Official 2020 BYC Halloween Hatch-Along

[twojourneyseekers]

I’ll follow along with you all, but I won’t be hatching. My last hatch ended up with a lot of roosters I can’t seem to re-home.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Oh no. Oh no I have a broody hen and I told her, "No, momma, it's too late in the season and you already set some eggs in July, you're done for the year" but now y'all are having a hatch-a-long! What am I to do...

~~~~~Do it!~~~~~

 

[BantyChooks]

Oh no. Oh no I have a broody hen and I told her, "No, momma, it's too late in the season and you already set some eggs in July, you're done for the year" but now y'all are having a hatch-a-long! What am I to do...

Just think about how happy it would make her, and how cute those chicks would be.

 

[BantyChooks]

I’ll follow along with you all, but I won’t be hatching. My last hatch ended up with a lot of roosters I can’t seem to re-home.

Aww, I feel your pain. I have about a dozen cockerels that I need to take care of before winter arrives.

 

[RoseHawke]

I’ll follow along with you all, but I won’t be hatching. My last hatch ended up with a lot of roosters I can’t seem to re-home.

I've joined several groups on FB here in Central Alabama. I'd say a LOT of people - Covid 19 chicken tenders at a guess - are looking to re-home roosters.

 

[jolenesdad]

Haha! I did it with Sebastopol goose eggs too. I do sell what hatches so it's not too bad. A bit like gambling but you get to hatch fluffy babies! I'm looking forward to emu laying season because I plan to hatch a couple of emu for a friend!

If you don’t keep some Sebastopol geese next time you have LOST your mind. They’re my favorite. Yesterday I took a nap under the willow tree with them.

ugh y’all I’ve never been quite so indecisive as I am with this hatch a long. I go from ducks to quail to chickens back to ducks back to quail. ARGH!

 

[BantyChooks]

If you don’t keep some Sebastopol geese next time you have LOST your mind. They’re my favorite. Yesterday I took a nap under the willow tree with them.

ugh y’all I’ve never been quite so indecisive as I am with this hatch a long. I go from ducks to quail to chickens back to ducks back to quail. ARGH!

Ducks. Ducks. DUCKS. DUCKS.

 

[jolenesdad]

Ducks. Ducks. DUCKS. DUCKS.

I’m so nervous with ducks and wish I had a different space. I’m afraid to let them go into my pond, so they’ve got to be with the chickens. They can be separate but they’ve got to use the same space daily. I think I have space for 5 maybe 6 MAX, and I read so many horror stories of drakes than need 10+ hens and still mate a chicken.

are these situations just bad drakes, not enough pen space or not enough free range space?

 

[BantyChooks]

I’m so nervous with ducks and wish I had a different space. I’m afraid to let them go into my pond, so they’ve got to be with the chickens. They can be separate but they’ve got to use the same space daily. I think I have space for 5 maybe 6 MAX, and I read so many horror stories of drakes than need 10+ hens and still mate a chicken.

are these situations just bad drakes, not enough pen space or not enough free range space?

I've kept my ducks in with my chickens for their entire lives, even raised them with chicks in the brooder, and I've never seen a drake make a move on a chicken. Obviously, I haven't had anywhere near as many ducks as I've had chickens... but my personal experience is nothing like those horror stories. I free range my birds in summer and keep them in a coop during winter (they have access to the outdoors, they just don't go far.)
I usually only have 1--2 drakes and about 3--7 hens. Right now I have 2 drakes and one hen... which only works because the drakes are still babies, and the hen is 3x their size. One of the drakes might have to go next spring.

 

[jolenesdad]

I've kept my ducks in with my chickens for their entire lives, even raised them with chicks in the brooder, and I've never seen a drake make a move on a chicken. Obviously, I haven't had anywhere near as many ducks as I've had chickens... but my personal experience is nothing like those horror stories. I free range my birds in summer and keep them in a coop during winter (they have access to the outdoors, they just don't go far.)
I usually only have 1--2 drakes and about 3--7 hens. Right now I have 2 drakes and one hen... which only works because the drakes are still babies, and the hen is 3x their size. One of the drakes might have to go next spring.

Maybe I plan a 1/3 ratio and then plan a time out space if needed for my one drake.