Some of you know my sister got some of my chickens last summer. She had certain requirement in the chicks she took. No 1 they couldn't be black because she said she had a black banty and she set all the time. For those people how may not know this when we say a hen is setting she stops laying eggs and tries to find eggs to set on then in about 21 days she has baby chicks if the eggs were fertile and all else being equal.
My sister has 8 hens setting at this time all are from my flock and sister wants to know how to stop the hens from setting?
Some people advocate putting the hen in a wire floored pen with food and water until she decides not to set.
My advise would be give the hen some fertile eggs to set on and in about 3 months she will have raised her chicks being ready then to resume laying eggs.
At this time I have a number of hens setting in the hen house and I have decided to let nature take over.
Another thing sister can think about if she is able to break these hens up which I doubt having owned their mothers, there will be 8 more to take their place in the assemble line. If I remember correctly She has at least 18 of my hens at this time.
3 comments:
I am still getting plenty of eggs. Yesterday 14. But I have to drag all the sitters off the nest to get my eggs. I may get Larry to build we a break up pen and try that.
The hint you gave me on putting the board in front of my nests so the hay does not get scratched out on the ground. Now when I put hay in the nests it stays there. You are so smart.
Some of the banties you gave me a laying in the eave of the chicken house because they can't get on my nests because all the sitters are there. I have to climb up and get the eggs out of the eave everyday. I have a feeder and they get in it and lay eggs...so everyday when I go to the pen it is like being on an easter egg hunt.
Not all the sitters are yours. ACtually 3/4 of them are my older banties I kept...but I have noticed the blacker they are the more often they sit. The ones I got from you that are sitting are nearly all black. teehee
Do you know what we will get when (not if) Obama is elected...
Obama-nation!
Hi Patsy,
One of these days I think I will have some chickens and I'm going to name the first one Patsy, in your honor. You've taught me a lot, or maybe just reminded me of what I once knew but had forgotten. I did grow up gathering eggs, candling them, packing them, groaning about it.
Are you feeling well? Is your stitch out yet?
I think the only way to keep hens from going broody is to raise non-setting hens. I try to keep a combination of setters and non-setters so I always have eggs, but there's also a volunteer or two to hatch some fertile eggs. Wish I had a broody hen right now to hatch some duck eggs for me. Those silly ducks don't have the attention span needed to stay on their nest.
Glad you don't have to have another operation!
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