Ribh's D'Coopage

[Ribh]

Talking of Lottie, I put her in with Mhari. Lottie's pretty calm about being confined [which Mhari is not!] & all the big girls [after they stopped going ballistic because they couldn't access the food! ] sun bathed right next to them.

I was complaing to John & he let out 1 of the BRs went broody on him while I was away & apparently 3 hens had a go @ him ~ but they were trying to lay & he was a comparative stranger stealing their eggs so what did he expect? The girls are really good with me. The only pecking is usually the inquisitive sort ~ in case I might be edible!

 

[drumstick diva]

Hatchery raised silkies generally have had the "broodiness" bred right out of them - and also some of the fine qualities that define the breed

 

[drumstick diva]

I love how the silkie really seems to be looking at the photos.

 

[Ribh]

Judging by the amount & colour of feathers in the pen I have more than one chook who has started her molt so have not been surprised @ the lack of eggs recently.

I must have missed the escort call this morning though for Ha'penny has led her sisters astray.

There were 3 eggs in the bale outside both the run & pen & 0nly 2 in a nesting box & I don't know who laid those. Nothing from the Araucanas the past few days.

 

[LozzyR]

I love how the silkie really seems to be looking at the photos.

I would pop that Silkie in my lap and listen to the story too!

 

[Shadrach]

Talking of Lottie, I put her in with Mhari. Lottie's pretty calm about being confined [which Mhari is not!] & all the big girls [after they stopped going ballistic because they couldn't access the food! ] sun bathed right next to them.

I was complaing to John & he let out 1 of the BRs went broody on him while I was away & apparently 3 hens had a go @ him ~ but they were trying to lay & he was a comparative stranger stealing their eggs so what did he expect? The girls are really good with me. The only pecking is usually the inquisitive sort ~ in case I might be edible!

There is no 'in case' about it.

 

[Shadrach]

Hatchery raised silkies generally have had the "broodiness" bred right out of them - and also some of the fine qualities that define the breed

I've never understood the logic behind this, or the method of breeding, or how the assessment is made.
How would one tell if a hen wasn't going to go broody? Some breeds tend to go broody in their later years. Others it seems given the right circumstances. One would need to observe a particular hen over her natural life span to ascertain whether or not she would go broody. That could be 10 or 12 years! It must surly take a few generations of offspring, all not going broody to make any reliable assessment regarding broodiness. That could be forty or fifty years.

 

[LozzyR]

There is no 'in case' about it.

Yes, I was going to say: don’t fall over in the chook run; you might not get back up again!

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening folks

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Has she gone off her regular feed? Most of the hens here when they have a heavy moult go foraging and eat much less of the commercial feed. I've tried to see what it is they eat. They all forage in particular areas so something grow/lives in these areas they think they need.
I've noticed one bug and two roots and that's it so far.

I remember reading somewhere that even nectar eating birds will hunt insects to feed their fledglings for the protein I believe.