Farming and Homesteading Heritage Poultry

[Lacy Blues]

Linda be sure to wait AT LEAST 2 weeks. I'm not sure exactly when the mothering nature kicks in but it takes a while. You'll have to watch to make sure she doesn't kill the chicks you add in.

This conversation is taking place on another thread too so if this has already been said, I'm not kicking a dead horse but just trying to be helpful without spending a tremendous amount of time reading backwards to see whether its been mentioned here yet.

 

[LindaB220]

Linda be sure to wait AT LEAST 2 weeks. I'm not sure exactly when the mothering nature kicks in but it takes a while. You'll have to watch to make sure she doesn't kill the chicks you add in.

This conversation is taking place on another thread too so if this has already been said, I'm not kicking a dead horse but just trying to be helpful without spending a tremendous amount of time reading backwards to see whether its been mentioned here yet.

You're right. This is good stuff and things I need to know. Totally a newbie at this kind of endeavor.

 

[NanaKat]

Haven't been on in a while so catching up...

I've been fortunate to have several hens who just want to be great mothers. They willingly adopt chick I give them or steal chicks from other hens when they tire of their responsibility. Mandy chose to adopt chicks I gave her from the incubator when her clutch hatched and then stole chicks from a hen whose clutch hatched about the same time. She took them everywhere teaching them to forage...at one point she had 35 chicks including a few bantam chicks...

Just out of curiosity, what breed(s) is Mandy?

Mandy is a Cochin x Wyandotte hen. I have several of these who lay like a Wyandotte and are broody like the Cochin. Since I breed both as pure breeds, I hatched some of the crosses to see if I could use the hens as incubator, egg layers. I currently have five crosses that are broody, three Cochins on eggs, and Mandy has 24 5 week old chicks. It has been so wet here with all the rains that the chicks have been in the brooder coop for the past month.

 

[bnjrob]

Linda be sure to wait AT LEAST 2 weeks. I'm not sure exactly when the mothering nature kicks in but it takes a while. You'll have to watch to make sure she doesn't kill the chicks you add in.

This conversation is taking place on another thread too so if this has already been said, I'm not kicking a dead horse but just trying to be helpful without spending a tremendous amount of time reading backwards to see whether its been mentioned here yet.

I tried to put one of my broody chicken hens in with my two-day-old turkey poults yesterday. She wouldn't have it. Started pecking at any that came near her and then started thrashing around trying to get out of the box. Thought she was going to wind up stomping some to death accidently. And the poor things wanted to get underneath her too. They tried hard to make her their momma. Decided I wasn't going to risk my turkey poults with an angry hen. Darn thing has been broody over a month. Have had so many broody hens that I don't have enough broody breaker cages to go around for them all.

Between the almost constant rain and mud since January making most of the eggs too disgusting to hatch from, and broody hens out the wazoo, my hatching this year has sucked.

 

[MistyMountain]

Haven't been on in a while so catching up...
Mandy is a Cochin x Wyandotte hen. I have several of these who lay like a Wyandotte and are broody like the Cochin. Since I breed both as pure breeds, I hatched some of the crosses to see if I could use the hens as incubator, egg layers.
I currently have five crosses that are broody, three Cochins on eggs, and Mandy has 24 5 week old chicks.
It has been so wet here with all the rains that the chicks have been in the brooder coop for the past month.

I have a broody LF cochin. Any recommendations as to how many eggs I should put under her? My last two broodies were much smaller framed and less fluffy, LOL!

 

[Lacy Blues]

I tried to put one of my broody chicken hens in with my two-day-old turkey poults yesterday. She wouldn't have it. Started pecking at any that came near her and then started thrashing around trying to get out of the box. Thought she was going to wind up stomping some to death accidently. And the poor things wanted to get underneath her too. They tried hard to make her their momma. Decided I wasn't going to risk my turkey poults with an angry hen. Darn thing has been broody over a month. Have had so many broody hens that I don't have enough broody breaker cages to go around for them all.

Between the almost constant rain and mud since January making most of the eggs too disgusting to hatch from, and broody hens out the wazoo, my hatching this year has sucked.

Instead of taking her to the babies, take the babies to her. Put them under her at night. You might let her settle from the first attempt. Let her back in her broody nest and poke the babies in under her rear end in the dark. Be there at first light to see how she has adjusted during the night.

 

[Fentress]

I have a broody LF cochin. Any recommendations as to how many eggs I should put under her? My last two broodies were much smaller framed and less fluffy, LOL!

Egg size can be a factor, but a heavy fowl should be able to handle at least 12 large eggs without any problems.

 

[bnjrob]

Instead of taking her to the babies, take the babies to her. Put them under her at night. You might let her settle from the first attempt. Let her back in her broody nest and poke the babies in under her rear end in the dark. Be there at first light to see how she has adjusted during the night.

I'll have to try that when I have a safe place for a broody to have chicks. The house she is broody in, is not safe for babies - which is why I took her to the brooder box in the garage with the turkeys in it. I really need to get some broody-safe houses built so I can let them do their thing and decrease how many I have to incubate and brood in the house.

 

[Lacy Blues]

Could you just section off a space encompassing her nest? It would only be temporary... til the weather is nice and the chicks are eating well.

 

[NanaKat]

Haven't been on in a while so catching up...

Mandy is a Cochin x Wyandotte hen. I have several of these who lay like a Wyandotte and are broody like the Cochin. Since I breed both as pure breeds, I hatched some of the crosses to see if I could use the hens as incubator, egg layers.

I currently have five crosses that are broody, three Cochins on eggs, and Mandy has 24 5 week old chicks.

It has been so wet here with all the rains that the chicks have been in the brooder coop for the past month.

I have a broody LF cochin. Any recommendations as to how many eggs I should put under her? My last two broodies were much smaller framed and less fluffy, LOL!

I have had 18 eggs under my largest Cochin hen. The "normal" sized hens have covered 12 to 15. The Cochin x Wyandotte easily cover 12 eggs.