Making Lemonade [Selective Culling Project - very long term]

[3KillerBs]

Not sure if the chick will weigh much to register on it. The scale has a 660lb capacity. Very heavy duty.

I deliberately bought a fish scale that could both weigh fractions of ounces and weigh more than the largest Cornish X that I can envision raising.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I deliberately bought a fish scale that could both weigh fractions of ounces and weigh more than the largest Cornish X that I can envision raising.

My scale weight options. Forgot what N was.

The weight is the EE/Brahma hen.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

N is Newtons, a measurtement you will only use when doing physics problems.
And yes, those two in the bath you circled are my most hopeful of this hatch.

I packed up the incubator, brooder box and heat plate, will let a couple of my girls try to hatch the natural way, while I continue to cull down.

 

[NatJ]

I packed up the incubator, brooder box and heat plate, will let a couple of my girls try to hatch the natural way, while I continue to cull down.

I wonder if being fat helps a hen stay broody long enough to hatch eggs?
I know you try not to let your chickens get too fat, and I think you said that you've had hens in the past that tried to go broody but gave up early-- possible correlation?

If you only provide chicken feed once a day, and expect them to forage the rest of the time, this would also make things harder for broodies. Unless they come off the nest to eat when you put out the feed, they are completely lacking that source of easy calories.

Of course, if you are really trying to select for hens that can find food enough on their own and set/hatch eggs anyway, there's no need to change anything.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wonder if being fat helps a hen stay broody long enough to hatch eggs?
I know you try not to let your chickens get too fat, and I think you said that you've had hens in the past that tried to go broody but gave up early-- possible correlation?

If you only provide chicken feed once a day, and expect them to forage the rest of the time, this would also make things harder for broodies. Unless they come off the nest to eat when you put out the feed, they are completely lacking that source of easy calories.

Of course, if you are really trying to select for hens that can find food enough on their own and set/hatch eggs anyway, there's no need to change anything.

From my experience, no. Not one of our birds we have culled or looked at after finding has had visible fat, save one. And I'm pretty sure he wasn't ever going to brood. But even the birds that had gone very protectively broody didn't have any visible fat layers

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I wonder if being fat helps a hen stay broody long enough to hatch eggs?
I know you try not to let your chickens get too fat, and I think you said that you've had hens in the past that tried to go broody but gave up early-- possible correlation?

If you only provide chicken feed once a day, and expect them to forage the rest of the time, this would also make things harder for broodies. Unless they come off the nest to eat when you put out the feed, they are completely lacking that source of easy calories.

Of course, if you are really trying to select for hens that can find food enough on their own and set/hatch eggs anyway, there's no need to change anything.

Its something I've considered - and the chicken currently broody does leave the nest for the free feed at night before returning to the nest. I've offered "support" to the broody ducks by feeding the main flock, then placing food close to the broodies, but have not done the same for the chickens, not wanting them to brood. Since the girl brooding right now is black with a tiny necklace, I'm fair confident much if not most of what she hatches (if anything) will be fore the dinner table anyways.

 

[MysteryChicken]

N is Newtons, a measurtement you will only use when doing physics problems.
And yes, those two in the bath you circled are my most hopeful of this hatch.

I packed up the incubator, brooder box and heat plate, will let a couple of my girls try to hatch the natural way, while I continue to cull down.

First time I've seen newtons on a scale.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My scale measures in Jin. You can guess where it was made...

 

[MysteryChicken]

My scale measures in Jin. You can guess where it was made...

Mine's a Chinese made one too.

 

[Sally PB]

I have a kitchen scale I use for weighing eggs in grams. I also use it for weighing the flour when I make a loaf of bread. Not sure how I'd get chicks to stand still long enough to weigh them. Put them in a small bowl or box?