Madd Hatter Loves chickens!

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DaMaddHatter

In the Brooder
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Location
Roanoke Va
Hi maddhatter here stoping to say hello and say i'm new to the chicken game, trying to get in to it more accurately. I'm looking into breeds for SW virginia, attempting to see what kindda breeds would work well here and or make good product, mainly for my own family needs but i'll be working a greenhouse compact farm aswell to produce more than just meat and eggs maybe even a show chicken here and there, but to be able to have an income for my family aswell as the best food i can possibly give them :) just dropping the hi hello and info, have a great day and all advice is welcome at anytime msg me thanks :)
 
Hello and welcome to BYC - thanks for joining us. From what i have read and my own experience - having good food for your family you can do easily, but making money is another ball-game. You'd need quite a substantial number of chickens to make money. Most of us seem happy if we can cover our chicken feed costs.

You'll find lots of info in the Learning Centre - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/learning-center.11/ and if you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/270925/find-your-states-thread#post_3239224

All the best

Pork Pie
 
i have a question i am not sure if anyone could answer it... if i get hens to drop some eggs and a male to fert the eggs, would the hens raise the babys that would be left to hatch or would i have to take them indoors for an incubation time?
Would it be possable to make a hen or set of hens "hatching/mother hens"
thanks :)
 
What you are referring to are "broody" hens. Some breeds go "broody" often, others probably never. Among the frequent broodies are silkies, buff orpingtons, cochins, etc.

You cannot make a hen go broody- it's hormones that drive them. The ones that can, sooner or later will. It's not uncommon for a silkie or buff orp to lay a few eggs and then decide to go broody. They will sit on eggs and hatch them and get the chicks off to a good start.

While they are sitting, they will not produce any more eggs. If you don't have a rooster they will not have fertile eggs to hatch.So sitting on non fertile eggs will just wear the hopeful mama out. If you can buy fertile eggs of any breeds, you can very likely swap out dud eggs for fertile ones and mama will raise them as their own.

You may want to check out the topic of "Broody hens," to learn more about them.
 
drumstick diva said:
What you are referring to are "broody" hens. Some breeds go "broody" often, others probably never. Among the frequent broodies are silkies, buff orpingtons, cochins, etc.

You cannot make a hen go broody- it's hormones that drive them. The ones that can, sooner or later will. It's not uncommon for a silkie or buff orp to lay a few eggs and then decide to go broody. They will sit on eggs and hatch them and get the chicks off to a good start.

While they are sitting, they will not produce any more eggs. If you don't have a rooster they will not have fertile eggs to hatch.So sitting on non fertile eggs will just wear the hopeful mama out. If you can buy fertile eggs of any breeds, you can very likely swap out dud eggs for fertile ones and mama will raise them as their own.

You may want to check out the topic of "Broody hens," to learn more about them.
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thank you sooo much :) i was looking into the silkies i think they are awsome looking. and i hear are good with kids, i have a 6 yearold and my wife and i were looking at them pritty hard, wondering if they would be good here in SWVA. and if i could "brood" them or not for. easyer maintainability :) still checking them for 'pasty butt' while they are being mothered by the hens :)
 
DaMaddHatter said:
i have a question i am not sure if anyone could answer it... if i get hens to drop some eggs and a male to fert the eggs, would the hens raise the babys that would be left to hatch or would i have to take them indoors for an incubation time?
Would it be possable to make a hen or set of hens "hatching/mother hens"
thanks :)
Click to expand...

Welcome! :D:welcome You would have to have the rooster fertilize the hen, and she will then lay the fertile eggs - she can't lay the eggs and then them later be fertilized by the rooster. Perhaps I just misunderstood that part, though. :p
Like @drumstick diva said, you can't really force a hen to go broody; it's up to her hormones.
I don't think it's possible to make a hen/hens your specific mother hens, but some will take on the job more willingly than others and be better at it than others. :) My girls are still pullets and started laying not too long ago, but even my pullet I'd imagine is the most motherly of the others hasn't really gone broody yet; just sits on the eggs for a day or two, seems to be broody, and then gives up. :lol:
I would suggest some Buff Orpingtons or Silkies, as I've heard they're both very sweet and good mothers. I was planning on getting a few myself, but I have RIR's and Barred Plymouth Rock's which I've been told are both bully breeds, and I wouldn't want to subject gentle breeds to constant bullying. :barnie
 
:) yea i understand i bit better now i've ran off and read a few things about it :) thank you for the information. in breeding is incest a big deal or is that standerd 1 rooster to many hen? i'm haveing a bit of issues finding that info without some ODD things showing up in the search bar lol :), i have had many "broods" of dogs in the past and inbreeding was not good for that creature but i'm not sure if it has the same issues with birds/chicken, if you have any info on that aswell that would be helpful :) also thank you soo much i ran accross this site and it has been the BEST, my notebooks are filling up and soo much good info :) and great posts!
 
Welcome to BYC! :frow
We are so glad you joined our flock.
This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:
 
DaMaddHatter said:
:) yea i understand i bit better now i've ran off and read a few things about it :) thank you for the information. in breeding is incest a big deal or is that standerd 1 rooster to many hen? i'm haveing a bit of issues finding that info without some ODD things showing up in the search bar lol :), i have had many "broods" of dogs in the past and inbreeding was not good for that creature but i'm not sure if it has the same issues with birds/chicken, if you have any info on that aswell that would be helpful :) also thank you soo much i ran accross this site and it has been the BEST, my notebooks are filling up and soo much good info :) and great posts!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure on that, but after a quick, carefully worded google search (which lead me back to another thread on BYC :lau) that had the word "chicken" in it about 4 times just to make sure nothing bad came up :p, it seems like it should be okay. One thing you'll have to watch for, though, is the line-breeding/inbreeding can make good traits and colorings stand out, but it can also make bad traits stand out, according to the thread and another site.

Just don't think about the fact that you're inbreeding your chickens too hard. :lol: I'm sure they think it's natural - whatever the chicken needs to do to keep it's line alive in the wild, I'm sure the chicken is not against doing it. Your rooster will probably mate with his offspring on his own.

Here's the thread the google search lead me to. :) https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-a-rooster-breed-with-his-offspring.235055/
 

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