out because an entire hatch was ripped out of the nest and pecked to death by the flock when I didn't isolate. Shortly after than other lady who we were in contact with reported the same results when she left her broody with the flock.

As far as the food goes, I just pull out the feeders and waterers that I use for chicks in the brooder in with the hen and set them about 6-8 feet away from the hen. That forces her to get off the nest. If she stays on the nest to eat and drink, then she is going to stay on the nest to poop too and you don't ever want that in a nest especially with hatching eggs. I rarely see a broody hen leave the nest, but the food and water slow is consumed so I know she is tanking care of mommy as well as the eggs.

The longer a hen is broody the longer it takes to break. If she is broody for a day or two, you should be able to break with a day or two in the wire bottom cage. If she is broody for a week or two it may take a week or too to break her. This is because the longer they are broody the higher the level of hormones are in the system and the longer for the hormones to be reversed.

 

[normanack]

I isolate the broody so that other hens jumping in the nest to added their eggs to the clutch don't disrupt the hatching eggs.  I have marked eggs before and left the hen with the flock up to a few days before hatch, but those hatches were never successfully because the hen would leave the nest to let others lay and then if it was still occupied when she came back she would often go to a new nest.  I would never hatch with a flock.  The flock must think that the newly hatched wet chicks are mice or something when they come out because an entire hatch was ripped out of the nest and pecked to death by the flock when I didn't isolate.  Shortly after than other lady who we were in contact with reported the same results when she left her broody with the flock.

Yikes. I've been lucky so far leaving the broodies with the flock -- no one has dared mess with their nests or chicks. Even so I've noticed differences in how protective they are, and can easily see how disaster could occur. I'll plan a better isolated set-up for next year.

edited to add: none of my broodies are Cream Legbars.

 

[KPenley]

Thanks for all of the tips! Not sure if this clutch will make it, but I figured I'd let Lucy have a go at it. She gets distracted easily, so I have her isolated, but I was worried about her getting up to eat and drink a lot.

 

[Rancher3535]

I finally had time to look at the Cream Legbar chicks I hatched out. Dang...12 chicks 10 Males 2 Females. Sure wish there was someone close that had a lot of females. Oh well home to do better next year.

 

[GaryDean26]

Rob,

I am glad to hear you finally got your Cream Legbars. Hopefully your pullets are fair and you can select a reallly good cockerel to form a breeding trio.

I dedicated all of our grow-out space to Cream Legbars last Fall and this Spring was dedicating all my space to Black Copper Marans. I got 25 Marans from a Breeding Partner and then set some of my own eggs to do side-by-side comparisions. The ones I hatched from My flock were 14 cockerels and 2 pullets. I do need a new cockerels, so maybey it is a mixed blessing, but want a lot more pullets.

To date I have been doing a lot better on the ratio with Cream Legbars. If i remeber correctly I am at 54% pullets to 46% cockerels.