I was in the feed store this morning, on my way somewhere else with the family, when a gal asked me a question about hatching her own chickens at home. I couldn't help but talk with her for a few minutes (even though everyone in the car was waiting). I didn't get to share all of my thoughts with her, but I thought I might share them here.
When you want to allow a hen to hatch eggs out at home, you first need to make sure that your eggs are fertilized. This means that the hens have access to a rooster. And the general rule says that you want about one rooster for every twelve hens to make sure you have ample coverage. Of course, you can also just buy fertilized eggs from someone else (or even from a hatchery) and skip the roo altogether.
So, with your hens getting love from their roo and the weather getting warmer, you will eventually find a hen that is "going broody." This means that she has decided now is a good time to hatch eggs. Many breeds of chicken are specifically designed not to be broody...because when they brood, they stop laying eggs. Cochins are well-known for their broodiness, so they may be a good bet for hatching eggs at home.
And just because you use a cochin for an egg momma, doesn't mean that all of her babies need to be cochins. You can choose any eggs you collect from your flock and put them under a broody hen. It is best to choose good-sized, nicely shaped, clean eggs. Do not wash them or refrigerate them before putting them under your broody hen. Refrigerating can kill the embryo and washing them takes the protective bloom off of the egg, making the embryo susceptible to outside bacteria.
When I decide to let a hen "set" (hatch out her eggs), I usually give her a week of setting wherever she chose to go broody. Then I move her and the nest to a cage where I can control the environment a little more. Right now I have a broody hen who chose a nesting box about four feet off of the ground. She might like it for safety now, but her babies are going to have a long fall when they first start to leave the nest...and they won't be able to get back up there with momma at nighttime. So I will move her and the nest into a crate on the ground.
If you make sure that your hen is committed to brooding (i.e. she has been doing this for at least a week) then moving her and the nest won't be too big of a deal. I use a shallow box to place the nest in. I get my hubby to hold the hen - who will be very mad through the whole process - while I scoop up the nest and arrange it in the box. I then put the box in the crate along with a feeder and waterer, and then hubby places the hen in the crate and we lock it. She may stomp around for a few minutes, but eventually she will settle back down on her nest. I then cover the front of the crate with a sheet or a towel. Hens like to be in dark, quiet places when they brood.
Keep track of approximately how many days your hen has been setting on the eggs consistently. About 21 days later, you should have babies hatching out. After 23-24 days, you need to remove any eggs that haven't hatched. If none of them did, you can try to sneak day-old chicks under her, but I've never had any luck with it. A better way of keeping track is by candling the eggs every few days. This way you can see clearly which eggs are progressing and which ones are duds.
Once the babies have hatched, you have a choice. Momma can raise them in the crate for quite awhile, but I tend to let her and the babies out within the first three days. She will keep them warm and make sure that they get enough to eat. She will protect them as best she can (although you will have a higher mortality if you don't keep them in the cage). And as they grow, they will know that this place is home.
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