New Hampshire Reds and going broody for meat bird?

[bairo]

I'm very new to this and just picking our breeds for diff. aspects. Out of the twelve hens we plan to get, I would like to have 3 NHR's for meat birds. My questions are as follows;
What age is good to let them go broody?
I would like to let them go naturally and not use an incubator, is this possible? With 9 other hens in the coop (3-Australorps, 3-Dominiques, and 3-BCM's) All the other birds will be for egg production only.

Any info on NHR's for meat birds and hatching the eggs naturally would greatly be appreciated

 

[Ridgerunner]

New Hampshire were developed from the Rhode Island Red as a meat bird. The original New Hampshires were pretty beefy and were not great egg layers. The light color of the feathers gave a prettier carcass after plucking since the light-colored pin feathers are hard to see. Hatchery New Hampshires are not as stocky and will probably be better egg layers than the original New Hampshires. It takes pretty strong selective breeding to maintain the characteristics and meat is not a priority for hatcheries, hatching egg are. That said, they should make a pretty good meat bird for you.

All your breeds should make decent meat birds. They are called dual purpose since they are pretty good for meat and eggs.

It sounds like you are getting the New Hampshires to get hatching eggs to raise your own meat birds, not necessarily that you plan to eat those three. Nothing wrong with that plan, but I think you'll find that if you get a good rooster, any of those breeds will produce good meat birds and still lay pretty well.

A chicken will hatch any fertile egg you put under them: duck egg, turkey egg, or another chicken's egg. You don't have to worry about any certain one going broody, just hope that any one will. You'll find that it is not a case of you letting them go broody. That is controlled by hormones and there is not a lot you can do to kick those hormones off. All the breeds you have selected are known for going broody, so you have a decent chance of getting a broody, but there is no guarantee that any of them will. Some hens go broody three times a year. Some never go broody. It is an individual thing.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck!

 

[bairo]

Thanks...it does help quite a bit. I guess what I meant about "letting" them go broody was if they start laying, should I let them mature more before leaving an egg under them to brood? And you are correct...I do want the NHR's to hatch eggs for me so I can then use that stock as meat birds. I did pick all multipurpose birds, but I thought the NHR's may tend to go broody a little better than the others.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Let me give you a link that might help a bit. It does not directly address you question, but I think it gives decent information about the broody process. There is still a lot more to it.

Isolate a Broody? Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=213218

Should they mature before you let them hatch eggs? Two different issues. One, when a hen goes broody, she is acting on instincts. It is really amasing how those instincts kick in. A very young broody may have more difficulties than an older broody, but if one goes broody, I'd not worry about it. An older broody can have bad instincts too. If one goes broody, I give her eggs, no matter her age. They can all mess up or they can all do well.

The other question is, how large are your eggs. When hens first start to lay, the eggs are a lot smaller than they will be in a few months. Those smaller pullet eggs will hatch. I've had decent hatch rates with them. But since the eggs are smaller, they do not contain enough nutrients for the chick to grow as large and strong as a chick would in a regular sized egg. As a result, they are smaller at hatch and not necessarily as robust. If I can get then through the first 48 hours or so, they are as active and healthy as chicks from larger eggs, but I have had noticeably higher mortality rates with those chicks from the small pullet eggs during those first couple of days. Those were eggs from pullets abut 22 to 23 weeks old. Others have said they do not have the same results. I have not hatched enough pullet eggs to say it is definitely a problem, just that when I did it, I had that problem. I'm not going to say I won't do it again, just that I'd prefer the eggs to be larger. If I get a broody and all I have is pullet eggs, she will get pullet eggs.

Another issue. I don't know that the small chicks that hatch from the pullet eggs ever catch up in size to their larger siblings. They have the same genetics, but I just don't know if they catch up. It's not a huge issue with me since I eat most of them anyway and, since meat is a prime goal of mine, I eat the smaller ones first anyway and let the larger ones breed.

 

[Rathbone]

Nice advice Ridgerunner. I find myself wishing the posts had buttons like facebook does so I could hit the "like" button. I enjoyed your posts.

 

[bairo]

Thats great advice Ridgerunner, I appreciate it.
I only want to start with one Rooster due to the space restraints and was thinking a BCM for that. But now think a NHR rooster may be better since I plan on only eating the NHR offspring and having the other breeds strictly for eggs. The reason I picked the other breeds instead of a higher producing egg layer was due to the fact that they are all fairly heavy and cold tolerant and produce nice brown eggs. Plus my fiance and 11yo step daughter like the way they look and should be fairly docile. Although I do think that the offspring of a BCM rooster with the NHR's might make a pretty nice bird? LOL, you can tell me i'm crazy if you like

..Just getting started with the final planning stages and am somewhat naive about the whole thing.