Nature take it's course?

[chick ma]

I have a pair of Cuckoo Marans that just revieled that they are male and female(one crowing this morning). I am new to raising chickens so I was wondering should I just let nature take its course and allow these two to have chicks? I only have one other chicken that is a Salmon Faverolle hen(not yet laying).
Should I seperate them from the other chicken? Can a hen have chicks just as she starts laying?

 

[Camelot Farms]

It has been my (limited) experience that the first eggs are not quality eggs as far as hatching goes. Fertility is quite low. I would simply toss them for a while and then if you decide that you want more chicks, you could see if she will even go broody.

She may not even be interested in setting til she is older.

Just my thoughts...

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
- If you want.
- Well, depends on what results you want.
- Yes.

The hens are in for the ride of their life, I believe. One randy cockerel and only two hens for him to expend his energy on spells harassment for the hens!
If you want true Maran offspring, then you should breed only those two. Brother/sister pairings are not recommended long-term, however. Were it me, I'd put them all together and let them be... for the hens there is safety in numbers!
Besides there is hardly much point in breeding three birds for genotype. The gene pool is just too small.

Nature intends for the hen to reproduce from the first egg she lays. So, she can produce chicks right away. Will she be a good brood hen? Will her genetics be of good quality and lead to vigorous chicks. Who knows?

Only time will tell.

 

[write2caroline]

My brother in law was lecturing me the other day about how irresponsible it was to have a rooster and that soon we would be up to our necks in chickens - till I reminded him - Ah......They are not like rabbits or cats....(mammals) They are avians.....they get pregnant on the outside and we will be eating the eggs......so..............um...I think we have a handle on population control.

He does not have chickens but he did stay at a Holiday inn express once......so obviously he is an authority on chickens!

He is a Commander in the US Coast Guard - puddle pirate!

I do want to breed our chickens - in a controlled resposible way - when we are ready. They are only 5 weeks old.

What really strikes me as funny is that he knows we capture and release the ferrel cats in the neighborhood after they visit the no cost low cost animal clinic for a little operation - so where he got off thinking we would be irresponsibly breeding anything really ticked me off!

In laws come and the out laws go

Caroline
Jax FL

 

[chick ma]

Thanks for allthe suggestions...I never even considered her not going broody but that makes good sense.
Thanks again

 

[TimG]

Quote:
Don't toss'em, eat'em.

 

[thechickenchick]

Quote:
Don't toss'em, eat'em.

Scrambled, fried, poached, boiled, pickled, in a cake.... YES!! In a cake....chocolate, yes eat them, in a chocolate cake!!

Sorry, PMS makes me hungry and causes random thought to come spewing from my mouth!!

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Quote:
You know its funny that you should say this. I have a very dear friend who is like a sister to me. She used to have chickens eons ago. When I told her that I had gotten some chickens she scolded me and told me how she started out with 12 chickens and ended up with more than 200 in 6 years.

I just couldn't fathom it. How? Why? She wasn't incubating. She was letting the hens sit on the eggs. How hard was it to go collect eggs daily? I've heard the speech a dozen times and I finally told her that if she had collected her eggs daily and not let them sit on them day after day she would have never gotten to over 200 chickens in 6 years. I know she was hurt but jeez!!

Sometime the mind boggles........

Laurie

 

[Camelot Farms]

LOL...I said toss them because I have bantams and when we dont have need for their eggs for babies, we usually toss them since they are so tiny.

I forget that other people have big birds...