I have this red frizzle bantam who is broody right now, but instead of giving her eggs (although she is sitting on one dummy) I am going to slip some chicks under her in a few weeks... I already have one broody hen sitting on some of my eggs, and they're all going to be mutts anyway, so I figure this is a good low maintainance way to add some more EE's to my flock. Anyway...
She is tiny. Like seriously, she is half the size of my silkie in both height and breadth, plus her little frizzle feathers don't seem to be as warm. I would never give her more than three eggs at a time to sit on, should I stick with three chicks, or will she be able to sit on four or five? It's been plenty warm here, and they have a very solid coop. Any feedback is appreciated.
Also, related to brooding, both of my broody hens are in nesting boxes, because I didn't want to move them, and now I'm second guessing that decision. Anyone leave their hens in nest boxes up to hatching, and if so, when and how did you move them? I mean, they pretty much keep the chicks under them for the first 24 hours, right, or until the last egg hatches, so as long as I'm on top of things could I wait until they have finished hatching and then move them?
Oh, and lastly (can you tell these are my first broody hens, lol!) it's kind of a long story, but while these two were brooding I moved all my adult chickens to a new pen and moved a batch of older chicks into the coop, but I left the broodies. When the chicks have hatched should I just move the mothers and chicks to the floor of the coop, or should I move them to a seperate pen? I should have a tractor available for them by then, but it doesn't have the best "coop"- it's just an insulated plastic dog house inside an A frame pen that I usually use for meaties. The older chicks are gold stars and Buckeyes, and they are super mellow. Any advice?
Thanks in advance!
She is tiny. Like seriously, she is half the size of my silkie in both height and breadth, plus her little frizzle feathers don't seem to be as warm. I would never give her more than three eggs at a time to sit on, should I stick with three chicks, or will she be able to sit on four or five? It's been plenty warm here, and they have a very solid coop. Any feedback is appreciated.
Also, related to brooding, both of my broody hens are in nesting boxes, because I didn't want to move them, and now I'm second guessing that decision. Anyone leave their hens in nest boxes up to hatching, and if so, when and how did you move them? I mean, they pretty much keep the chicks under them for the first 24 hours, right, or until the last egg hatches, so as long as I'm on top of things could I wait until they have finished hatching and then move them?
Oh, and lastly (can you tell these are my first broody hens, lol!) it's kind of a long story, but while these two were brooding I moved all my adult chickens to a new pen and moved a batch of older chicks into the coop, but I left the broodies. When the chicks have hatched should I just move the mothers and chicks to the floor of the coop, or should I move them to a seperate pen? I should have a tractor available for them by then, but it doesn't have the best "coop"- it's just an insulated plastic dog house inside an A frame pen that I usually use for meaties. The older chicks are gold stars and Buckeyes, and they are super mellow. Any advice?
Thanks in advance!