[peggyprice]

Is there a step by step guide to breeding your own chicks anywhere here on the site?

I only ask out of curiosity (I promise!!), but I can't work out how you get a reasonable number of eggs started off all together if you only have a few hens (with cockerel obviously ... I've got THAT bit   )

I keep reading all your posts about how many days it takes for eggs to hatch,and it all seems so precise (ish), so I just wondered how you make it all come together... so to speak   ... specially if you only have a few hens...

[pushrod]

eggs can be laid at different times but they are dormant until incubated by the hen. So although the eggs hatch at the same time they could have been laid more than 10 days apart.

[peggyprice]

:idea:

So how long after they've been laid can they still be viable for incubation?

[Foxy]

fertility starts to drop at around 7 days although not unusual for some chicks to be hatched after a month. If you think about it most birds lay a "clutch" of a number of eggs first before settling down on them
I can see where this is heading peggy!!

[peggyprice]

I can see where this is heading peggy!!

No.  It's not.  You're quite wrong, Foxy.  I couldn't possibly.  No matter how many pictures of cute fluffy little chicks you show me.  It is just a complete non starter.

Just like we decided a year ago that we really, no matter how much we'd like to, would absolutely not have chickens in our back garden.



And you lot are just a bad influence!
 :!:    :!:

[nettynoodles1]

heheheh i started off with 2 marans to see if i  would really like chickens after dreaming about it for so long! i now have a selcetion having reared some lost some to mr fox and bought some a never ending circle!!! oh got used to it kids love it ponies dont mind.well the littlest pony thinks its fun to chase them lol.

when i breed i use broody hens and  have found they hatch if i collect them for up to 1 week 2 weeks if im lucky. had 1 little hen dissapear everyday to lay in a private place by the time i found her she had 12 eggs and was sitting...... she went to bed everynight till she had layed enuff eggs to satisfy her. nothing beets seeing chicks hatch  well ok maybe hearing them cheep b4 they hatch is good fun too.

[peggyprice]

So how does the broody hen bit work?  Do you wait until a hen gets broody and then acquire the eggs for her (assuming you haven't got a cockerel & she's not producing her own), or can a hen be 'made' broody??

Or am I being thick  :roll: ?

[nettynoodles1]

i just wait 4 one to go broody then either stick my own eggs in if i have a boy around or when i have been boy less    i have bought some eggs.

its all good  fun a a learning curve dunno if u can make them broody or not, have tried sitting them on a  nest of eggs but never worked lol.

[pushrod]

some types of bird rarely go broody some go broody very regularly.
Silkies are quite good broodies, but a silkie/sussex cross is often reckoned to be the best/worst (depending on how you look at it) at going broody.
In practice you will learn the early signs of your birds starting to go broody.

[peggyprice]

So how long will a hen stay broody once she starts (I mean, if you want to get some eggs to put under her, how long do you have before she loses the instinct and gets back to normal?)

And what happens once you've got your chicks (assuming you want to keep them) - how easily do they integrate with the existing flock?  Or do you have to go through the same rigmarole you do integrating older birds?

It's all just really interesting  

[Vember]

I've had a broody sat on nothing for 5 weeks, I kept putting her out but she kept going back to the nest!!!

You just have to make sure they're eating enough and don't loose condition.

When she decided she was no longer broody she went back an joined the group as if nothing had happened  

[Jellyhead]

Hi Peggy, When your hen goes broody she will just sit tight on the nest and growl at you when you go near her :shock: at this point I have added or taken eggs away, depending on what you want hatching. I normally at this point (only cos I have lots and lots of chooks tho I only started with 6 cos I only wanted a few for eggs :oops:    ) put the broody and eggies in a puppy cage or somewhere quiet so she isnt disturbed by the others. Then she just sits until they hatch (or not ) I used to mollycoddle them but have found out that they are better left with mummy. When they are 3 or 4 days old I let mummy and babies out with the others. She is very protective and at night she takes them back to the cage for sleepies see got it all worked out. Of course I know this is just because you were intrigued and not at all cos you wants little fluffy chicks    

PS Dont forget to post piccies when they hatch    

[peggyprice]

I only started with 6 cos I only wanted a few for eggs :oops:    ) ......


.....Of course I know this is just because you were intrigued and not at all cos you wants little fluffy chicks    

PS Dont forget to post piccies when they hatch    

 :!:  :!:  :!:    :!:  :!: