Getting serious about my birds -

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AprilDrake

AprilDrake

In the Brooder
Apr 26, 2017
28
19
49
Newcastle
Hi my name is April Drake and I've been raising hens for about 10 years. I'm not ready to get serious about my birds - I want to raise and sell Bantams and this year I have 3 d'uccle, 2 silkies and 3 frizzles I'm hoping to start with. I will be seeking lots of advice!

Also this year I'm designing and building a SERIOUS henhouse. a 6x6x6 coop with approx 16x7x4 ft run. I am digging the trench for burying the hardware cloth right now, in a few weeks I have a friend that is a contractor coming to help me build.

How do you keep a flock of mixed birds, but only breed specific ones? This is the question on my mind right now. I have a smaller coop (my old one) I'm keeping if I need period of isolating the birds, but for the most part I'm wanting them to all be together.

What are the best resources to start learning the reproductive rythms and needs of the birds? What are the best methods of incubation? How do I keep my flock from eating their own eggs? From fighting? Seeking any and all advice.

Here are a few pics of my current 13 chicks -





 
Hi, AprilDrake!
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! Those are very nice pictures!

I would recommend you sort of separate them in their own coop, so they can still "interact" with each other but the roosters cannot jump on the other breeds.

For reproduction, only some breeds of chickens will sit on their eggs. Some breeds like silkies will go broody very often, while others will never go broody.

For incubation, I would recommend a Hova Bator, http://incubatorwarehouse.com/hova-bator.html or
https://www.amazon.com/GQF-1588-Genesis-Hova-Bator-Incubator/dp/B001O4L9LK

Wen buying an incubator, you should buy a forced air incubator, or buy a fan kit. This will increase hatch rate. Also, if your incubator does not come with an egg turner, consider buying one.

The chickens do not often eat their own eggs, but if you want to help prevent it, you should:

#1: Have the nesting boxes suspended about 1 foot off the coop floor to prevent chickens seeing eggs after they were laid.
#2: Put fabric in front of the nesting boxes if they are on the floor, so the chickens don't see the eggs.
#3: Put a plastic egg in each nesting box to encourage laying in the nesting boxes, therefore keeping eggs off the coop floor and away from sharp beaks!


To keep them from fighting, I separate my chickens that attack others, but keep them in viewing range of other chickens, so they become desperate to be with the other chickens. This also works the other way around, if all the chickens are attacking one chicken, separate it but treat it very nicely, and give it lots of attention. The chickens may stop attacking it. This works for me.


Good luck!
 
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Generally when someone intends to breed, let's say purebred silkies, They keep a silkie rooster in with their silky hens, in a breeding pen together to keep other roosters from making contributions. After maybe 2-3 weeks candle a couple test eggs to see if there are any of development. If positive you could put collect eggs from that pen until you have enough to put in an incubator . If the silkie intends to set on her eggs, she can't be persuaded to leave the nest, to eat, drink or poo. She may growl and her feathers may stand out- to intimidate anything approaching her nest.
 
Could I do this for short periods, say a month, and then put them all back together in the same pen? What is a safe 'lead time' to get them isolated before I could ensure that the eggs were fertilized by the intended roo? Is it safe to allow them to try and set their own nests to term or is it best to incubate them outside? Also, since they don't lay a full incubator worth of eggs at the same time, do you write the date on each egg so you know when to candle/test them?
 
G’Day from down under April
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Welcome!

Love the pics!

Sorry that I am not able to help with your questions, I have a small flock of 5 spoiled pet bantams but I see that you have received some responses and will just wish you all the best.

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread.
 

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