Chicks & Broody Hens: Development & Behaviour Weeks 1-4 as they grow 

Thank you so much

Fantastic - enjoy!

Great! Thanks Susan. The chest bumping challenges when they're older is just entertaining for hours!

Thanks Susan. I'm really glad you liked it 👍

I did too!! I love chickens.

They always bring a smile to our faces!

Glad you like them! Thank you so much!

Thank you Sally, that's very kind

Hi Mary 🙂. Yes that's our home - it's just very old cottage in the fens. We aren't really sure how old. It's documented to the mid 1700s but some of the hand made bricks are older - but of course they could have been reclaimed from a much earlier building. Back then, people documented stately homes, but not country cottages.

If you would like to see more of our place Mary, you can see the restoration in this short playlist ru-vid.com/group/PLDluIIoNPsleOKwSypB1ygkaoGXzw89b1

🙂

With RIR in general you should be OK but all roosters no matter the breed will become more aggressive in mating with fewer hens. If he has access to a reasonable amount of hens he'll just move on to the next hen if one tends him off. Unless your rooster is particularly aggressive, the chicks should be fine. Generally they don't see them as a threat and leave them alone but to be sure, house the broody and chicks separately at night from the rooster and other hens. You won't need to separate them during the day provided your space is large so the broody steer the chicks away from trouble. Does that help?

@@EnglishCountryLife yes thank you very much

Thanks

Generally they will lay c. 200 eggs a year allowing for moults etc.

Tudo lindo

@@tommylogan6600 They moult in late Autumn but after that, yes they lay all Winter

It depends if their breeding has retained the broody tendencies. If they are an old traditional breed rather than modern hybrid egg layers it's possible they will be broody.

Ooo okay thankyou

We do sell fertilised eggs but only within the uk because air freight damages the eggs rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5575378759&campid=5338273189&customid=&icep_item=393266066146&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg&toolid=11111

We breed chickens naturally using broody hens so consider broodiness an asset not a problem. There are various techniques that generally involve making the chicken cold (putting it in a suspended wire cage, plunging the back end in cold water) but this is not something we would do. Some breeds are prone to brooding (e.g. Silkies & Orpingtons). Others have had broody tendencies bred out (e.g. Australorps) so choosing the right breed for your needs is our advice.

@@EnglishCountryLife thank you! Yes is also definitely see broodiness as an asset. It appeared that some people do it because the hens are prone to attacking others while broody even if not on eggs. The only technique I saw was to isolate a broody hen after she has gone broody. Do you have this issue? Perhaps it's natural or I wondered if Orpingtons weren't as prone to it.

@@TheBuckskinner15 Orpingtons are very placid but yes, broody hens are very protective of their eggs and chicks. We keep a number of smaller "broody coops" for broody hens with enclosed runs. A broody hen gets moved into the broody coop at roosting time and we give her some eggs to sit in (real or pottery!). We keep the run closed for 48 hrs (with food & water in the run). Almost without exception she will then take to this new coop & we can remove the run. Other hens won't lay in that coop generally & she won't be defending the spot where they are used to laying. Hope that helps?

@@EnglishCountryLife Yes, thank you very much! It sounds like you embrace the instinct and give her space as opposed to trying to stop the instinct.

@@TheBuckskinner15 Exactly that 🙂

Broodu hens including Buff Orpingtons will hatch any eggs that their body will cover. Yes, that includes turkey eggs 😀 A good friend hatched 4 turkeys using 1 of her Orpingtons last year and she nurtured them to maturity. Good question!

We mainly breed for ourselves, but we do occasionally sell any surplus locally.

We do sell fertile eggs but have none available at the moment as we are bringing on a new cockerel. We change to a new, unrelated, cockerel hatched on the premises from eggs bought from a reputable breeder each year. This ensures that we never inbreed our bloodline. Our new cockerels have just hatched do it will be next year before he is treading hens. Hugh

@@EnglishCountryLife ok got it but are you guys able to ship eggs all oer the world ? or you are just limited to your area

@@TopCollections We only sell within the UK. The difficulty is that too get the eggs across the world in a fast enough timescale for the eggs to be viable, they have to go via airmail. Unfortunately the pressure and temperatures in a freight hold of an aircraft would most likely kill the eggs.

Is it possible for you to borrow an incubator and hatch them that way?

Yes we are thinking of incubating them. Thankyou.

I'm sorry, but in my experience hens are either broody or they're not. It's a hormonal change in affecting their brain and I don't know anyway to induce the hormonal change. Really sorry that I can't help. Your best bet is to get more Orpintons. 2 out of 3 of all of our Orpingtons always go broody.

Thankyou very much I'll see what I can do