MJ's little flock

[RoyalChick]

You would've considered getting some fertile eggs for Tassels. Are you worried about cockerels?

Piglet seems very sensible! Katie was the same last summer. Broody once (for three weeks), then she was done with that nonsense.

Luckily I have never experienced a hen as aggressive as Calypso. There's protecting a nest and then there's attacking with disproportionate violence.

Yeah. Calypso was definitely in attack mode not just defending. She would flare up and growl if she so much as saw another hen.
Normally she is very chill.
My guess is she would be a very effective free range mother. I also know she is skilled at hiding - she disappeared after the hawk attack and not even all my cameras picked her up until she was screaming blue murder at me because I had closed the coop for the night and she wanted to sleep in her own bed. It was well after the foxing hour that she emerged. See
My issue is not so much cockerels as Marek’s disease.
I would have a very high mortality rate from any unvaccinated chicks and I am not sure I can bear the heartache or the guilt from knowingly exposing them.
What I could maybe do is introduce vaccinated chicks and hope she adopts them.
The timing is complicated. It takes about 10 days for the vaccine to take. So I would be introducing 10 day old chicks. Most people say she wouldn’t accept them at that age. But I am not so sure it is impossible, because Eli adopted much older chicks when she was broody after she heard them cheeping in the brooder above her. Probably that was not the norm, but I think I am well set up to ensure she doesn’t kill them, and if she doesn’t adopt them then I can do what I normally do which is let them integrate into the flock at their own pace.
I am seriously considering giving this a go.
Of course, Tassels may never go broody again as she has certainly spent more time broody this summer than many hens do in a lifetime!

 

[MaryJanet]

Yeah. Calypso was definitely in attack mode not just defending. She would flare up and growl if she so much as saw another hen.
Normally she is very chill.
My guess is she would be a very effective free range mother. I also know she is skilled at hiding - she disappeared after the hawk attack and not even all my cameras picked her up until she was screaming blue murder at me because I had closed the coop for the night and she wanted to sleep in her own bed. It was well after the foxing hour that she emerged. See
My issue is not so much cockerels as Marek’s disease.
I would have a very high mortality rate from any unvaccinated chicks and I am not sure I can bear the heartache or the guilt from knowingly exposing them.
What I could maybe do is introduce vaccinated chicks and hope she adopts them.
The timing is complicated. It takes about 10 days for the vaccine to take. So I would be introducing 10 day old chicks. Most people say she wouldn’t accept them at that age. But I am not so sure it is impossible, because Eli adopted much older chicks when she was broody after she heard them cheeping in the brooder above her. Probably that was not the norm, but I think I am well set up to ensure she doesn’t kill them, and if she doesn’t adopt them then I can do what I normally do which is let them integrate into the flock at their own pace.
I am seriously considering giving this a go.
Of course, Tassels may never go broody again as she has certainly spent more time broody this summer than many hens do in a lifetime!

It has to be worth a try, especially as your coop is so well set up and as you've got a contingency plan.

 

[RoyalChick]

It has to be worth a try, especially as your coop is so well set up and as you've got a contingency plan.

Yes. I think so. I am taking a bit of a ‘if it works out’ attitude rather than making a decision and planning everything.