Hobby breeding and general fertility Qs

[Stephanie8806]

Depends on the hen. Seems like all broodies come out with that attitude, but they don't always live up to it. The initial scuffle when she first reenters the flock with chicks pretty much settles where she fits. Sometimes she wins and everyone stays out of her way, sometimes she learns that she's not on top, adjusts her behavior accordingly and that's that.

It will be interesting for sure. It all really hinges on WHEN my Cochins go broody. Being 37 weeks pregnant, if they go broody before my baby comes, I’ll likely just break them and incubate eggs in my incubator when I’m ready/healed. But I’d love to see how they shake out as Mamas! The flock is currently pretty chill, and they don’t seem to be in the bottom at all. They seem to be unbothered by the rest of the flocks activities, and the rest are quite willing to leave them alone.

Have you tested out the baby monitor? I got one that doesn’t require wifi for my kiddo, and if I like it I may get another for chickens.

 

[Shezadandy]

It will be interesting for sure. It all really hinges on WHEN my Cochins go broody. Being 37 weeks pregnant, if they go broody before my baby comes, I’ll likely just break them and incubate eggs in my incubator when I’m ready/healed. But I’d love to see how they shake out as Mamas! The flock is currently pretty chill, and they don’t seem to be in the bottom at all. They seem to be unbothered by the rest of the flocks activities, and the rest are quite willing to leave them alone.

Have you tested out the baby monitor? I got one that doesn’t require wifi for my kiddo, and if I like it I may get another for chickens.

The year is still young, lots and lots of broodiness ahead. With few exceptions, the ones that go broody once will go broody again. Right now I've got one broody with chicks, and at least 3 more hens who want me to believe they too are serious and it's barely approaching March. I'm sure hearing the chicks in the front of the coop is helping that process along.

The monitor I got (linked previously) - I love the screen quality and the size of the display, head and shoulders above my 1st monitor (which still works). Love being able to move the camera around remotely. Can't tell you how absurd it was to try and get a good angle with the old one...

For sure the camera needs to be plugged in. That made me think of a little power unit I got a while back. This is pretty close to mine:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumach...table-USB-DC-Power-Station-1200-Amp/701017780

You might not need/want all the auto stuff (I had this for my old truck)-- in that case it might be worth a search on Amazon or wherever for "portable power station". The one I've got just needs to be charged by being plugged into a wall socket.

I definitely wouldn't try and run a chick heat plate from one, but I imagine it would handle a little camera pretty well, saving the bother of 300ft of power cords laid out. Again- would not try to run a heat source from it. And it's nice to have around for the odd power outage etc. I never did use it for the truck but it has come in handy.

As far as testing the monitor's range - I got busy getting all the critter stuff ready for the freezing temperatures so the spouse could manage to care for all the animals while I had surgery, so I didn't get to test it before all that happened. I'm back up and around so I can mess with it in the next day or so. Our lot is heavily wooded, so that may impact how this monitor tests, so it may or may not be a great test, we'll see!

 

[Shezadandy]

Have you tested out the baby monitor? I got one that doesn’t require wifi for my kiddo, and if I like it I may get another for chickens.

OK with a decent line of sight from the camera location to the monitor, i.e. not behind big thick dense trees, I got 350ft-400 before it went out of range. My driveway is the only area not clogged with forest, so I lost signal as I went around a bend- the bend in the road put the trees into the line of sight. So, it's going to depend on what your specific set of factors include between the coop and wherever you'll watch from in the house.

 

[Stephanie8806]

OK with a decent line of sight from the camera location to the monitor, i.e. not behind big thick dense trees, I got 350ft-400 before it went out of range. My driveway is the only area not clogged with forest, so I lost signal as I went around a bend- the bend in the road put the trees into the line of sight. So, it's going to depend on what your specific set of factors include between the coop and wherever you'll watch from in the house.

That’s great! I have one big tree between our house and the coop, but it’s not directly in the line of sight.

I’m scheduled to be induced on the 12th, and neither of my girls have gone broody yet! That’s great for me, because if everything times out right and they go broody at least two weeks after I have baby, I’ll have plenty of time to set up some sort of brooding quarters for them. Definitely hopeful!

This Fall I will be building a specific brooding coop, and that will make things much easier.

 

[Shezadandy]

That’s great! I have one big tree between our house and the coop, but it’s not directly in the line of sight.

I’m scheduled to be induced on the 12th, and neither of my girls have gone broody yet! That’s great for me, because if everything times out right and they go broody at least two weeks after I have baby, I’ll have plenty of time to set up some sort of brooding quarters for them. Definitely hopeful!

This Fall I will be building a specific brooding coop, and that will make things much easier

Nice! I think it should work well for you then, because I didn't lose the screen until where huge oak, fir, sequoia etc. trees blocked it with the bend in the driveway.

And ... you can always start your eggs in the incubator when they start their broodiness- then either hatch in the incubator and give the hen the chicks after a day or two, or keep the eggs in the incubator after a couple weeks then hand them over to the hens to hatch. So many options! Sounds like the timing will line up!

Today finally the weather and schedule cooperated and my broody with chicks went out with the flock for the first time. Mostly the collective eye roll from the flock - it's always the youngsters who haven't seen chicks yet that get in too close and get chased off. One or two scraps but really pretty easy. They were definitely happy to see home again.