Natural breeding thread

[Perris]

when the mother of the chicks weaned them, the dominant hen took over in the protection of the chicks

yes. The matriarch here does, and somehow all juveniles know that if they need the chicken equivalent of a cuddle, she is there for them. I have even seen her accept another hen's juvenile into her own nest when she had younger chicks. Photo somewhere; I'll try to find it.

A good rooster should take this role

the subordinate rooster sometimes steps up here. But not always.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

What happens to a broody hen both on a nest, and with chicks, in case of a predator attack? I’m guessing the former can go two ways; either the hen abandons the nest and makes a run for it (if found), or she stays put and tries to stay hidden.

But when chicks are involved, what is the course of action? Does the hen abandon the chicks, hoping to have better luck next year, does she stay to protect them, or does she try to run beside them?

It's very situational how a broody hen will respond to predation

A few years ago I had a Red Junglefowl / American Gamefowl hybrid hen go broody in some palmettos maybe 20 feet beyond my fence. She was pretty hidden and so I decided to leave her alone

Three weeks later on the night of hatching I heard her give off a terrible scream and I went running out there with a light. I see the eyes of a weasel reflecting at me from on top of the nest. No other life to be seen, only egg crumbles. The weasel must have heard the babies hatching. It ran away almost instantly on seeing me and I figured the babies were all dead

The next morning at feeding time she's out there with 9 healthy babies. She must have returned at some point during the night and collected the chicks that scattered and hid, while avoiding further predation. I was very impressed

So in short with game breeds-

• Hens on eggs will abandon them during predation
• Hens on eggs and chicks (at night) will abandon them but come back for survivors
• Hens during the day will fight predators to delay or distract them while her babies either run to safety or hide

I've had Red Junglefowl, American Gamefowl, Asil, Cubalaya, Sumatra, Rhode Island Red, Orpington and Silkie broodies before. I will never again have a broody without fighting blood, be that from game or wild backgrounds. There's just no comparison to the quality of mothers they make

 

[fluffycrow]

Perhaps those of us with intentions to set this summer should design an experiment and do some citizen science on the topic?

I’m definitely up for it, but when it comes to natural brooding, there are more than one parties involved.

I can beg all I want for a broody (trust me, I have ), but unless one of the girls in the Tsouloufati mixed group want to set, there won’t be any hatches. I don’t plan on letting the bantams set this year, but we’ll see what will happen

 

[RcoM]

That is awesome and so beneficial for them! I wish I could do that. Unfortunately in the past I have had chicks attacked by other hens, or worse predators, hawks, crows, bobcats, etc. My mom once witnessed one of my mama hens with chicks, 1 crow distracted mama hen while others went behind her and picked off the babies.... Nothing my mom could do when she got into the pen. That is why I now keep them in rabbit hutch for a week or two, then a smaller hutch (like the avituvan ones) with dog panels around it for a few more weeks, then they go in my producer's pride defender coop with the better run.

It's the older big hens and roo that sleep in the coop but free range dawn to dusk when the broody or mum needs peace. Or they can be in the run (locked out of coop) with a kitty litter cupboard for a nest box with food water and shade outside. Mum is happy and others are happy. Chicks are safe in coop w mum.

 

[fluffycrow]

It's very situational how a broody hen will respond to predation

A few years ago I had a Red Junglefowl / American Gamefowl hybrid hen go broody in some palmettos maybe 20 feet beyond my fence. She was pretty hidden and so I decided to leave her alone

Three weeks later on the night of hatching I heard her give off a terrible scream and I went running out there with a light. I see the eyes of a weasel reflecting at me from on top of the nest. No other life to be seen, only egg crumbles. The weasel must have heard the babies hatching. It ran away almost instantly on seeing me and I figured the babies were all dead

The next morning at feeding time she's out there with 9 healthy babies. She must have returned at some point during the night and collected the chicks that scattered and hid, while avoiding further predation. I was very impressed

So in short with game breeds-

• Hens on eggs will abandon them during predation
• Hens on eggs and chicks (at night) will abandon them but come back for survivors
• Hens during the day will fight predators to delay or distract them while her babies either run to safety or hide

I've had Red Junglefowl, American Gamefowl, Asil, Cubalaya, Sumatra, Rhode Island Red, Orpington and Silkie broodies before. I will never again have a broody without fighting blood, be that from game or wild backgrounds. There's just no comparison to the quality of mothers they make

That is quite reassuring. The only bird to have gone broody in the Tsouloufati free range group is an Oriental gamefowl x Brahma pullet (now hen). I’m hoping that she will want to go broody again this year, this time successfully, having gained more experience, and a better position in the group.

She’s not an amazing flier, a result of her Brahma heritage no doubt, but she’s a really nice bird, and incredibly smart.

I believe that you do 24/7 free ranging, correct? If so, have you found the ages Perris and I gave for the feathering rate of our chicks to match your feathering rates? How soon after hatching does a mother hen lead her young to the branches?

 

[No Coop No Problem]

I believe that you do 24/7 free ranging, correct?

Correct

If so, have you found the ages Perris and I gave for the feathering rate of our chicks to match your feathering rates? How soon after hatching does a mother hen lead her young to the branches?

This really depends on the breed of the mother and her brood. I've never actually timed this stuff specifically so I can't give anything more precise than vague generalities. In a general sense light bankivoid types push their babies to roost in trees the fastest. I've seen some mothers either training or unsuccessfully making the attempt before a single week of age before

Most breeds including the junglefowl hen I had here are more patient and will spend at least a couple of weeks on the ground before tree roosting

However I can definitely say that lighter breeds end up in the trees much faster than heavy ones. My flock is heavily mixed so sometimes one brood will have lighter breeds 15 feet up in a tree with mom while other heavy chicks are only 3-5 feet off the ground, unable to join the others yet

There's definitely an advantage for light bankivoid types in feathering and roosting swiftly. I think in most environments feral chickens will just turn functionally into junglefowl again from natural selection

 

[Skyeknight]

It has worked for me to let broodies sit on fake eggs, then order chicks for them to adopt. (It might take 2 broodies to raise one order of chicks, depending on what the hatchery's minimum is.)

When the chicks arrive in the mail, I put them in a brooder with a heat lamp to eat & drink that first day, then put them under the broody after dark that night. By morning, she and they have decided they belong. If it's a large number of chicks, I leave about half in the brooder for one more day, and put those underneath the hen on the second night (the hen seems able to cover more chicks when she's had a day to practice with live chicks rather than eggs.) Because it's only a day or two, the brooder does not need to be as big as usual for raising chicks, and they are still too young to fly out, so I can get by with a plastic bin or cardboard box a foot deep, paper towels for bedding, and they're out before it needs cleaning.

Yes, I've had some losses, but overall my success rate has been quite high, with a number of different hens and chicks.

This way probably takes more fussing than just putting the eggs under the hen, but it works with sexed chicks and with breeds that are not available as eggs. After the first few days, I don't see any difference between adopted chicks and ones that hatched under the hen.

I've had at least 5 different hens accept chicks (after sitting on fake eggs for 3 weeks), and none that rejected all the chicks. I did have one hen lose 8 of 10 that first night (cold weather, and they got out from under her.) But she kept 2, and accepted a few more the next day, and after that she raised them with no problem.


I put mine in the garage for that one or two days, so the people in the house aren't seeing them all day long. Giving chicks to a broody doesn't feel like giving them up to me, because I like watching the broody with the chicks while she is raising them.

Saw this while browsing the site. Hope it helps people when ordering chicks to put under a broody.

Source: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/meat-breeds-for-legs.1501390/

 

[BDutch]

Influencing:

• Free ranging vs captivity
• Chicken breed(s)
• Older hens vs pullets wanting to hatch
• Rooster(s)
• Set up, coop and run space.
• Type of predators
• Climate, type of soil
• Time of the year
• Disappearing hens vs stimulating hens to sit in a good place with fake eggs.
• Available hiding places
• Separating a broody or not
• Back up in a machine or not
• Temperament of individual chickens
• Markings eggs
• Take away extra eggs (avoid staggered hatch)
• Candling eggs or not
• Buying hatchery eggs
• Food
• Taking a hen off the nest once a day , or not, to eat and poop
• Etc.

Many topics on breeding with a broody have been discussed. Especially broodies who can free range at least part of the day.

What still interests me, are the experiences of people who keep the chickens and chicks in captivity. I’d like to hear more stories. Eg name problems you encountered, and did you find solutions to make it work.

 

[Love Donkeys]

We had an old Muscovy Duck setting on her clutch of eggs. One morning we found her dead still setting on her eggs. We had a little yellow bantam named Sadie who loved to set on eggs. We put the duck eggs where Sadie nested and she took them over. She hatched and raised her ducklings, like they were her chicks. The first time her ducklings went into the pond Sadie went crazy! Once she got over her initial shock she would sit and wait on the bank for her babies to enjoy their daily swim and come back to her.

Aren't Chickens just great❣

 

[BDutch]

We had an old Muscovy Duck setting on her clutch of eggs. One morning we found her dead still setting on her eggs. We had a little yellow bantam named Sadie who loved to set on eggs. We put the duck eggs where Sadie nested and she took them over. She hatched and raised her ducklings, like they were her chicks. The first time her ducklings went into the pond Sadie went crazy! Once she got over her initial shock she would sit and wait on the bank for her babies to enjoy their daily swim and come back to her.

Aren't Chickens just great❣

What an amazing story.