Mamma hens do it best and they seriously let you know what they want and when. If I could only be so lucky as to ALWAYS have a broody ready for the hatch!
Here's a pic of momma inside her brooding box in the house, she did all 3 weeks of incubation and hatched out all the chicks in it:
Here's the box itself, it also doubles as a brooder for chicks we buy as day-olds:
I figured momma hen would want to stay in the box for a few days, but I swear as soon as that last baby dried off, she was trying to tear the walls down to get out, so here they are in thier little private run:
Momma hen also thought her chicks couldn't get into the feeder to eat, so she dumped it for them, then challenged to see what I would do about it:
Needless to say, I left her alone! My black sex-links have set one right after the other, it's fantastic! These hens make my job a whole heck of a lot easier, I just wish I could have a broody year round! Lucky for me, I've got one more broody waiting to set Lisa's ameraucana eggs when they get here:
Here's a pic of momma inside her brooding box in the house, she did all 3 weeks of incubation and hatched out all the chicks in it:
Here's the box itself, it also doubles as a brooder for chicks we buy as day-olds:
I figured momma hen would want to stay in the box for a few days, but I swear as soon as that last baby dried off, she was trying to tear the walls down to get out, so here they are in thier little private run:
Momma hen also thought her chicks couldn't get into the feeder to eat, so she dumped it for them, then challenged to see what I would do about it:
Needless to say, I left her alone! My black sex-links have set one right after the other, it's fantastic! These hens make my job a whole heck of a lot easier, I just wish I could have a broody year round! Lucky for me, I've got one more broody waiting to set Lisa's ameraucana eggs when they get here:
