Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

I don't take hens off the nest. I figure they have been hatching eggs for thousands of years and instincts should tell them to get off and eat.

I don't usually. I give them three days, or have in the past and if they don't get off the nest after the three days then I lift them off. I usually only have to do it once or twice and they get the idea. Most know to get off and bathe, eat, etc. from day one.
The allotments, well they're a bit of a challenge. There isn't much point in them getting off the nest to eat because there is nothing to eat in the run unless they get up early enough to get whatevers left in the feed tray I prepare each night after the wild birds and rats have had a go. Far from ideal. The tribes used to come out when I opened them up and the broodies could came and go as they pleased. Even if they missed feeding time there was enough good quality forage for a mum to at least feed her chicks. Not the case at the allotments unless I've let them out of the run.
I'm pretty sure Fret has got off her nest at least on some days before I got there. But, I wanted to make sure, so I lifted her off daily and had food available for her to eat. I feel her crop either on the extension roost bar or on the nest most days. Fret isn't like Ruffles for example who wouldn't dream of going back to her nest until her crop was bulging. With Fret, if I can feel at least some food in her crop then that's good enough. She lost some weight last time she sat. Hopefully this time she'll have lost less.

 

[MaryJanet]

I don't take hens off the nest. I figure they have been hatching eggs for thousands of years and instincts should tell them to get off and eat.

Same here.

Also hens that sit all day don't have the same energy requirements as hens who are moving around all day.

 

[Little Tala Bug]

Congrats to Fret, Henry, and grandaddy Shad! I'm so excited for you all =D

 

[MaryJanet]

Fret has hatched a chick! It's a light bar so Henry's a dad.

Woohoo!!! Congratulations!

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

I'd say do what I did. Give the broodies the eggs on lockdown, so just before they pip. I think it's the best way all around. Except from doing a broody hatch from the start, of course

It's definitely given me more confidence to think more on the idea. I wanted to use this system to attempt to circumvent summer time hatch fails, although I may stick with my current plan of no summer sitting this year. It can't be good for the hens to sit in the heat as well as the fact that my hatching rate plummets.

 

[MaryJanet]

I don't usually. I give them three days, or have in the past and if they don't get off the nest after the three days then I lift them off. I usually only have to do it once or twice and they get the idea. Most know to get off and bathe, eat, etc. from day one.
The allotments, well they're a bit of a challenge. There isn't much point in them getting off the nest to eat because there is nothing to eat in the run unless they get up early enough to get whatevers left in the feed tray I prepare each night after the wild birds and rats have had a go. Far from ideal. The tribes used to come out when I opened them up and the broodies could came and go as they pleased. Even if they missed feeding time there was enough good quality forage for a mum to at least feed her chicks. Not the case at the allotments unless I've let them out of the run.
I'm pretty sure Fret has got off her nest at least on some days before I got there. But, I wanted to make sure, so I lifted her off daily and had food available for her to eat. I feel her crop either on the extension roost bar or on the nest most days. Fret isn't like Ruffles for example who wouldn't dream of going back to her nest until her crop was bulging. With Fret, if I can feel at least some food in her crop then that's good enough. She lost some weight last time she sat. Hopefully this time she'll have lost less.

That's a good point.

Also if a hen is on a special diet, then she has to be fed at feeding time, so getting her up might be the best option.

 

[MaryJanet]

Two Lightbars now and I think one more is on the way.

How is Fret doing? I imagine she's never had chicks before.

 

[fluffycrow]

It's definitely given me more confidence to think more on the idea. I wanted to use this system to attempt to circumvent summer time hatch fails, although I may stick with my current plan of no summer sitting this year. It can't be good for the hens to sit in the heat as well as the fact that my hatching rate plummets.

Well, this has been my first hatch, and Cruella sat through grueling temperatures. She handled the heat way better than some birds that were not brooding. That being said, the nest was/is in a cool place, she's tiny, and it was shaded 24/7

 

[Shadrach]

Sunny and warm. One chick was visable when I got there. The other appeared an hour later.

Fret has pushed one egg out from underneath her so I take it that one isn't going to hatch.

Henry keeps going around the back and listening under the nest box.

Waiting in the sun while Fret gets on with it. Reminds me of waiting in the wating room at a hospital.

Is Carbon going to have a go? In my experience broodiness spreads through hens. At least she isn't trying to lay in Fret's nest anymore.

Chicks and rippening tomatoes. What more could one ask for.

 

[fluffycrow]

Sunny and warm. One chick was visable when I got there. The other appeared an hour later.
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Fret has pushed one egg out from underneath her so I take it that one isn't going to hatch.
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Henry keeps going around the back and listening under the nest box.
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Waiting in the sun while Fret gets on with it. Reminds me of waiting in the wating room at a hospital.
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Is Carbon going to have a go? In my experience broodiness spreads through hens. At least she isn't trying to lay in Fret's nest anymore.
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Chicks and rippening tomatoes. What more could one ask for.
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Congrats(again )! They're gorgeous! Henry looks like the proudest of dads!