Advantages of a broody hen
We've
had issues with using a broody hen to hatch eggs in the past, and our current experiment
(which I'll outline in detail at lunch) was only minimally
successful. But the idea has so much merit from a homesteading
perspective that we'll keep plugging away until we make it work.
For example, look at
this --- a mother hen teaching her chick to forage on day two!
They spent the first day hunkered down in the nest, but by midafternoon
Sunday, the Cochin had led the way to the ground and was scratching up
worms. She picked up each wriggler, clucked over it
enthusiastically, then dropped it at the chick's feet. Granted,
the chick was less than sure what to do with this largesse, but I still
think such early exposure will turn it into an awesome forager.
If that's not enough to
convince you of the utility of the natural approach to chick-rearing,
consider how much electricity we'll be saving by not having to run an
incubator for three weeks and then a heat
lamp for another
month. After following its mother around the brood coop for ten
minutes, the chick decided it was chilly, so it poked at its mother's
feathers, then tunneled underneath the hen and disappeared.
Best yet, I've
discovered that I can delegate most of the worrying to the mother
hen. Yes, we will definitely be trying the broody hen approach
again, and I have high hopes the third time will be the charm.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Do you separate your broody hen from the rest of the flock while she's sitting on eggs? And once they hatch, do you keep them separate?
I had trouble with the other hens continuing to lay their eggs under my broody, so I separated her from them. I'm also worried about the other hens and roosters attacking the new chicks, so I'm not sure whether to integrate early or wait until they're more mature.
I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Daddy --- he probably knew we were going to start asking for alimony shortly.
Darren --- we put her in her own little space, mostly because we don't have a rooster so any eggs the other chickens lay under her would be wasted. Plus, I've read that when other hens try to lay in the brood nest, eggs often get broken in the scuffle. We've got a low enough success rate already!
As for integration --- I'm going to wait until they're much larger. Actually, Mark's going to give them a forest pasture section this week so that they can have room to roam without encountering bigger chickens. The mother hen is already the lowest on the totem pole, so I don't like the thought of her trying to defend her chick.