BREEDING A FEW OF YOUR OWN BIRDS
ok we done all the other bits there will a be a questions slot when i have written it all up so if you do have any questions feel free to ask then .....
ok so now you love your chickens to bits ( mmmmmmm wings drummers thighs oh n breasts
) and you want to enjoy the thrill of having chicks of your own .the plus points are you dont pay for new birds, you see the whole thing happening . the negative points are the birds could die in the eggs or as chicks . you may get a deformed one and need to cull it or have it culled . (vets fees are about £40 for doing a chick in some places ) but hey thats not gonna happen cos im gonan tell ya how to limit the negative things from happening . aren't i
so what does it take to breed a few birds of your own , well lets start with the birds and the birds huh :roll: o male bird ( cockerel ) meets female bird ( hen ) they get together ( he treads all over her and mates so many times she has john wayne legs ) she feels all mumsy and she lays eggs in a stupid place in the garden and simply refuses to budge and you cannot get to the eggs to move them . so what we do is we catch her up and we put her in a brooder coop home made from pallets and some wire netting ( see end of tale for details and pics ) she then lays more eggs , relieved that the dam cockerel cant get at her . she will sit on her eggs all day and night with a awwwwwww look on her mush . all you have to do is make sure she has fed and water some fresh chickweed or lettuce fat hen , cabbage trimmings hung up so she can peck at them . if you leave her be she wil soon settle down . but if she doesnt settle .put the door on the coop part of the box and shut her in , let her out in the evening
( before dark ) and in the morning to water feed n poop and then she will get the idea to get her butt on the eggs and sit . then you will notice a mood change ( blooming women ) she wil go all broody and even growl at you if you put your hand in to check her eggs ( you need to do this periodicaly to make sure she has not crushed any ) just let her be .
chucks, like most birds, brood (sit on) their clutch of eggs to ensure that they develop properly. If the eggs are not maintained at 37°C (99°F) for 21 days, they will fail.chucks lay one egg a day. the hen will delay brooding her eggs until she has accumulated her whole clutch of perhaps ten eggs. the first-laid eggs stay alive but do not develop at the lower temperature. this ensures that all the eggs will hatch at about the same time, when they start to hatch YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE . dont mess with her if she wants to stay inside let her ,DO NOT MESS WITH THEM until she brings them out to the coop pen area and then you can make sure there is chck crumb available and a water feeder. MOST IMPORTANT BIT make sure you have put some stones in the drinkers so that the chicks cannot fall in and drown or chill ,they will die if you dont , now you may start to handle the chicks checking them over for disabilities . if a chick has a bent leg then we can take that way and dispose of it after a couple weeks . YOU DO NOT NEED TO if you dont want to it will survive just as well with it ( this condition is called splay leg and some idiots blame the bedding for causing this ,, straw and hay that is , " thier little legs get stuck in the straw " butt heads what the hell was they being bred on before we caged them ) deformities are only bad when they have 2 heads etc . or are suffering , now you have your chicks and have all the kids wanting to handle them ,take them walkies etc ...... dont let them do to much of this at all just make sure they have crumb daily for a couple weeks mom will eat her mash and barley as well as the crumb given chance , soon the chicks wil have grown so much they eat bits of the mash and then the seed ( 6 weeks ) continue feeding the crumb until you use it up stop at 8 weeks feed as chucks . you should make sure there is grit avaialbale for mom and the chicks wil help them selves .. now we come to the hard bit of seperating the cocks and hens you do not need to do this until they start to crow ,,,,12 weeks .fat enough to eat ( pousson ) i wont tell you what to do at this point they are your birds oh and now ? your a chicken breeder
. notes
if you dont have a cockerel you can buy fertile eggs from other chicken breeders local to you . please try to refrain from buying on ebay , get the eggs home lay them in a cool shed for a couple of hours ths lets the semen setlle in the yolk ( poor little semen been shaken up all bad ) you will have put ya bantam in the coop with a couple of ya collhected eggs ,shut the door and let her stay init for a couple of days before you get the eggs . she wil go broody and sit tight , take te old eggs from her and bin ,, put the new eggs in and shut her up she wil move them around herself and you just follow everything from the start of this post and once again your a chicken breeder ..........ok havei covered everything , ?