the Old Rebel
Rest in Peace -2011
Chickenannie,
You can collect the eggs and put them in a pen in a nice nest. Then put a hen or two or all five in there with them and wait for someone to go broody. I've had as many as three hens share a nest with up to 40 eggs in it. The first one came off the nest with 16 babies. The second came off a few days later with 10 more. The third followed days later with 13.
I've had a pair of hens that work together to raise the offspring. One sets the eggs and raises the poults until they are about two months old. Then she goes back to set the eggs the others have been laying while she was mothering the babies. The other one takes over and raises the poults from there. It has been a HOOT to watch them work. I think we women could learn something from them. Anyway, one is a bronze hen. The other is a Bourbon Red.
A barrel turned on its side works well -- fill it with wheat straw or something similar and then hollow out a big indentation for the nest. But my hens never would use one. They will use a house. But they always prefer to make their nests right on the ground. I put down a healthy layer of pine shavings and then put wheat straw on top of that. They make their own nests.
Good luck to all of you. I am still on the learning curve for sure. I learn something new every day about these wonderful birds. But we have been raising turkeys "on the ground" for seven years now (something the experts say is next-to-impossible to do), so if I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. I'll be happy to share what I've learned the hard way.
Hope you all have a great day!
You can collect the eggs and put them in a pen in a nice nest. Then put a hen or two or all five in there with them and wait for someone to go broody. I've had as many as three hens share a nest with up to 40 eggs in it. The first one came off the nest with 16 babies. The second came off a few days later with 10 more. The third followed days later with 13.
I've had a pair of hens that work together to raise the offspring. One sets the eggs and raises the poults until they are about two months old. Then she goes back to set the eggs the others have been laying while she was mothering the babies. The other one takes over and raises the poults from there. It has been a HOOT to watch them work. I think we women could learn something from them. Anyway, one is a bronze hen. The other is a Bourbon Red.
A barrel turned on its side works well -- fill it with wheat straw or something similar and then hollow out a big indentation for the nest. But my hens never would use one. They will use a house. But they always prefer to make their nests right on the ground. I put down a healthy layer of pine shavings and then put wheat straw on top of that. They make their own nests.
Good luck to all of you. I am still on the learning curve for sure. I learn something new every day about these wonderful birds. But we have been raising turkeys "on the ground" for seven years now (something the experts say is next-to-impossible to do), so if I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. I'll be happy to share what I've learned the hard way.
Hope you all have a great day!
