Starting my resilience flock.

[Cammo77]

I have raised them both ways, the sooner they are in the coop/run and have space to run and jump, they will quickly be as healthy as chicken raised birds. I put mine in the coop at 3-4?weeks.

Do you have a preference to which way you raise chicks?

 

[Mrs. K]

Do you have a preference to which way you raise chicks?

I generally do broody hens, however my great broody hen, Gramma Feathers died this year. She raised chicks for me for years.

I have hatched eggs or slipped chicks under a hen. But sometimes you can get chicks and no one is broody.

Mrs K

 

[Perris]

I should of mentioned in the original post but there are a few more things I'm doing to breed more resilient chooks. I can't fully free range so if I can't take them fully to nature I bring nature to them. I let them out mid morning after I think they've laid so I don't have to go looking everywhere for eggs and the swamp hens (native water fowl that live next to them) don't steal their eggs. Some of the other things I'm doing are:
- Spending a lot of time learning how to feed them to best suit their natural gut biome and get them healthy from the inside out.
- Choosing breeds known for their hardiness and also best suited to our sub tropical climate.
- Culling for health reasons rather then aesthetics. Also culling birds that dont do well.
- Using breeds that aren't highly feathered so staying clear of overly fluffy butts and feathered legs.
- Not overstocking to reduce viral/pest loads in the coop and also flock harmony. I plan on running 12 hens + 1 main rooster (and possibly a cockeral until he challenges the main rooster) and selecting/culling stock to keep to that number.

With most of this I would concur. But I would leave the culling to nature, it makes a *much* better job of it than people do.

Breeding for resilience / disease resistance includes giving sick birds the opportunity to get better, to develop antibodies - some of which they can even pass on to the next generation via their eggs. Received wisdom on culling seems to recognize only innate immunity, perhaps because it's always so focussed on the short-term = short-sighted. You cannot tell which birds are resilient before they have been tested, or if you kill them before they have chance to show they can pass that test. (What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that.)

 

[Cammo77]

I generally do broody hens, however my great broody hen, Gramma Feathers died this year. She raised chicks for me for years.

I have hatched eggs or slipped chicks under a hen. But sometimes you can get chicks and no one is broody.

Mrs K

Oh that would have been a sad loss. I love the idea of a good matriarch hen that raises chicks well.

 

[Cammo77]

With most of this I would concur. But I would leave the culling to nature, it makes a *much* better job of it than people do.

Breeding for resilience / disease resistance includes giving sick birds the opportunity to get better, to develop antibodies - some of which they can even pass on to the next generation via their eggs. Received wisdom on culling seems to recognize only innate immunity, perhaps because it's always so focussed on the short-term = short-sighted. You cannot tell which birds are resilient before they have been tested, or if you kill them before they have chance to show they can pass that test. (What doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all that.)

That's definitely food for thought. Thank you for steering back to that line of thought. I heard recently of a fairly successful breeder who breeds the conventional way in pens and he was talking about culling sick birds. He said since he's started culling instead of treating that he doesn't treat or even use any preventative treatments. I don't know if that's purely because of isolation or he's breeding healthier birds?

 

[Mrs. K]

Oh that would have been a sad loss. I love the idea of a good matriarch hen that raises chicks well.

You have to be flexible to make this work. Because you are doing it when she does it. A bit of advice, if you are interested:

• WAIT 2-3 days before you set eggs. I don't know how many times, I set eggs, and she is just not broody enough, leaves the nest, and then when the eggs are toast, well then she gets serious. At least two nights off the roost on a nest.
• MARK your eggs with a sharpie, a pencil will wear off
• Leave her alone. Leave her free to interact with the flock. I will remove her from the nest if I have not caught her off the nest for 3 days. But mostly I let her do it her way.
• Do pull unmarked eggs. And keep your clutch reasonable. A big BO - she can often hatch a dozen, but a smaller EE - 8 is better.
• In the beginning I worried about the other layers. What I have found, is when she leaves the nest, blows up like a beach ball, stomps around, the layers give her space. This develops the space needed when she has chicks.
• Don't expect 100% flock. 50% is about average. But with an average - you can be anywhere from 0% - 100%.
• Let her introduce the chicks to the flock.

Good luck, nothing is more fun than a broody hen.

Mrs K

 

[Cammo77]

You have to be flexible to make this work. Because you are doing it when she does it. A bit of advice, if you are interested:

• WAIT 2-3 days before you set eggs. I don't know how many times, I set eggs, and she is just not broody enough, leaves the nest, and then when the eggs are toast, well then she gets serious. At least two nights off the roost on a nest.
• MARK your eggs with a sharpie, a pencil will wear off
• Leave her alone. Leave her free to interact with the flock. I will remove her from the nest if I have not caught her off the nest for 3 days. But mostly I let her do it her way.
• Do pull unmarked eggs. And keep your clutch reasonable. A big BO - she can often hatch a dozen, but a smaller EE - 8 is better.
• In the beginning I worried about the other layers. What I have found, is when she leaves the nest, blows up like a beach ball, stomps around, the layers give her space. This develops the space needed when she has chicks.
• Don't expect 100% flock. 50% is about average. But with an average - you can be anywhere from 0% - 100%.
• Let her introduce the chicks to the flock.

Good luck, nothing is more fun than a broody hen.

Mrs K

That is great advice and is very welcomed thank you. I had a good broody lined up that was hard to break last year but she's had a respiratory infection that doesn't want to clear up so she might not be around much longer. She was the boss chook before I got my rooster and she got sick.