Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[SillyChicken]

So....... having a rough spring. Our hens are old so I planned to get new stock and then process the older birds. We got 25 chicks of mixed breeds, they were all feathered out and moved into a temp run. We went away for the weekend and I'll be darned if a fox or something didn't get into the run and killed all but 3. Luckily FFH still had chicks so I got a dozen more. And of course my old girls decided to go broody after all that..... we have 5 new chicks and another 24 eggs being sat upon....wish we could have planned all that a little better.

Raz please try to take care of yourself!

I will not make it to Chicken Stock this year (again)....I have an opportunity to do a charter fishing trip on Lake Michigan that I wasn't going to pass up!... Hope everyone has a great time!

 

[Folly's place]

Have a wonderful time fishing, and we'll miss you at CS. Mary

 

[wannahomestead]

alright I want to give my broody a shot here. Here's my challenge:

She regularly is sitting in a nest box IN the coop. I've already seen the issues with that involving other hens crowding her and laying in the same nest box.

I can set her up a nest box out in the run, but I'm not sure she will be dedicated to it. Also, the other chickens seem to be messing w/ the nest box, resulting in broken or eaten eggs.

If I were to set off some space in the run for her, how much space does she need? I'm thinking a run inside a run.

 

[JackieandChicks]

Three hens went broody..yeah! I've got eggs saved but not having good luck with the incubators this year...stupid stuff like leaving the plastic window out (did not notice it was missing) for a day, then the cats sleeping on top because hubby left the door open to the room and the temp skyrocketing, then I somehow unplugged it. Got two more batches in, need to candle to see if they survived a drop to 80 degrees. Grr!

 

[iamfivewire]

we have a surplus of chicks ranging from 1 week to 11 weeks - had some orders for chicks & a couple buyers backed out. so needless to say, the incubator got a bit of a workout this year so far . . . . & of course, we have 2 hens that decided to wait til now to be broody

 

[WalnutHill]

I have a Wheaten Sulmtaler cockerel 8 weeks old, and a couple of Silver Spitzhauben cockerels available. Also plenty of EE cockerels available.

 

[aart]

alright I want to give my broody a shot here. Here's my challenge:

She regularly is sitting in a nest box IN the coop. I've already seen the issues with that involving other hens crowding her and laying in the same nest box.

I can set her up a nest box out in the run, but I'm not sure she will be dedicated to it. Also, the other chickens seem to be messing w/ the nest box, resulting in broken or eaten eggs.

If I were to set off some space in the run for her, how much space does she need? I'm thinking a run inside a run.

I would say an area at least 2' x 2'.....not including the space taken up by nest, feed, and water.
Of course it needs total protection from the weather and direct sun(nest, food, and water anyway).

 

[Candy442]

alright I want to give my broody a shot here. Here's my challenge:

She regularly is sitting in a nest box IN the coop. I've already seen the issues with that involving other hens crowding her and laying in the same nest box.

I can set her up a nest box out in the run, but I'm not sure she will be dedicated to it. Also, the other chickens seem to be messing w/ the nest box, resulting in broken or eaten eggs.

If I were to set off some space in the run for her, how much space does she need? I'm thinking a run inside a run.

We made a couple of 2 x 4 x 2ft high foot boxes out of plywood, then a top of hardware cloth stapled on 2 x 3 boards. We use these boxes as broody boxes or brood raising boxes When any of our hens sit long enough, we pick them and the nest container up all together and set them in the brood box. They are in there by themselves, but at least they can be undisturbed get up to stretch legs and have water/food close. We have a couple of areas within the coop we could wire off for broody hens, but haven't tried that yet though.

 

[Candy442]

we have a surplus of chicks ranging from 1 week to 11 weeks - had some orders for chicks & a couple buyers backed out. so needless to say, the incubator got a bit of a workout this year so far . . . . & of course, we have 2 hens that decided to wait til now to be broody

and we will be bringing the lot of them to Chickenstock

. Be prepared to buy these cute little fuzzies!

 

[wannahomestead]

We made a couple of 2 x 4 x 2ft high foot boxes out of plywood, then a top of hardware cloth stapled on 2 x 3 boards. We use these boxes as broody boxes or brood raising boxes When any of our hens sit long enough, we pick them and the nest container up all together and set them in the brood box. They are in there by themselves, but at least they can be undisturbed get up to stretch legs and have water/food close. We have a couple of areas within the coop we could wire off for broody hens, but haven't tried that yet though.

So literally just a 2x4 box?

She doesn't seem to be fully committed to a nest outside the coop right now, I'm going to give her a little longer to figure herself out before setting any eggs. She's just really interested in only doing it in a nestbox in the coop.

I have my outside box setup with a fake egg in it currently