Natural breeding thread

[Perris]

Possibly so but that doesn't change the point I'm trying to make.

I appreciate your wanting to distinguish between preparation for sitting, sitting (incubating), and raising the chicks, but I don't think it's helpful to dump the word broody in favour of human analogies and even moreso human terminology. You usually frown on anthropomorphising.

 

[Perris]

Broodiness starts long before one sees the puffed up hen I would suggest

I'm sure you're right there. They eat to build up fat stores for a start.

It's just that many humans have difficulty accepting that a hen, or any chicken come to that, is capable of planning.

I ignore idiots. Point to a nest if you feel the need to respond to them

 

[Shadrach]

I appreciate your wanting to distinguish between preparation for sitting, sitting (incubating), and raising the chicks, but I don't think it's helpful to dump the word broody in favour of human analogies and even moreso human terminology. You usually frown on anthropomorphising.

I don't want to dump the word broody entirely. I want to see it being used for the correct state.

You usually frown on anthropomorphising.

Hmm, do I. If that is the impression I've given then I've not done a great job on my communications.

 

[BDutch]

True, I forgot to specify, as I stated earlier, that natural breeding works best in natural flocks, so big spaces, free range, and 1:4 rooster to hens ratio. Overcrowding and lack of control from a good dad can cause disasters.

Natural breeding and free ranging can get awkward if there are a lot of chick-predators around like rats, cats, blue jays, crows, etc. And I have many of those walking and flying around. 5 neighbour cats walk in my garden every day.

I lost several small chicks/pullets with free ranging. I keep my mama’s inside a run when I can’t supervise. Dividing the run in two makes it possible to free range the adults and keep the chicks safe.

 

[Perris]

I want to see it being used for the correct state.

you haven't yet persuaded me that your restricted use is the correct use. I think broody is the appropriate term for a hen looking after chicks up until they fledge.

 

[TOMTE]

you haven't yet persuaded me that your restricted use is the correct use. I think broody is the appropriate term for a hen looking after chicks up until they fledge.

I can see both sides of this. The definition of a brood is a group of young animals (such as chicks) produced at one hatching or birth.

So could a mother hen taking care of her brood be considered still "broody"? Maybe... We can't exactly ask them (well, we can, but we won't get an answer), which is why we apply these terms to them ourselves. Some of it comes down to semantics, I think.

To brood is also to think deeply about something so I can see where Shadrach is coming from; that a broody hen is one that's thinking about/ready to set, then from there it's setting and then motherhood.

 

[BDutch]

Chambers, for example, says 'adj. broody, inclined to sit or incubate; apt to brood or breed. OE brod; Du broed; cf. breed.' Breeding isn't just confined to laying and incubating eggs; it's about getting the chicks to maturity.

Its more complicated in our language as you were thinking Perris.

Broed in NL as a verb ‘broeden’ means sitting on eggs (most of the day). It’s also used for people who think about making a plan or think about a solution for a problem.
Broed as a noun / subject means the chicks or other animals that came out off the egg.
Broedsel means the eggs the bird is sitting on or eggs in a kind of nest from other animals like snakes .
A hen /bird /who sits is a ‘broedse kip/vogel’. We always put the type of bird behind broedse.

Btw: Du is not a clear abbreviation. Its Ne / NL for the Netherlands. De /D is German.

 

[Perris]

Brood, transitive verb sense 2, Oxford shorter english dictionary vol 1

 

[Perris]

Du is not a clear abbreviation

sorry I should have clarified; it stands for Dutch in that dictionary.

 

[Shadrach]

you haven't yet persuaded me that your restricted use is the correct use. I think broody is the appropriate term for a hen looking after chicks up until they fledge.

If people think about it, I'll have made progress.
New ways of thinking about chicken matters is a very steep climb.
Maybe in time you'll come around to the idea that having a different term for each stage will at least help the understanding of the broody process.
I have written a bit about it on my thread. I know when the hens are going broody before they show signs of wanting to sit, and in the right crcumstances others could to.
The hunting for new nest sites having laid in a regular spot with the other hens would seem to be a good sign. So is spotting a hen and her rooster wandering around the land looking for nest sites. Many people have seen these behaviours but just haven't put the pieces together.
It is unlikely that the subject will be a study subject due to it being multple observations over time as in generations. The only people that might have the opportunity to observe these behaviours are chicken keepers. Some things, very few if they are to get a worthwhile result, can be studied in studies simply because such studies don't attract funding and most students who carry out such studies don't have the time to watch chickens all day long.