Natural breeding thread

[U_Stormcrow]

Sidebar:

I have two ducks, both sitting nests right now, in a protected space. Both nests contain both chicken and duck eggs. The space is such that the adult ducks can leave it, hatched birds will not get far.

Yesterday, I found a single (chicken) chick in the pasture, following two (different) ducks, in a place she/he could not possible have been, had it hatched in either of the two known nests. The were no hens in close proximity

"Nature will find a way" (obviously, I missed a nest, somewhere)

[chick is now safely under a heat plate, doing well]

/End Sidebar

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Interestingly, some birds have learned to recognize the eggs of brood parasites. I believe bluebirds have been observed adding more nesting material on top of eggs that aren't theirs to smother them, or simply pushing them out of the nest.

My bet is that it 100% depends on the individual hen when it comes to chickens. They are brilliant birds for ones with such small brains LOL, but that instinct to brood and set and mother might just be much stronger in some so that they overlook differences in egg size, shape, and color, and same with the chicks they hatch out.

related - I have seen both hens and female ducks carefully separate and remove singular eggs from the clutch and push them far away. Then return to the nest. Pretty uniformly, those eggs seem to have come in contact with my clay soils (the staining is pretty obvious) and likely became "bacteria bombs" as the acidity of my clays etched thru the protective layers of the shell, allowing things present in the ground to colonize.

 

[Perris]

is a pullet more inclined to be broody if she was raised by a broody hen?

I've got 17 broody raised pullets and hens here atm, and of those, 5 have gone broody, 6 haven't, 5 are just coming into lay so too young to say, and 1 went broody (I thought) but broke very easily so maybe wasn't really. So it's about 50 : 50 here now.

 

[TOMTE]

It's my understanding that a good setter will talk to her eggs a lot as she sits on them. At what point do the developing chicks start communicating back to her? Can a hen tell which eggs/chicks are viable and which are less likely to survive by listening to them?

 

[BDutch]

I've slipped chicks successfully under hens a few times, and I've had hens murder strange babies that hatched from strange eggs slipped underneath them. I think that genetics are probably the main factor at play here

My Asil would probably raise an emu if I could slip it under her somehow

I believe the broody /mother is the problem if this murder attack happen. I find it hard to believe its the eggs/ chicks from other hens that are the reason the hen does not accept them.

I wanted to know more about this subject and did some online research (just google, couldn’t find a real study).

I couldn’t find anything about rejecting strange eggs.

What I found:
The hen that seem to peck their chicks to dead are often game / fighting breeds thats are often more aggressive.
If the hen pecks the first chick to dead she often repeats this with all the chicks that hatch.

I wonder if the hen who does has a psycho problem by nature or maybe she suffered a life in stress.

Its easy to believe this is mainly a problem with hens that were incubated and haven’t learned about motherhood in a mixed flock. But this is obvious not the case because many hens from incubators and without adult examples, turn out to be good broodies and mothers.

 

[BDutch]

It's my understanding that a good setter will talk to her eggs a lot as she sits on them. At what point do the developing chicks start communicating back to her?

I have been reading it takes about 20 days (19 for bantams) to have the lungs developed. If this is true it cant be very long before the chicks hatch.

Can a hen tell which eggs/chicks are viable and which are less likely to survive by listening to them?

Many people say this. But I have not experienced this.

I had hens who kept the not viable eggs and hens that tossed out eggs with chicks in the right stage of development.
The chicks were dead after they got cold too long.

If a hen is restless in the nest box or takes abundant sand baths, do check for parasites.

 

[CraziChknLady]

I dunno if I'm lucky or what. I started back last year with 1 roo and 8 hens, mixed flock. Over the summer I had 5 broody hens! First hen hatched 15 ( all made it), 2nd was 3 ( lost chick to hawk), third hen had 1, ( she wouldn't take 6 chicks I bought), 4th had 2 and 5th had 5 ( only hen to have a dud or two). By dud I means eggs that she sat on but nothing came of them. Never hatched and they didn't feel heavy or like they had anything.
I've gotten to the point where if a hen went broody and sat on them for 3 days, then within those next couple days to a week I would move her and eggs to rabbit hutch/ cage area separate from flock. Kept water and food nearby and let her do her thing.
With so many broody the roo I had was having his way with the others, but there just wasn't enough, so I got 5 pullets. Integration took a bit, but overall they are all well now.

 

[fluffycrow]

I believe the broody /mother is the problem if this murder attack happen. I find it hard to believe its the eggs/ chicks from other hens that are the reason the hen does not accept them.

I wanted to know more about this subject and did some online research (just google, couldn’t find a real study).

I couldn’t find anything about rejecting strange eggs.

What I found:
The hen that seem to peck their chicks to dead are often game / fighting breeds thats are often more aggressive.

I happen to know a bit about this. Much like you, my sources are not extremely credible, just experiences shared on YouTube from knowledgeable Greek Aseel (Oriental game) keepers.

According to them, when/if aseel mothers sense that their chicks have been left without food for too long (presumably a day or more, although that would depend on each mum), they kill the weakest chicks and feed them to the rest.

I have heard of a particular case where the hen had hatched pure aseel chicks, and two aseel x australorp mixes. One day the keeper didn’t feed them in time, and the hen had killed the two mixes. Somehow she could tell them apart, and chose to kill them instead of the weak ones in the brood.

I have heard of instances where the aseel mothers killed the entire brood, but from what I know, that mostly happens when the mother feels that the space she is raising her brood in is too small, or unsafe.

I have no personal experience in this subject, however, as I do not have a pure oriental game hen, and the mixes I do have, have either not gone broody, or have brooded unsuccessfully

 

[RcoM]

Here are some thoughts and questions from my multiple experience.
1. Why did my rooster chase the hen and punish her whenever she came out of the nest for a break? She was normally his favourite.
2. I'm wondering what it will be like with two roosters who get along very well and 9 hens. I'm hoping this leaves me more spare hens for egg laying. That is once spring hits Australia again.

 

[RcoM]

I dunno if I'm lucky or what. I started back last year with 1 roo and 8 hens, mixed flock. Over the summer I had 5 broody hens! First hen hatched 15 ( all made it), 2nd was 3 ( lost chick to hawk), third hen had 1, ( she wouldn't take 6 chicks I bought), 4th had 2 and 5th had 5 ( only hen to have a dud or two). By dud I means eggs that she sat on but nothing came of them. Never hatched and they didn't feel heavy or like they had anything.
I've gotten to the point where if a hen went broody and sat on them for 3 days, then within those next couple days to a week I would move her and eggs to rabbit hutch/ cage area separate from flock. Kept water and food nearby and let her do her thing.
With so many broody the roo I had was having his way with the others, but there just wasn't enough, so I got 5 pullets. Integration took a bit, but overall they are all well now.

I did integration after separation, but next time I'm gonna try and just let the broody do it all in the main coop with a little privacy during the day. I will update once I've had a go at this.