This message was edited Jul 8, 2008 9:19 PM
Good laying hens for the heat?
Not quite. Leghorns lay tons of eggs, but don't go broody. Broody is when they want to sit on the eggs and hatch them. Very intense urge. They stop laying while they are brooding. It is where the phrase"brooding about" something comes from. You just dwell on a thought or problem the way a chicken stays on her eggs no matter what distraction.
i remeber my first (successful) broody it was a black sex link it was so cool
josh
what does that mean? broody? does it mean that they want to set on their eggs?
Yes:0)
yep they go into a saught of trance and fluff up and sit on there eggs until they hatch
josh
my banties are the worst for getting broody...they'll set anybodies eggs and if you don't collect the eggs ,they'll have more eggs than butt to set on them with.lol..mean about letting you reach under them for the eggs
awaiting for my shipment to be sent out today, should get them tomorrow evening. Then will wait to see what I got and go from there, I have it narrowed down to Ideals 236 leghorn for egg production to eat and New Hampshire Reds for their broodyness. Now my question will these birds breed pure.
i am not sure about the 236... if it is a cross they do there, or soemthing they have bred to be purebred...
i have 3 broodys but i might have more this year because there daughter will be old enough soon and i think it runs in the genes because it started out with only 1 then her daughter started and then her daughter started so i might get a lot more chicks when summer comes
I have been wondering if it is in the genes too, Lucky. For us though, we have had 3 different breeds go broody so I don't know. Ours are mostly barred rocks, 1 Brown Leghorn, and 1 RIR so it's hard to tell. They are all 1 year old. We have been very lucky. Have you let yours sit on eggs?
Christy
when ever they get broody i let them sit i never stop them i only get 3 broody a year although this year on went broody twice in one summer i was very happy with that
cool....I have some questions now. Do you let the mama's raise their chicks and how long before the broodies start laying eggs again?
Well, right now I have six broody. I am not going to let them hatch any out because I don't have the room to separate them from the others. I was just talking to my DH today that if we had another five rabbit cages I would let some of them set. Maybe next year. But I am thinking of buying 60 day-olds in the spring instead.
GG
well i dont take them away from the mothers or seperate the mother and chicks from the main pen lik a lot of people do my chickens dont realy care if there are chicks around and if they even look at the chick the wrong way the mama sorts them out lol
oh, i have a GREAT picture of my broody Buickeye going after a PBR cockerel for looking at her Black Australorop/Jersey Giant cross chicks the wrong way! maybe i can find it...
here is the approach...
RE-TREAT!
Oh gosh the fight is on..........
vacate vacate go dang it goooooooooooooo
I'm with tf & lucky. Just let the hen do it all the natural way. no separating. mama takes care of any 'pests'. very protective! and boy, can those hens be mean if needed! LOL
that was lik a RUN FOR YOUR LIVES MOMENT lol
Dang tf, talk about having the camera at just the right time. Great pic! We are not letting the chicks stay with their mama's this year because we can't keep the babies safe while mama and chicks run around. We have 4 dogs, 1 of which is chained up most of the time because he attacked the chicks and has proven he can't be trusted and 1 of the remaining 3 that are loose looks overly curious at the penned up chicks we have. We also just discovered the presence of a fox about 2 days ago and he has worn a path in the tall grass right next to our property. I am worried enough right now about the hens and pullets and I think little chicks running around loose would look too much like a tasty treat to a fox. I'm hoping next time we are in a better position to let the mama's raise their own chicks.
Granny......I was telling my DH about all your broody's and we were wondering how many hens you have. We are finding that having so many go broody in a small flock is pretty odd. We have 34 hens and have had 11 go broody.
Christy
hmmmm, sounds like something in the water, methionine maybe? j/k
Christy, we have 30 and six have gone broody. Talked to our feed people and they said the same thing about Australorps. THEY ARE FEATHER PICKERS!!! Won't be having them again. Am going to order 50 BO pullets in the January from Ideal for April delivery. Or 25 RIR and 25 BO + 3-4 RIR roos. Don't want BO roos after the problem with Tawny.
GG
Wow Granny, that is a pretty high number for a small flock too. Well, I was talking to my DH about getting Australorps for the good egg laying, but you just talked me out of it. That's ok, didn't have my heart set on it anyway. I just LOVE BO's.....I like their coloring and their body shape. I don't have any yet, but they are for sure on my wish list! We like the RIR's too, but most of our girls are the PBR. They are usually pretty good layers, but here lately I can't figure what is going on with some of them. We are just not getting many eggs. Not counting the 11 broody's we have 23 hens that should be laying eggs. I thought for sure they were hiding them, but after having them locked up all day we only have 6 eggs. I wish I could figure it out. They are not losing any feathers, so are not molting. Oh, what a puzzle and where to start?
It sounds like you are going to have a nice little group of egg layers!
Christy
Hmmmm. None of my Aussies have shown any sign of picking. They aren't crowded at all, though. Maybe it is strain related?
none of mine do either. but they were a specific strain, and that is where your's came from as well... so,,, Christy, if you are still interested in eggs, i have a non-feather picking strain of BA hens taht i can cross with just about any rooster you would like.... i recommend Buckeye LOL i always recommend Buckeye...
Granny, better to do the 25 BO pullets, less chance of roos that way...
nether do any of mine funny it is probably strain related as catscan said
josh
Christy, maybe they are pouting like a grounded teen.
At first I thought it was crowding, but after remembering when we had the others, we had 36 hens and two roos in the same area, came to the conclusion it wasn't. The others we had were RIR, BOs, PBR, White Rocks, and Araucanas. Didn't have any trouble with them.
It might be that it is heredity. But, since I have the hatchlings and the red sex-links I have decided to change the flock completely. I am leaning towards getting 25 BOs and 25 RIRs.
GG
Nice abstract on the effects of food on feather picking.....I wish I could get the whole paper.
looks lik the chicken fairy has struck again she is so dam active lately
Lucky, since all of my henhouses are in use, I am going to wait till next year.
GG
ah well she will get you in the end there is no escaping
josh
Of course she will...just have to wait till next year..
GG
^_^
your barracades will crumble and she will get in
Nope, she won't...I have the ultimate power!!! I rule!!
GG
^_^
Uh huh---sure you do......:0)
I do know this much I am NOT answering the phone on tuesdays or wednesdays any more. I know it will be rachel calling.