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:
Awwwww!! They are too cute! I can not wait until one of my hens are ready to go broody. I want to have chicks before winter. Good luck!
I love the pictures! haha that made me laugh when you said she challenged you about dumping the feed out. It is amazing how they communicate so well. congratulations.
Thanks everyone! They're my attempt at making sex-linked white egg layers...but I'm not too up on my chicken genetics, and they're not sex linked They're a cross between RIR hens and a white leghorn roo.
