I want to breed my chickens

[Ballyrag]

Hi all

So i want to try my hand at chicken breeding, i got the hens and one Roo, I know i have atleast 3 hens that go broody, i want to stay away from the incubators right now just for the simple reason i want to see it done natural and only want to keep my flock up so only looking at 6-8 per year maybe. Im waiting for another month or so for weather to warm up a little i have a second coop not in use, i use it to raise chicks.

Anything else i need or should know never done this before, I got hens,Roo and eggs just need chicks

Let me know you have something to share

Thanks

[Davinci]

A hen needs a separate place to hatch her eggs. If you keep her in with general population, you risk a few things going wrong.

First, she could leave her nest to go out and eat and drink and come back and get on the wrong nest, letting her eggs get cold and die. Yes, it happens. Nest confusion.

Or if she's not alone, some other hen might start laying eggs in her nest and then you don't know which eggs are for hatching and which eggs you can gather for eating. Egg confusion.

If she is not alone, other hens might attack and kill her newly hatched chicks. She needs a place where she and her small chicks are safe from the dinosaur like tendencies of other chickens.

The biggest failure I see is people NOT separating them, thinking that hens in nature nest with their barn mates. Wrong! they do not! In nature they would go off somewhere secluded and away and do this in private, for the safety of themselves and their chicks.

Also make sure the pest load on your birds is well under control. A setting hen is a sitting duck (so to speak) for lice and mites and aside from making her miserable, they can literally suck the life out of her as well as pose a threat to the chicks. Hang a No Pest strip in your hen house well before you stat setting and leave it there.

She needs a place to get off her nest and poop, a place to eat and drink without the others bothering her. That's all I can think of for now. This is fun. Babies!

[Ballyrag]

Hey

Thanks for the info, plan is to pick out the best hen and put her in my second unused coop. It’s a coop I use to raise chicks its small good for 4 full size hens. The eggs are the problem do I let her lay the eggs with Mr. Roo or do I collect eggs from the other girls and put them under her at night when she is sleeping?  The hen that I think is best is a nice looking girl but I would like to have a mixed lot

[Davinci]

You can gather whatever eggs you want her to set on. However, I would do a test run first. Some hens, when you move them, decide to go unbroody. So I would set up her water and food and slip her in her new, private retreat at night and have some practice eggs in the nest. Golf balls would even work. If she's not going to set, she'll be off the eggs pacing around. No point giving her eggs if she's not going to bother with them.

[Ballyrag]

That is a good idea never thought of that, when i get home next month i can give that a try. I well keep you posted and some pics if i can

Thanks for the help

[redmoose]

Any thoughts on when it is warm enough to start natural incubation? My flock is an unheated barn and it's still mostly below freezing here.

[Davinci]

FOr hen hatched eggs, I would wait until it was a bit warmer.

If you let a hen lay her own eggs, they are likely going to freeze in the nest. Unless you gather them and keep them inside until there are enough to set.

I incubate all year long and week old chicks go out into their pen, under a heat lamp, at one week old. I have never lost chicks to freezing. But if a hen is nesting on cold, frozen ground...I think warmer is better in that case.

[redmoose]

FOr hen hatched eggs, I would wait until it was a bit warmer.

If you let a hen lay her own eggs, they are likely going to freeze in the nest. Unless you gather them and keep them inside until there are enough to set.

I incubate all year long and week old chicks go out into their pen, under a heat lamp, at one week old. I have never lost chicks to freezing. But if a hen is nesting on cold, frozen ground...I think warmer is better in that case.

Thanks for that.

I'm getting impatient (this is my first try at this!) but can probably wait another few weeks. Winter must end some time, mustn't it?

[Sweetened]

If you have a truly broody hen, you will be able to bring her into an area inside, if you have a garage or a basement you don't have finished. She will bite and cluck and fluff the entire time you're moving her, but dammit all, she'll stay put.

I like to put 'dummy eggs', also known as golf balls, in the nests to get a broody going. I'll put 2 in one day, 3 or 4 in another, maybe 1, skip a day and so on. I'll keep doing until there is a stubborn hen who starts sleeping there (usually a banty). Then I start taking out 'eggs' every day, in random numbers. If she's still sitting there when there's one egg, I'll give her a clutch. I prefer to broody hatch. I haven't suffered losses with them like I have hatching my own and moving them out (cocci). And, mothers know the weak chick(s) and push them aside. The first year, I tried to save or help that chick, but now I don't. It didn't work, they didn't love. Momma knows best.

[Ballyrag]

Thanks going to take all this info and try some of it, let you know how it all works out

[Ballyrag]

Ok so my plan has changed a little, I'm still going to try and get one of my girls to hatch out her chicks, but i was thinking what if it dont work what if she gives up on the eggs what if what if .....   so i just bought a Incubator.  

Think i got a ok deal i got it here in the USA so No taxes in this state just need to bring it home with me   My Bator


So wish me luck one way or another im having baby chickens

[Davinci]

Good luck. Lets us know what happens.

[ooptec]

Had those 'bators

Need a real good thermometer in w/the eggs as the one on it wasn't even in ballpark.

Once had 5 digital ones in there and none agreed w/another which was frustrating. Ended up setting w/a glass lab one as can check by putting into iced water (0°C)

Replaced w/this and 10 days into goosie eggs. http://www.amazon.com/Sanven-Incubator-Chicken-Instructions-Included/dp/B00EAAELYM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1Z7GJ0FGKXY15JEMZ1W7

[Sponsored content]