merrits of using silkies as egg incubators

[centrarchid]

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Thanks. I will keep hens separated. Each will be provided with her own minnie coop with a nest in corner. What kind of square footage is needed per hen? Each coop will be setup so bitties have a somewhat enriched environment in respect to structures to fly up on.

 

[lishah2000]

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My silkies and banty cochins are pretty much like clockwork. I have noticed the time with the chicks doesn't seem to matter much. If they keep them for a long time or short, the time to go broody again seems to be about the same. My one silky kept her first batch so long they were with her in the nest box while she laid her eggs. She finally pushed them away when she went broody again.

Finding good roosters will be a challenge. I have quite a few and they are all safe around babies from their own pen. I don't trust them with strange babies (actually I think the other hens are more of a danger). Only one seems to really like the babies and will protect them, even from his hens. He would rather they were with their mom hens, but will protect them if they get out of the pen. He also seems very interested in them and will watch them. Not sure he would actually sit and keep them warm. He will take the young boys under his wing and teach them. None of his hens have ever gone broody or hatched chicks, but I bet he would be good with them.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
My silkies and banty cochins are pretty much like clockwork. I have noticed the time with the chicks doesn't seem to matter much. If they keep them for a long time or short, the time to go broody again seems to be about the same. My one silky kept her first batch so long they were with her in the nest box while she laid her eggs. She finally pushed them away when she went broody again.

Finding good roosters will be a challenge. I have quite a few and they are all safe around babies from their own pen. I don't trust them with strange babies (actually I think the other hens are more of a danger). Only one seems to really like the babies and will protect them, even from his hens. He would rather they were with their mom hens, but will protect them if they get out of the pen. He also seems very interested in them and will watch them. Not sure he would actually sit and keep them warm. He will take the young boys under his wing and teach them. None of his hens have ever gone broody or hatched chicks, but I bet he would be good with them.

This year the broody rooster may not be realized. To get him setup, will let him cover the hens a couple times before they are given eggs to set on. I am thinking about setting it up so he will have a very long coop with a common divider between him and his six ladies. He will be able to maintain contact with hens and chicks they hatch. If all goes well there will be some sort of bonding between him and chicks. May push system and give rooster meal worms to see if he will transfer them to hens and chicks which may promote bonding process. Rooster to be used will likely be a game since several I have are extremely docile and demonstrated excellent parenting qualities in past. Getting such roosters to bond with silkies though is outside my realm of experience. This will be an experiment in its own right.

I do not expect rooster to cover all chicks, maybe a 1/3 or less, but he should provide a good focus for group and hopefully keep them out of weather.

 

[Rathbone]

Curiouser and curiouser - as Alice said in Wonderland. Hmmm...actually my silkie rooster was perfect with the babies. Fed them from his mouth, led them to food, covered them at night. And as the mothers weaned the babies away from themselves, he would take them in at night and let them sleep under him.
What kind of game rooster are you using?
And also - I wasn't sure but are you raising silkies - or are you raising other chickens and just using the silkies as broodies?
I do both. I love the silkies and we let them hatch out some of their own, but I am also putting chicks from other breeds under them. For me it is just easier to let the hens do all the work, and although I eat my chickens, I like to think that they have the happiest of lives while they are living. The hen is just a way better environment than a lightbulb in a box will ever be. Plus they seem to forage earlier and more which in my book means healthier meat and eggs.

 

[centrarchid]

Most roosters I have had will provide tidbits to chicks of hens in their little social group. I assume rooster considers chicks most likely to be his. It may also be a away to impress ladies that are nearing point of lay. Pure speculation.

What kind of game rooster are you using? American Game, family strain, color type mostly brown-red. Some are very good parents although I never tried to do this intentionally or with so many bitties. Most prior examples, 10 or much less chicks involved, often just one.

Chicks to be reared are part of American dominique project. Incubator reared chicks seem less socialized and as a result more difficult to manage as a group. They bust up too easily and get lost.