how many do you have RC? and are they all contemporaries or different ages?
Now without Bernie I only 5 hens and they are all the same age.
Bernie was from the previous year and was the only survivor from her year after I had some devastating losses - at least some due to Marek's and some from older production breed hens who had reproductive issues.
I will want to introduce new chicks in the Spring - which if Tassels goes broody again will at least make someone happy! But it is complicated because of the Marek's situation.
I cannot remember if it is here that I posted about this - but in theory it would be good to breed for Marek's resistance, but in practice that would mean a lot of deaths along the way, and I don't feel I can either justify that knowing the situation, or cope with it.
So I will have to introduce only vaccinated chicks. And it takes about 10 days for the vaccine to fully 'take'. So even with broody Tassels the chicks might just be too old for her to accept.
I am a bit optimistic on that front because she was such a determined broody - I feel she would have mothered a brick if I had rigged it with a speaker to go peep-peep! But it is clearly a wild card.
My Chicken Palace is sized for well over 20 chickens using the 'rules of thumb' often quoted here, and in addition they range in quite a large area protected by an electric fence (as long as I am not traveling).
My sense though is that whatever the rules of thumb say, they like more space and so I don't think I want to go over a dozen and probably am happiest with about 8-10.
Maybe I will introduce 3 in the Spring and hope everyone stays healthy and the coyotes don't get too aggressive.
RIP Bernie.
It's hard enough to get them to the field during the warmer summer months.
