Natural breeding thread

[TOMTE]

Better not place young chicks with a broody unprepared. It can go wrong very easily.

Yup, I know better than to do something without researching. That's why I joined BYC in the first place

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Better not place young chicks with a broody unprepared. It can go wrong very easily.

That has, consistently, been my experience as well.

 

[TOMTE]

That has, consistently, been my experience as well.

Good to know. That's what I was told. The advise I was given was to put them under the broody late at night and listen closely. They should talk to each other iirc (low broody cluck), and if all is well after an hour or two, it should be safe to leave them for the night. I assume it's a good idea to wake up early in the morning to check on the progress, and then keep a close eye on them the next couple days?

This isn't something I plan on doing any time soon. The more knowledge I can gather before then the better.

 

[Perris]

I'll tag along and help when I can.

 

[Fallenone05]

Good to know. That's what I was told. The advise I was given was to put them under the broody late at night and listen closely. They should talk to each other iirc (low broody cluck), and if all is well after an hour or two, it should be safe to leave them for the night. I assume it's a good idea to wake up early in the morning to check on the progress, and then keep a close eye on them the next couple days?

This isn't something I plan on doing any time soon. The more knowledge I can gather before then the better.

Some hens will take them. I had a broody hen who'd adopt a rock if she could. The other broodies I have don't take chicks at all. If they have other babies already they accept one or two extra chicks but no babies at all and suddenly babies? They abandon them and will not care for them. It's easier to brooder raise them if they're abandoned, and without knowing your hens temperament.

Sometimes hens are homicidal and will kill unfamiliar chicks, and even their own hatchlings. It's definitely risky to introduce babies like that.

 

[BDutch]

Do you all replace fake eggs for marked fertilised eggs if you let a broody sit?
I did every time I wanted chicks. Bc I don’t like the idea of a staggered hatch.

 

[TexasBlues]

The first video shows chicks that are older. Chicks stay under the broody the first days and cant be that quick if they are just 1 day old.

It’s was a staggered hatch. Chicks were hatched in 3 groups a week apart. There’s day old, week old and 2 week old together in the video.
Those details are in the video description.

 

[TexasBlues]

Do you all replace fake eggs for marked fertilised eggs if you let a broody sit?
I did every time I wanted chicks. Bc I don’t like the idea of a staggered hatch.

The hen in the video ended up not accepting the 2 black chicks that did not have the wild type chipmunk pattern. But she did accept all of the chipmunk chicks from the 3 different groups.
I wouldn’t do a staggered hatch again.
I did like having a broody hen raising the chicks, but in the long run I lost the majority of the chicks due to predators. I need to put chicken wire at the base of my chain link fence to make sure the next group of chicks can’t get through the fence where the hen can’t protect them.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Do you all replace fake eggs for marked fertilised eggs if you let a broody sit?
I did every time I wanted chicks. Bc I don’t like the idea of a staggered hatch.

I don't have any fake eggs.. I should get some.
I just let them sit on eggs til I've collected enough, then toss the others.
Last year I had 10 broodys and set specific eggs from each hen I was test mating under 9 of them. (10th was a mix for fun) Marked and removed any extras to avoid staggered hatches.
All chicks that hatched could then be leg banded according to their Dams leg band color.

 

[Perris]

Do you all replace fake eggs for marked fertilised eggs if you let a broody sit?
I did every time I wanted chicks. Bc I don’t like the idea of a staggered hatch.

There is one or occasionally two fake egg(s) in every nest box here, and I collect the hens' eggs a couple of times a day, so yes I do, though I never thought about it that way before you asked.

I set the marked eggs to hatch when I see the broody is off for her daily ablutions (and in the first 5 days or so, some can be off for hours on end), removing whatever she was sitting on at the same time (so they all start together, none have a day or three's head start while I was waiting to confirm her broodiness), and remove any laid on top the same way in the weeks following.

It helps that some broodies come to the back door and call for food when they're off (that's a useful behaviour I encourage, as it makes my life easier to know when they're off).