Hi hoo,
I have browsed this site for a while now, and finally got myself registered.
I live in Belgium, about 25 km outside Brussels. It is very common to have a few backyard hens in Belgium.
I have a few regular red layers, and have also started with some Antwerpse baardkriel. This is an old Flemmish race. I am trying to keep the genetic material. A friend of mine gave me two hens, Laura and Stina and a rooster Oskar a year ago. Oskar was seemingly not doing his job last month, and Stina was laying on 15 infertile eggs. I found some week-old chicks (regular layers) to put under her, so she is now a proud mama of 4 chickens that are going to outgrow her very soon.
Laura is now brooding on eggs. Since I do not know if Oskar is completely infertile, I got some eggs from my neighbour, that I also put under Laura. Laura is not as good a brooder as Stina, I frequently find eggs outside her feathers. Looking for information about the succesrate with such a brooding hen.
I started with hens 2 years ago... I could never have imagined that I could get so intereted in these birds. They are fascinating. My best layer, Sotis, is actually quiet social too!
Cheers,
Catharina
I have browsed this site for a while now, and finally got myself registered.
I live in Belgium, about 25 km outside Brussels. It is very common to have a few backyard hens in Belgium.
I have a few regular red layers, and have also started with some Antwerpse baardkriel. This is an old Flemmish race. I am trying to keep the genetic material. A friend of mine gave me two hens, Laura and Stina and a rooster Oskar a year ago. Oskar was seemingly not doing his job last month, and Stina was laying on 15 infertile eggs. I found some week-old chicks (regular layers) to put under her, so she is now a proud mama of 4 chickens that are going to outgrow her very soon.
Laura is now brooding on eggs. Since I do not know if Oskar is completely infertile, I got some eggs from my neighbour, that I also put under Laura. Laura is not as good a brooder as Stina, I frequently find eggs outside her feathers. Looking for information about the succesrate with such a brooding hen.
I started with hens 2 years ago... I could never have imagined that I could get so intereted in these birds. They are fascinating. My best layer, Sotis, is actually quiet social too!
Cheers,
Catharina
