I love this so much. I used to rear ring neck doves. They mate for life and have a funny sweet ritual before mating. The doves are quite broody and the male sits on the badly made nest during the day while the females take the night shift. They also both feed the chicks and rear them equally. I’m in Mexico near a farm and now I can decipher the sounds a little better. The Rooster crows non stop. Now I now know why the hens makes that sound after laying an egg. Truly sweet
After watching one of your videos about Buff Orpingtons, last year we decided to give a go with this breed. They are the latest edition to our flock. They are so different, so gentle, a lovely bunch of birds. From 12 eggs 10 of them got hatched and only 3 of them been roosters. We are meat eaters, so we are happy for roosters too. They are truly a lovely breed, wonderful even with children. Brahmas and Buff Orpingtons are the gentle giants. I'm so glad that you made such wonderful videos abut them. Without your videos we would not have them in our garden. Thank you for your amazing, informative videos.
I'm so glad! They are such a wonderful addition to any home trying to be self reliant - the dual purpose and natural broodiness makes them so useful for our mindset!
I live in the city limits and had a game hen just show up at my house 😂😳 she’s my baby now! I only had her 2 months and she went broody. We collected 8 eggs from 2 relatives whom live on farms with various breeds of chickens that are breed dayly. She’s been hatching them out today and we only have 3 hatched so far. Hopefully more tonight and tomorrow. I’ve purchased a large chicken hutch with roost and large safe cadge in area for grazing in our yard. When she’s raised them my family will take them for their farm.
Really very informative! I have a broody hen so went looking for You Tube ‘how to’ videos. This is the first one I watched and I really don’t think I need to watch any more. Really comprehensive and very helpful. Thank you Fiona / Hugh.
I don't have chickens but my 7 year old and I really enjoyed the informative video! We learned a lot! You care for you Hens so nicely they are lucky to have you!
Love this. Also glad that cockatiels don't incubate more than 5 at once! I like that part about the high energy during the meal breaks she takes. I saw Arwen doing that this morning after coming out for breakfast after her overnight sit on her four eggs. she spent probably five straight minutes flying at high speed and showing off her aerial dexterity.
Hi Laurel! Lovely to see you over here :-) I find the parallels between the chickens and Arwen fascinating. Having said that I suppose that sitting in position for 23 hours must cause a need to move and to be energetic if only for a short period. I think I would be the same if it were me.
@@EnglishCountryLife Fortunately Arwen doesn't sit for 23 hours straight. this is partially because cockatoos, regardless of the species, take turns between the parents in sitting their eggs. The fathers sit about 50% of the time, allowing the mother to leave the nest to eat, fly, etc. Except overnight when it's safest for everyone to be in the nest hollow, they take about 2-6 hour shifts, depending on the pair. Of course since Arwen is not married, she's not following that same schedule. but of late she's breaking up her time more, especially since she sleeps on her eggs at night.
Thank you so much for the information, I am just starting and my chicks will arrive on July 8. I purchased 14 females and one rooster and I got all buff orphingtons
I'm so excited to get my first chicks tomorrow! Two dozen buff orpingtons to start, with a goal of keeping the best ones to lay and brood in later years. They're such a gorgeous breed, and so sweet
Thank you for this excellent video for us to learn about the process! Beautiful hens! I’m a visual learner, so this helps tremendously. Right now, we don’t have the land space to home chickens, but maybe one day. Until then, I’ll enjoy your videos & share with friends. 😊
I've been learning much online...about the hormones and zone a broody hen goes into..I have had many hens who want to brood..and have had to broken the brood by holding her, putting a cool cloth on her unfeathered chest and hold and caress her in front of a fan and have food and water right there for her only..it seems to work thus far..it is gentle but I have hens who relentlessly wants to be a momma...I do collect eggs everyday..but I am at my limit for owning chickens...21 is enough for eggs and pets here..xoxox
Its an interesting behaviour & highly breed based. All of our Orpingtons are currently broody - but none of the Marans. Legbars go broody maybe 25% of the time
I am very happy to have found this video and your Channel. Buff orphingtons are the newest edition to my flock I have 2 hens in a car crawl and they are just maturing now. Once again thank you by the way I am located in the most Southern portions of the United States.
So glad that you enjoyed it. We are Buff Orpington breeders hopefully you can find other useful content on the channel. Welcome to a fellow Orpington fan 🙂
Love this! I'm in my first year with buff orps as well. Have a broody hen- have given her eggs to hatch. Just trying to figure out a broody setup that will be easy to get going and still allow the flock to remain integrated
Our favourite set up is a Garden Life Direct walk in run and a Nestera ground coop inside our chicken run. This gives separation whilst she broods, an outside space for the broody to poop but keeps her in contact with the flock. We let her & the chicks out on day 2 under supervision. You can see the setup here th-cam.com/video/HhEGw40VjK0/w-d-xo.html
Fantastically useful and interesting, thankyou! Was about to buy an incubator but no, will just raise them with a broody mother, sadly I only have one!!!
So glad that you liked it. Nothing wrong with doing both. We use incubators to help broody hens have large clutches . We discuss our combined approach here th-cam.com/video/6z3kkeKj9jQ/w-d-xo.html
Good morning Victor 🙂. With a broody hen, we allow the broody to lead her chicks out once they are fully mobile (about 48 hours after hatch). We have a large free range area so she will lead them around the other hens and cockerels. This will increase in range and chick independence for a couple of weeks. By about week 4, the chicks occasionally have sleep overs with other family groups!
Good video, well explained, our first Little O's of the year have just gone outside (8 wks old) temperatures here mean this batch were hatched in the incubator, currently ten ducklings (2 wks old) are being acclimatised to the outside under the guard of our gander, our Muscovies are currently egg sitting and goose eggs being collected ready for our first attempt hatching them.Good to see and learn from others. Thanks for posting the video.
Thank you so much! It sounds like you have your hands full. I hope it goes well for you. I have some other videos under the playlist "Breeding chickens" that covers some of the issues we have had. I hope they help. 95% of the time it has all gone incredibly smoothly.
She's so right about the cockerel chick dilemma.My broody (Abbey) hatched three eggs. Only one turned out to be a hen chick.The other two were male.I had the 1st time joy of seeing mum rear her three youngsters.The three chicks are now 23wks.old.I still have them all.I want to keep them. However the adolescent crowing has started and minor fights .....but not with the dad.
Hi, we simply have a very small number of chickens to a VERY large space. They still dig and tear up some of the grass but the area is big enough that we can repair it and they still have enough grass elsewhere in the field.
...how do you get them to be so calm? 5:44 I didn't know that... the way we got them to multiple was very simple... essential we'd set them free and hope they come back home 😅 I never kept track of it but I remember many returning with baby chicks; then we'd pick them up to protect them from hawks.
They are calm because we handle them every day from the day they hatch. All our birds were hatched here and have been handled by us since their first day, they know that we look after them
This was an exceptionally well done video! Thank you so much! Our broody hen just hatched her 1st chick, and this video has been a tremendous help, and has some great information on how incredible it is the way that God has fashioned His creation. You now have another Subscriber! ;)
The simple answer is that it's and ENORMOUS space for only a few chickens. It doesn't stop them digging and I regularly have to patch small areas with grass seed and more soil.
Another great video. My question . . . I guess there is no 'easy answer' to having cockerel chicks hatching when cockerels are not wanted. I know what happens to them in industrial production. Not nice. If you can't give them away and want to keep peace with the neighbours, is there any other answer?
It is a very good question. For us we are a smallholding. We have a simple model. Unlike a commercial environment where cockerels have no purpose and are culled on hatch, all of our chivkens are grown to maturity and have a purpose. Hens are either sold or becoming broody hens and cockerels provide meat for the table. I appreciate this isn't suitable for everyone but we are not hatching hoping for all hens or that non-existent buyers appear for excess cockerels. Neither are we culling cockerels before they have had chance to live. They have a great free range lifestyle exhibiting natural behaviours. If you want to know more this video will talk you through our breeding cycle th-cam.com/video/JDaMa8FawvM/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the clear, informative video! I've kept chickens for years, but I just had my first successful hatch under a broody hen today! I wanted to be sure I was doing everything well. I'm so proud of my rooster and the little mama that decided to hatch her clutch. We have American Dominiques so I'm hoping for those sex linked traits to help me see pretty soon how many little boys and girls I have.
@@EnglishCountryLife 9 babies on the last count. It is amazing letting Mama do all the raising. I love seeing animals at work. That's why I let my Nigerian Dwarf goats dam raise as well. The babies learn so much from mom.
That's a pity - as you know they wouldn't survive tge flight. We have been developing our strain for many years now and it's getting where we want it to be, large, calm birds, naturally broody and fully self sufficient
Hi Hugh and Fiona, love your videos so far, we were thinking about keeping chickens a few years ago but were put off by all the rules that had been brought in because of avian flu. It would be really helpful to know what the laws are in the UK today. Can you feed kitchen scraps? How many birds can you keep before you have to register? I'm certain others would find this kind of info really useful too.
That's a great idea and I'll make a video on that. You can't feed kitchen scraps to chickens because if the risk of contamination from meat. The rule was brought in after the CJD/BSE scandal. If you peel your carrots outside in the garden, you can feed those scraps. It's all about proximity to meat preparation areas. Once you have 50 birds at any one time you must register with Defra and that applies if you have mixed poultry counting all of your chickens, ducks, geese etc. Does that help?
@@EnglishCountryLife That's great, thanks. There are loads of "homesteading" type videos on here, but unfortunately most are based in the USA so I think a lot of what they say doesn't apply to us, for example, they often talk about letting chickens scratch through the compost heap. I guess that would be a no-no for most of us because of the possibility of meat contamination. Is it okay to free range chickens now, or do they still need to be kept under netting?
Quick question Fiona...We seem to have 2 simultaneously broody (Maran) hens, but just one brooder. Is it advisable to put 2 sets of mums/chicks together or would this cause problems? We've never had more than one broody hen at any one time before and are wondering what to do. Do we need to create a separate area? Any advice would be really appreciated!
Hi, we go with separate coops and runs for each broody, but fully appreciate that this is not the right solution for everyone. If you leave eggs under two broodies, as soon as one goes out to eat or poop, the other will steal some or all of her eggs. If they have eggs set on the same day this is not too bad. If their eggs are planned to hatch on different days its an enormous issue. We've done it once with eggs set on the same day and they co parented well - but it was possible that they will fight.
I remember watching a Wartime Kitchen Garden video on youtube and they stored eggs in water glass (hydrated lime and water) in a bucket as they didn't have fridges.
Nice video. Did you notice how much she rotates the eggs and how often. Some books say to rotate the eggs 180 degrees 3X a day? If I had a brooding hen I would video it.
Thank you, so much! This is the most helpful video I've found, as I consider what do with our next broody hen. We've only had six hens and one rooster - one hen has stopped laying and we lost one hen to a hawk yesterday. I'm hoping to replenish our loss by hatching our own chicks soon, and you've provided some important things to consider here! So, just to make sure I understood correctly, you can have the selected eggs on the counter for 2 weeks before setting them under a hen to incubate? Do you candle your eggs to verify fertilization, or is that unnecessary? Again, thank you so much. Your content is a huge help to beginners such as myself!
Yes indeed, you can store unrefrigerated eggs for up to 14 days before starting incubation. We do candle eggs. We did a series this year following a broody hen right through & we showed the candling process in this video th-cam.com/video/1kzesDL31mA/w-d-xo.html
Hi, another informative video, thank you 👍. I have heard you talk about the cockerels being raised as table birds, what age do you butcher them? Also, what do you do with your hens as they age, do you also butcher them for meat?
Hey! Excess cockerels become table birds at maturity so between 20 -26 weeks for Orpingtons. For aging hens we keep egg layers to 2 years old and brooders for up to 3 then pop them up for sale at a reduced price. They normally become family pets.
What a good question. We don't separate the eggs. We like to have all of the hens running around the field together so we wouldn't know what is fertile or not. Before an egg begins an incubation period there is no difference between a fertile and non fertile egg if you are going to eat it. They look and taste the same. In fact there have been stories of people purchasing free range eggs for eating from the supermarket, setting them in an incubator and successfully hatching them. The only eggs we separate are the Cream Legbar (the little grey hens) and the Marans (the black hens) eggs. Their eggs are blue and chocolate brown respectively so we can tell them apart from our Buff Orpington eggs. That's because we only incubate and hatch pure breed Buff Orpingtons. As the other hens eggs are easily distinguishable, they all can run around our field together. Does that help?
I think they understand calm soft voices and gentle handling and certainly come to understand humans being the source of treats. Ours will jump up on our laps 🙂
Thank you so much for this video! I have a broody buff. I learned that I need to separate her from my flock. I would like to know when I can allow her and the chicks to be mixed back with the flock. My flock of 12 hens and 2 roosters. Free range and a LARGE coop.
Hi Pamela! We like to let the broodies sit in peace, but as soon as hatching is over & the chicks have recovered, we take the run away (around day 2). The broody ensures no harm comes to the chicks
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you that is what I did only I waited until the chick has what they call "legs" Uno the one and only chick is now 7 1/2 weeks!!!
My Buff Orphingtons are doing so well. None have gone broody just yet, but maybe I will buy a few fertilized eggs to put under them when that happens. I hope it's not too hard to find homes for any roosters that might come from that occasion.
If you are going to hatch it is important to have a plan for cockerels. You may get another breeder to take one if its a good specimen but rehoming can be a real challenge. We grow ours to maturity and process them for the table ourselves, but not everyone is comfortable doing that.
They are such beautiful birds, I'm hoping others will want the roosters to multiply their own flocks. If not I may end up with my own flock of roosters! @@EnglishCountryLife
We feed them on a pelleted chicken food which has a complete balance of nutrients and minerals. They also graze on the grass in the field all day, eat any windfall apples from the trees as well as getting the odd cabbage chard or broccoli plant straight from the vegetable garden. Does that help?
I have always had laying hens but this summer is the first time I will be introducing roosters.. So once the eggs are fertilized and laid do you have to store them for 2 weeks before putting them under a hen or in an incubator or can it be done right away? I also have Buff Orpingtons by the way. :)
Hi Leon. They are viable immediately but they start to develop as soon as she sits on them, so if you want to hatch 12, give her 12 all at the same time, otherwise the first ones hatch and she has to take them out to feed & the others go cold. Mark the 12 you give her and, if you can, give her a separate coop away from other hens otherwise they will pull her off her eggs trying to lay in the same spot or she will pull their eggs under her
PLEASE, would you say where and at what temperature do you store your fertilized eggs for this 2-3 week period, while wating (I understand) to put them under a boody hen? Also when is the best time (weather wise) to plan the hatching period. (We are in Canada so we have to plan hatching for Spring but sometime snow stay longer in the field). We have Partridge Chantecler a rustic race for cold weather temperature. Thank you very much for those very useful video. Really appreciated.
Hi! We simply store the fertilised eggs in our kitchen at room temperature in normal egg boxes. They must not be washed or refrigerated. We generally hatch under broody hens who sit in April or May but adjust to weather conditions. It's fine to hatch earlier with an incubator but they need to be kept warm until fully feathered at 8 - 12 weeks
Hi Susan. As I show in the video I store them pointed end down in an egg box until I have 12 for the broody hen. I keep the egg box in the house so they are at room temperature but never in the kitchen just to be sure there are no mix ups with eggs for eating. Does that help?
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you for your reply ... I have a hen on 22 day eggs .. nothing yet I removed 3 bad eggs! 1 exploded 2 were thrown out the nest. I have 2 other broody hens .. they always seem to be broody! I previously hatched 2 chicks from 9 eggs fingers crossed for the next day or 2. As I am in Scotland it is cooler so an extra day or 2! I did the foat test 2 sank 7 floated well
Strange you should should say it is taking a little longer. We have a broody that hatched at 22 days this week and a friend whose hens hatched at 23 days last week. It's never taken more that 21 days before for our hens. It's a very strange summer. I'm so sorry the clutch of eggs you had had such a high failure rate. We have had that before with eggs we have bought in. It's difficult to know how much they have been shaken through the postal system.
Thanks for asking but we won't have any PoL hens available until next year. Our spring chicks have only just hatched and we already have a waiting list of people to buy any excess PoL that will be ready in September this year. Sorry!
Hello! Thanks for the very informative video. When I have a broody hen on a nesting box, can I easily transfer her to the hatching box where I put the eggs beforehand? Also, how do I choose the best eggs for hatching? And how many eggs may I put under the hen?
Hi, we find that Buff Orpington hens can be easily moved. We often settle them on pottery eggs and transfer them with the eggs. We then keep them confined them in the broody coop for 24 hours with food and water. They normally then stick but attaching a run to prevent them returning to their favourite coop can be necessary whilst maintaining the ability to have outside space. Good eggs need to have been fertility tested. This is how we do it th-cam.com/video/aop_G9uzOVA/w-d-xo.html
How is best to set up a broody hen on eggs in an isolated area within the chicken yard...I can't afford those coops you show...do the hens protect the chicks when hatched?
Hi Judi! They do protect the chicks once hatched but it's a really good idea to give them a peaceful space to brood in away from other chickens. Here's a really old video of a super basic coop that I made th-cam.com/video/uwn1AOBh6iQ/w-d-xo.html My buddy put a broody hen in a wooden packing crate that he cut a door in. It worked fine. Throw a bit of a fence round it to keep other hens out. Chicken wire, debris netting anything really. Once the chicks have hatched, after a couple of days, you can take the fence away
Will the mother hen eat all the food and water nearby? Will she teach her chicks where it’s located? Doesn’t the chicks need baby chick food? How do you separate the different food types? How long do you have to keep them separated from the flock?
Its advisable to change all the nearby feeders to chick food The hen will guide her chicks to it & teach them to eat. Chicks can integrate into the flock from day 1
Can you help! I have 8 ex caged hens. 7 are fine and happy but they do pick on the 8th one. Its not just the top hen its all of them, they chase and peck at her. She sits on top of the coop most of the day as they dont let her feed. Should i separate her and give hera space of her own within the run as it is big? I shut her in the coop so she can lay and have a break. That doesnt seem fair. Julianne
I think the first thing to do is to give her a thorough check over for injuries, illness or parasites. Chicken society is structured to keep the flock strong and this means that when chickens are ill or injured the flock can attack. It also means that chickens will disguise when they are ill or injured to avoid being "weeded out". If you find a problem, isolate her until she has been treated and healthy and try again. If you don't find a problem for her health you will have to isolate her so that she can eat and drink enough and if the problem persists when you reintroduce her the only thing you can do for her own welfare is rehome her. I'm so sorry.
So the eggs are good up to two weeks? Do I use eggs store in refrigerator 3rd week to place under broody hen ? I have 7 Rohdeiland hens and one rohdeiland rooster I live in Austin Texas first time having a rooster. Son wants hen to have baby chick's. I'm scrared of rooster always try to attack me any suggestions?
Hi Connie, eggs will remain viable for up to 2 weeks but should not be washed, nor should they be refrigerated. The thing with cockerels is to train them from the outset that you are dominant. Walk steadily & firmly towards the cockerel forcing it to move aside. When the cockerel is in the coop, place your hand between its shoulders and push it gently but firmly to the floor holding it gently there until it submits. You want to get it to step aside for you. Its also useful to hand feed treats so that it sees you as a source of rewards
I've 9 hens and 1 cockeral. The last week or so my hens have started laying in different places rather than their coop. I've also realized one hen is now sleeping away from the coop and I think she must be sitting on eggs. She comes back once a day to eat & drink then rushes off again. I've located the area, in a neighbour's field which is full of brambles so not easy to get to. She's been doing this for about a week. I don't want chicks so could I keep her in the run when she comes back again and stop her sitting on the eggs? thanks
@@EnglishCountryLife thanks for replying. Any tips on making the hens lay in their coop again? I've tried the false egg which has helped but missing several eggs daily. thanks
@@alexandrajames8734 One thought occurs - have you checked carefully for red mite? That can make them reluctant to go into the coop. Other than that the only sure way is fencing them out of hedges & bramble patches!
Hi Sherie. You don't have to but when the brood hen is incubating the eggs other hens can come in and push the brood hen off the nest to lay their own eggs. This can result in eggs being broken. We also keep the chicks and brood hen separate for the 1st 24 hours just to allow the chicks to find their feet. After the 24 hours our hens and chicks are out with the flock but space at this stage is important. The brood hen normally likes to gradually introduce the chicks to the flock so a confined space forces close contact with the flock very early that could result in issues. Every hen and every flock is different. If you can give them space, wonderful but if not, there are risks which may or may not happen depending on the individual flock. Does that help?
@@EnglishCountryLife Does this same technique work with two roosters in the flock? Mine free range all day but are in a 10x20 coop at night. I did build a screen wall to divide the coop (just in case) this is where I am going to put the broody hen real soon. I learned from this video that I need to do that. So I really need to know do I keep them separate until a certain age because I have roosters? One agressive rooster and a nice buff rooster.
Hi Courtney. We usually allow one to two days and then let her out an hour or two before sundown for a brief foray. After that, we let them mingle freely. The broody will keep the rest of the flock in line.
This has quickly become my favourite channel.
That's lovely of you - thank you kindly 🙂
I love this so much. I used to rear ring neck doves. They mate for life and have a funny sweet ritual before mating. The doves are quite broody and the male sits on the badly made nest during the day while the females take the night shift. They also both feed the chicks and rear them equally. I’m in Mexico near a farm and now I can decipher the sounds a little better. The Rooster crows non stop. Now I now know why the hens makes that sound after laying an egg. Truly sweet
So glad that you enjoyed it!
I don't have a hen but I just watched this video with so much attention 🤣. Thank you and to hens.
You’re welcome 😊
Thank you, Ma’am, for the education.
You are very welcome Tod
This is the best video on the process of raising chicks that I have seen. Thank you!
@@specialfamilyconnect You are very welcome 🙂
Thank you for the video ! Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷
Hello 👋
After watching one of your videos about Buff Orpingtons, last year we decided to give a go with this breed. They are the latest edition to our flock. They are so different, so gentle, a lovely bunch of birds. From 12 eggs 10 of them got hatched and only 3 of them been roosters. We are meat eaters, so we are happy for roosters too. They are truly a lovely breed, wonderful even with children. Brahmas and Buff Orpingtons are the gentle giants. I'm so glad that you made such wonderful videos abut them. Without your videos we would not have them in our garden. Thank you for your amazing, informative videos.
I'm so glad! They are such a wonderful addition to any home trying to be self reliant - the dual purpose and natural broodiness makes them so useful for our mindset!
Love your relaxed voice in explaining things. And not rambling on and on.
Sure going to check your other videos 👍🏼
Thank you so much!
You define how to take care of animals.. good to see
Thank you
Great video, thanks! It’s such a joy raising chicks naturally.
Definitely!
I live in the city limits and had a game hen just show up at my house 😂😳 she’s my baby now! I only had her 2 months and she went broody. We collected 8 eggs from 2 relatives whom live on farms with various breeds of chickens that are breed dayly. She’s been hatching them out today and we only have 3 hatched so far. Hopefully more tonight and tomorrow. I’ve purchased a large chicken hutch with roost and large safe cadge in area for grazing in our yard. When she’s raised them my family will take them for their farm.
How exciting 🙂
Your hens are really really lucky to have you take care of them. 😁
Thank you. That's so kind of you
@@EnglishCountryLife if I let you babysit my hens, they would follow you, and leave me, you spoil your girls, lots of love
Moved one of our hens that went broody yesterday, wasn’t sure what to expect, your video explains in detail, what a relief,,,Thanks much from Missouri
So glad that it helped
Very useful information. Great job 🍅🌱
Thank you
Thank you so much for taking the time to conceptualize and make this video and then share it to us. This is very educational for me.
You are very welcome 🙂
These are big, gorgeous chickens!
Thank you! We think so too!
Really very informative! I have a broody hen so went looking for You Tube ‘how to’ videos. This is the first one I watched and I really don’t think I need to watch any more. Really comprehensive and very helpful. Thank you Fiona / Hugh.
Thank you so much Patrick!
I don't have chickens but my 7 year old and I really enjoyed the informative video! We learned a lot! You care for you Hens so nicely they are lucky to have you!
So nice of you
Best video about broody hens, especially the part about taking care of the hen during her 21-day work!
Thank you!
Love this. Also glad that cockatiels don't incubate more than 5 at once! I like that part about the high energy during the meal breaks she takes. I saw Arwen doing that this morning after coming out for breakfast after her overnight sit on her four eggs. she spent probably five straight minutes flying at high speed and showing off her aerial dexterity.
Hi Laurel! Lovely to see you over here :-)
I find the parallels between the chickens and Arwen fascinating. Having said that I suppose that sitting in position for 23 hours must cause a need to move and to be energetic if only for a short period. I think I would be the same if it were me.
@@EnglishCountryLife Fortunately Arwen doesn't sit for 23 hours straight. this is partially because cockatoos, regardless of the species, take turns between the parents in sitting their eggs. The fathers sit about 50% of the time, allowing the mother to leave the nest to eat, fly, etc. Except overnight when it's safest for everyone to be in the nest hollow, they take about 2-6 hour shifts, depending on the pair. Of course since Arwen is not married, she's not following that same schedule. but of late she's breaking up her time more, especially since she sleeps on her eggs at night.
Thank you so much for the information, I am just starting and my chicks will arrive on July 8. I purchased 14 females and one rooster and I got all buff orphingtons
That's a great ratio. Good luck!
@@EnglishCountryLifethank you! 💗 is there a bedding you recommend more for the brooder?
@@LouisaSamayoajerez We use Snowflake Supreme soft wood shavings 🙂
My granddaughters loved watching this! One of my 8 grandaughters is also named Fiona!
Hello fellow Fiona (waves)
Great video. Clear and concise with great information.
Thank you so much!
13:09 broody hen explosion! Our Cilla is broody already! Thanks for the video 🐔👍
Wow that's early!
I'm so excited to get my first chicks tomorrow! Two dozen buff orpingtons to start, with a goal of keeping the best ones to lay and brood in later years. They're such a gorgeous breed, and so sweet
How wonderful - that's brilliant
Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing your caring knowledge.
So pleased that you liked it 😀
We have our first brood hen and can't wait to meet her babies!
It's a fantastic experience - good luck 🤞
Thank you for this excellent video for us to learn about the process! Beautiful hens! I’m a visual learner, so this helps tremendously. Right now, we don’t have the land space to home chickens, but maybe one day. Until then, I’ll enjoy your videos & share with friends. 😊
Please feel free to be virtual chicken keepers 😉
Nice:) Such fluffy gentle giants you have! Their babies are adorable:)
Thank you - we love them
Really great info! Very useful because I one day hope to have chickens. This one is going on my favorite things playlist!
You are really kind! Thank you so much
Awesome clear presentation with all the bits of information I was needing to hear. Thank you so much.. I love your stuff!
Thanks fo much
Great video. I am gonna place the eggs today in my broody hen. Wish me luck :)
Good luck 🤞🤞🤞🤞☺️
I've been learning much online...about the hormones and zone a broody hen goes into..I have had many hens who want to brood..and have had to broken the brood by holding her, putting a cool cloth on her unfeathered chest and hold and caress her in front of a fan and have food and water right there for her only..it seems to work thus far..it is gentle but I have hens who relentlessly wants to be a momma...I do collect eggs everyday..but I am at my limit for owning chickens...21 is enough for eggs and pets here..xoxox
Its an interesting behaviour & highly breed based. All of our Orpingtons are currently broody - but none of the Marans. Legbars go broody maybe 25% of the time
Lovely filming. We have got a brinsea cabinet incubator and it's full at the moment. Our hybrid hens have laid really well over winter.
That's great. I might just be a wee bit jealous 😀 We have to wait for the hens to be broody but it is so amazing seeing them nurture the the chicks.
I thoroughly enjoy your hens and videos! Thank you 😊
Thanks so much 🙂
I am very happy to have found this video and your Channel. Buff orphingtons are the newest edition to my flock I have 2 hens in a car crawl and they are just maturing now. Once again thank you by the way I am located in the most Southern portions of the United States.
So glad that you enjoyed it. We are Buff Orpington breeders hopefully you can find other useful content on the channel. Welcome to a fellow Orpington fan 🙂
Love this! I'm in my first year with buff orps as well. Have a broody hen- have given her eggs to hatch. Just trying to figure out a broody setup that will be easy to get going and still allow the flock to remain integrated
Our favourite set up is a Garden Life Direct walk in run and a Nestera ground coop inside our chicken run. This gives separation whilst she broods, an outside space for the broody to poop but keeps her in contact with the flock. We let her & the chicks out on day 2 under supervision. You can see the setup here
th-cam.com/video/HhEGw40VjK0/w-d-xo.html
Thanks
Thank you Beth, that's very kind of you 🙂
Fantastically useful and interesting, thankyou! Was about to buy an incubator but no, will just raise them with a broody mother, sadly I only have one!!!
So glad that you liked it. Nothing wrong with doing both. We use incubators to help broody hens have large clutches . We discuss our combined approach here
th-cam.com/video/6z3kkeKj9jQ/w-d-xo.html
Brilliant video Fiona! I miss having those cute little balls of fluff around 🐣
Now is the time to pop some eggs in the incubator or pop them under an obliging broody?????
@@EnglishCountryLife
What is the name of this kind of hens?, please 😊😊
@@adelawad1111 The golden yellow chickens are Buff Orpingtons
I’m so excited because i have a broody chicken so we bought fertilized eggs so now she is going to be a mom on june 4 :)
Fabulous! We have two broods due on June the 6th! Will you candle yours?
They are beautiful ❤️
Thank you so much 😊
Wow very good explanation
Thanks and welcome
Great video! I'm planning to get our first three Orpington hens soon and would love to hatch some babies out later.
We absolutely love Orpingtons - we hope you enjoy yours as much as we do
How long you leave mother hen in separate run with chicks?
Once the chicks have all hatched for one or two days
Excellent video, learned alot for my chickens! What about introducing the chicks to the flock?
Good morning Victor 🙂. With a broody hen, we allow the broody to lead her chicks out once they are fully mobile (about 48 hours after hatch). We have a large free range area so she will lead them around the other hens and cockerels. This will increase in range and chick independence for a couple of weeks. By about week 4, the chicks occasionally have sleep overs with other family groups!
Thank you for making this video! This was REALLY helpful!!!
We are so glad 🙂
Good video, well explained, our first Little O's of the year have just gone outside (8 wks old) temperatures here mean this batch were hatched in the incubator, currently ten ducklings (2 wks old) are being acclimatised to the outside under the guard of our gander, our Muscovies are currently egg sitting and goose eggs being collected ready for our first attempt hatching them.Good to see and learn from others. Thanks for posting the video.
Thank you so much! It sounds like you have your hands full. I hope it goes well for you. I have some other videos under the playlist "Breeding chickens" that covers some of the issues we have had. I hope they help. 95% of the time it has all gone incredibly smoothly.
@@EnglishCountryLife Will have a look through them, thanks again.
Anytime. If you have any question just ask :-)
She's so right about the cockerel chick dilemma.My broody (Abbey) hatched three eggs. Only one turned out to be a hen chick.The other two were male.I had the 1st time joy of seeing mum rear her three youngsters.The three chicks are now 23wks.old.I still have them all.I want to keep them. However the adolescent crowing has started and minor fights .....but not with the dad.
I hope you're able to keep them.
Những con gà của chị rất đẹp. Cả khu vườn cũng vậy. Làm thế nào chị vẫn giữ được thảm cỏ xanh vậy?
Hi, we simply have a very small number of chickens to a VERY large space. They still dig and tear up some of the grass but the area is big enough that we can repair it and they still have enough grass elsewhere in the field.
Beautiful birds!
Thank you 😊
...how do you get them to be so calm?
5:44 I didn't know that... the way we got them to multiple was very simple... essential we'd set them free and hope they come back home 😅 I never kept track of it but I remember many returning with baby chicks; then we'd pick them up to protect them from hawks.
They are calm because we handle them every day from the day they hatch. All our birds were hatched here and have been handled by us since their first day, they know that we look after them
Merry Christmas everyone I am close to 150 subscribers I love you all ❤️💚 ❤💚️
Congratulations and thank you
This was an exceptionally well done video! Thank you so much!
Our broody hen just hatched her 1st chick, and this video has been a tremendous help, and has some great information on how incredible it is the way that God has fashioned His creation.
You now have another Subscriber! ;)
I'm so glad that it was helpful 🙂
Great video! Thank you, Fiona! How do you manage to have so thick green and fresh looking grass? Do you sow it regularly? Thank you
The simple answer is that it's and ENORMOUS space for only a few chickens. It doesn't stop them digging and I regularly have to patch small areas with grass seed and more soil.
Exelente video. De cuidado. De estas gallinas. Presiosas
Thank you
Thank you! That was very well done and helpful.
You're very welcome!
Fascinating!
Thank you
Fabulous video! Thank you.
So glad that you liked it Melissa
Another great video. My question . . . I guess there is no 'easy answer' to having cockerel chicks hatching when cockerels are not wanted.
I know what happens to them in industrial production. Not nice. If you can't give them away and want to keep peace with the neighbours, is there any other answer?
It is a very good question. For us we are a smallholding. We have a simple model. Unlike a commercial environment where cockerels have no purpose and are culled on hatch, all of our chivkens are grown to maturity and have a purpose. Hens are either sold or becoming broody hens and cockerels provide meat for the table. I appreciate this isn't suitable for everyone but we are not hatching hoping for all hens or that non-existent buyers appear for excess cockerels. Neither are we culling cockerels before they have had chance to live. They have a great free range lifestyle exhibiting natural behaviours. If you want to know more this video will talk you through our breeding cycle
th-cam.com/video/JDaMa8FawvM/w-d-xo.html
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you
Thank you for the clear, informative video! I've kept chickens for years, but I just had my first successful hatch under a broody hen today! I wanted to be sure I was doing everything well. I'm so proud of my rooster and the little mama that decided to hatch her clutch. We have American Dominiques so I'm hoping for those sex linked traits to help me see pretty soon how many little boys and girls I have.
How exciting! Do let us know what you end up with?
@@EnglishCountryLife 9 babies on the last count. It is amazing letting Mama do all the raising. I love seeing animals at work. That's why I let my Nigerian Dwarf goats dam raise as well. The babies learn so much from mom.
@@fourfoldhomestead2404 How fantastic! That's great news 😁
It looks like you have a very nice strain of Buffs. I would buy some fertilized eggs from you but I'm in the US
That's a pity - as you know they wouldn't survive tge flight. We have been developing our strain for many years now and it's getting where we want it to be, large, calm birds, naturally broody and fully self sufficient
Hi Hugh and Fiona, love your videos so far, we were thinking about keeping chickens a few years ago but were put off by all the rules that had been brought in because of avian flu. It would be really helpful to know what the laws are in the UK today. Can you feed kitchen scraps? How many birds can you keep before you have to register? I'm certain others would find this kind of info really useful too.
That's a great idea and I'll make a video on that. You can't feed kitchen scraps to chickens because if the risk of contamination from meat. The rule was brought in after the CJD/BSE scandal. If you peel your carrots outside in the garden, you can feed those scraps. It's all about proximity to meat preparation areas. Once you have 50 birds at any one time you must register with Defra and that applies if you have mixed poultry counting all of your chickens, ducks, geese etc.
Does that help?
@@EnglishCountryLife That's great, thanks. There are loads of "homesteading" type videos on here, but unfortunately most are based in the USA so I think a lot of what they say doesn't apply to us, for example, they often talk about letting chickens scratch through the compost heap. I guess that would be a no-no for most of us because of the possibility of meat contamination.
Is it okay to free range chickens now, or do they still need to be kept under netting?
Quick question Fiona...We seem to have 2 simultaneously broody (Maran) hens, but just one brooder. Is it advisable to put 2 sets of mums/chicks together or would this cause problems? We've never had more than one broody hen at any one time before and are wondering what to do. Do we need to create a separate area? Any advice would be really appreciated!
Hi, we go with separate coops and runs for each broody, but fully appreciate that this is not the right solution for everyone. If you leave eggs under two broodies, as soon as one goes out to eat or poop, the other will steal some or all of her eggs. If they have eggs set on the same day this is not too bad. If their eggs are planned to hatch on different days its an enormous issue. We've done it once with eggs set on the same day and they co parented well - but it was possible that they will fight.
@@EnglishCountryLife Thanks Fiona, that's really helpful!
I remember watching a Wartime Kitchen Garden video on youtube and they stored eggs in water glass (hydrated lime and water) in a bucket as they didn't have fridges.
We have a video on that very subject! Both Harry Dodson & Ruth Mott from that series are heroes of mine. Hugh
th-cam.com/video/qHburN5ARdA/w-d-xo.html
Nice video. Did you notice how much she rotates the eggs and how often. Some books say to rotate the eggs 180 degrees 3X a day? If I had a brooding hen I would video it.
They roll the eggs every few hours but the amount varies When we use incubators, we turn at 45 minutes and 120 degrees
Thank you, so much! This is the most helpful video I've found, as I consider what do with our next broody hen. We've only had six hens and one rooster - one hen has stopped laying and we lost one hen to a hawk yesterday. I'm hoping to replenish our loss by hatching our own chicks soon, and you've provided some important things to consider here! So, just to make sure I understood correctly, you can have the selected eggs on the counter for 2 weeks before setting them under a hen to incubate? Do you candle your eggs to verify fertilization, or is that unnecessary? Again, thank you so much. Your content is a huge help to beginners such as myself!
Yes indeed, you can store unrefrigerated eggs for up to 14 days before starting incubation. We do candle eggs. We did a series this year following a broody hen right through & we showed the candling process in this video
th-cam.com/video/1kzesDL31mA/w-d-xo.html
@@EnglishCountryLife That's wonderful, thank you!
Thank you 😊 I absolutely loved this!
You're so welcome!
Hi, another informative video, thank you 👍. I have heard you talk about the cockerels being raised as table birds, what age do you butcher them? Also, what do you do with your hens as they age, do you also butcher them for meat?
Hey!
Excess cockerels become table birds at maturity so between 20 -26 weeks for Orpingtons.
For aging hens we keep egg layers to 2 years old and brooders for up to 3 then pop them up for sale at a reduced price. They normally become family pets.
Cheers.
Thanks, love your videos! Do you separate out fertile and non fertile eggs, or separate off some chickens so you have non fertile eggs to sell?
What a good question.
We don't separate the eggs. We like to have all of the hens running around the field together so we wouldn't know what is fertile or not.
Before an egg begins an incubation period there is no difference between a fertile and non fertile egg if you are going to eat it. They look and taste the same. In fact there have been stories of people purchasing free range eggs for eating from the supermarket, setting them in an incubator and successfully hatching them.
The only eggs we separate are the Cream Legbar (the little grey hens) and the Marans (the black hens) eggs. Their eggs are blue and chocolate brown respectively so we can tell them apart from our Buff Orpington eggs. That's because we only incubate and hatch pure breed Buff Orpingtons. As the other hens eggs are easily distinguishable, they all can run around our field together.
Does that help?
Nice job
Thank you
I love and appreciate your work 🙏
Thank you!
@@EnglishCountryLife You're welcome 🙂
Very good
Thank you
They look so fluffy
They are :-)
@@EnglishCountryLife I had one, she was sweet but coyotes wanted food 🥺
@@bigdawg2004 Oh no!
Do you think the hens appreciate being praised for behaving well when being held - I always wondered if they understand the concept of being rewarded?
I think they understand calm soft voices and gentle handling and certainly come to understand humans being the source of treats. Ours will jump up on our laps 🙂
Thank you so much for this video! I have a broody buff. I learned that I need to separate her from my flock. I would like to know when I can allow her and the chicks to be mixed back with the flock. My flock of 12 hens and 2 roosters. Free range and a LARGE coop.
Hi Pamela! We like to let the broodies sit in peace, but as soon as hatching is over & the chicks have recovered, we take the run away (around day 2). The broody ensures no harm comes to the chicks
@@EnglishCountryLife Even with roosters?
@@pamelaremme38 Yes they don't hurt chicks in our experience of Orpingtons
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you that is what I did only I waited until the chick has what they call "legs" Uno the one and only chick is now 7 1/2 weeks!!!
My Buff Orphingtons are doing so well. None have gone broody just yet, but maybe I will buy a few fertilized eggs to put under them when that happens. I hope it's not too hard to find homes for any roosters that might come from that occasion.
If you are going to hatch it is important to have a plan for cockerels. You may get another breeder to take one if its a good specimen but rehoming can be a real challenge. We grow ours to maturity and process them for the table ourselves, but not everyone is comfortable doing that.
They are such beautiful birds, I'm hoping others will want the roosters to multiply their own flocks. If not I may end up with my own flock of roosters!
@@EnglishCountryLife
Thanks for sharing🌷🌷🌷
You are so welcome!
@@EnglishCountryLife 🌷🌷🌷
Buff Orpington are so beautiful and gorgeous, don't know where and how to get them because I live in Nigeria .
They are beautiful - but don't know how they would go in your climate?
When do you return the hen and her new chicks to the coop with the other hens.
The hen will generally leave the chicks around 8 to 12 weeks after hatch & return to the main coop The chicks are then independent in the brood coop
Your chickens are beautiful 😍 what do u feed them?
We feed them on a pelleted chicken food which has a complete balance of nutrients and minerals. They also graze on the grass in the field all day, eat any windfall apples from the trees as well as getting the odd cabbage chard or broccoli plant straight from the vegetable garden.
Does that help?
What brand is it? Is it a layer feed?
@@melissarosenberg8145 We feed either a brand called Marriages or a brand called Duffield
I have always had laying hens but this summer is the first time I will be introducing roosters..
So once the eggs are fertilized and laid do you have to store them for 2 weeks before putting them under a hen or in an incubator or can it be done right away?
I also have Buff Orpingtons by the way. :)
Hi Leon. They are viable immediately but they start to develop as soon as she sits on them, so if you want to hatch 12, give her 12 all at the same time, otherwise the first ones hatch and she has to take them out to feed & the others go cold. Mark the 12 you give her and, if you can, give her a separate coop away from other hens otherwise they will pull her off her eggs trying to lay in the same spot or she will pull their eggs under her
Your buff Orrington are beautiful. Do you have store here in USA. I like to buy some...
I'm sorry Mario, we don't
PLEASE, would you say where and at what temperature do you store your fertilized eggs for this 2-3 week period, while wating (I understand) to put them under a boody hen? Also when is the best time (weather wise) to plan the hatching period. (We are in Canada so we have to plan hatching for Spring but sometime snow stay longer in the field).
We have Partridge Chantecler a rustic race for cold weather temperature.
Thank you very much for those very useful video. Really appreciated.
Hi! We simply store the fertilised eggs in our kitchen at room temperature in normal egg boxes. They must not be washed or refrigerated. We generally hatch under broody hens who sit in April or May but adjust to weather conditions. It's fine to hatch earlier with an incubator but they need to be kept warm until fully feathered at 8 - 12 weeks
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you very much. Very informative video. Loved it.
HI thank you for your video .. when you have the eggs where do you store them for the 2 weeks or until ready?
Hi Susan. As I show in the video I store them pointed end down in an egg box until I have 12 for the broody hen. I keep the egg box in the house so they are at room temperature but never in the kitchen just to be sure there are no mix ups with eggs for eating.
Does that help?
@@EnglishCountryLife Thank you for your reply ... I have a hen on 22 day eggs .. nothing yet I removed 3 bad eggs! 1 exploded 2 were thrown out the nest. I have 2 other broody hens .. they always seem to be broody! I previously hatched 2 chicks from 9 eggs fingers crossed for the next day or 2. As I am in Scotland it is cooler so an extra day or 2! I did the foat test 2 sank 7 floated well
Strange you should should say it is taking a little longer. We have a broody that hatched at 22 days this week and a friend whose hens hatched at 23 days last week. It's never taken more that 21 days before for our hens. It's a very strange summer.
I'm so sorry the clutch of eggs you had had such a high failure rate. We have had that before with eggs we have bought in. It's difficult to know how much they have been shaken through the postal system.
Hi Fiona, we love your videos. Could we ask where you’re based and if we could buy any POL Orpington’s from you please. Thank you.
Thanks for asking but we won't have any PoL hens available until next year. Our spring chicks have only just hatched and we already have a waiting list of people to buy any excess PoL that will be ready in September this year. Sorry!
Hello! Thanks for the very informative video. When I have a broody hen on a nesting box, can I easily transfer her to the hatching box where I put the eggs beforehand? Also, how do I choose the best eggs for hatching? And how many eggs may I put under the hen?
Hi, we find that Buff Orpington hens can be easily moved. We often settle them on pottery eggs and transfer them with the eggs. We then keep them confined them in the broody coop for 24 hours with food and water. They normally then stick but attaching a run to prevent them returning to their favourite coop can be necessary whilst maintaining the ability to have outside space.
Good eggs need to have been fertility tested. This is how we do it
th-cam.com/video/aop_G9uzOVA/w-d-xo.html
good info
Thank you
How is best to set up a broody hen on eggs in an isolated area within the chicken yard...I can't afford those coops you show...do the hens protect the chicks when hatched?
Hi Judi! They do protect the chicks once hatched but it's a really good idea to give them a peaceful space to brood in away from other chickens. Here's a really old video of a super basic coop that I made
th-cam.com/video/uwn1AOBh6iQ/w-d-xo.html
My buddy put a broody hen in a wooden packing crate that he cut a door in. It worked fine. Throw a bit of a fence round it to keep other hens out. Chicken wire, debris netting anything really. Once the chicks have hatched, after a couple of days, you can take the fence away
Will the mother hen eat all the food and water nearby? Will she teach her chicks where it’s located? Doesn’t the chicks need baby chick food? How do you separate the different food types? How long do you have to keep them separated from the flock?
Its advisable to change all the nearby feeders to chick food The hen will guide her chicks to it & teach them to eat. Chicks can integrate into the flock from day 1
Does the Cockerel have to be unrelated to the hen?
We always ensure that he is. Inbreeding causes problems sooner or later
This is an excellent video!! Thank you!!
Thank you
Can you help! I have 8 ex caged hens. 7 are fine and happy but they do pick on the 8th one. Its not just the top hen its all of them, they chase and peck at her. She sits on top of the coop most of the day as they dont let her feed. Should i separate her and give hera space of her own within the run as it is big? I shut her in the coop so she can lay and have a break. That doesnt seem fair.
Julianne
I think the first thing to do is to give her a thorough check over for injuries, illness or parasites. Chicken society is structured to keep the flock strong and this means that when chickens are ill or injured the flock can attack. It also means that chickens will disguise when they are ill or injured to avoid being "weeded out".
If you find a problem, isolate her until she has been treated and healthy and try again.
If you don't find a problem for her health you will have to isolate her so that she can eat and drink enough and if the problem persists when you reintroduce her the only thing you can do for her own welfare is rehome her.
I'm so sorry.
@@EnglishCountryLife thank you. She is the nicest one too. I think i will keep her and a couple of quiet ones and rehome the bullies.
Regards
So the eggs are good up to two weeks? Do I use eggs store in refrigerator 3rd week to place under broody hen ?
I have 7 Rohdeiland hens and one rohdeiland rooster I live in Austin Texas first time having a rooster. Son wants hen to have baby chick's. I'm scrared of rooster always try to attack me any suggestions?
Hi Connie, eggs will remain viable for up to 2 weeks but should not be washed, nor should they be refrigerated. The thing with cockerels is to train them from the outset that you are dominant. Walk steadily & firmly towards the cockerel forcing it to move aside. When the cockerel is in the coop, place your hand between its shoulders and push it gently but firmly to the floor holding it gently there until it submits. You want to get it to step aside for you. Its also useful to hand feed treats so that it sees you as a source of rewards
I've 9 hens and 1 cockeral. The last week or so my hens have started laying in different places rather than their coop. I've also realized one hen is now sleeping away from the coop and I think she must be sitting on eggs. She comes back once a day to eat & drink then rushes off again. I've located the area, in a neighbour's field which is full of brambles so not easy to get to. She's been doing this for about a week. I don't want chicks so could I keep her in the run when she comes back again and stop her sitting on the eggs? thanks
If she is broody she will certainly try to return to her nest. The only way to stop her incubating the eggs will be to keep her enclosed
@@EnglishCountryLife thanks for replying. Any tips on making the hens lay in their coop again? I've tried the false egg which has helped but missing several eggs daily. thanks
@@alexandrajames8734 One thought occurs - have you checked carefully for red mite? That can make them reluctant to go into the coop. Other than that the only sure way is fencing them out of hedges & bramble patches!
Do I have to separate my broody and chicks from rest of flock?
Hi Sherie. You don't have to but when the brood hen is incubating the eggs other hens can come in and push the brood hen off the nest to lay their own eggs. This can result in eggs being broken.
We also keep the chicks and brood hen separate for the 1st 24 hours just to allow the chicks to find their feet. After the 24 hours our hens and chicks are out with the flock but space at this stage is important. The brood hen normally likes to gradually introduce the chicks to the flock so a confined space forces close contact with the flock very early that could result in issues.
Every hen and every flock is different. If you can give them space, wonderful but if not, there are risks which may or may not happen depending on the individual flock.
Does that help?
@@EnglishCountryLife Does this same technique work with two roosters in the flock? Mine free range all day but are in a 10x20 coop at night. I did build a screen wall to divide the coop (just in case) this is where I am going to put the broody hen real soon. I learned from this video that I need to do that. So I really need to know do I keep them separate until a certain age because I have roosters? One agressive rooster and a nice buff rooster.
VERY informative THANK YOU! ☺
So glad that you liked it 🙂
Do all chickens get chick starter feed when hatching out out chicks?
I know chicks cant have layer feed...so just curious. Thank you!
Exactly so Justine, we switch all the feeders over to chick crumb or micro pellets
How long after chicks hatching should the hen and her chicks be introduced back into the rest of the flock?
Hi Courtney. We usually allow one to two days and then let her out an hour or two before sundown for a brief foray. After that, we let them mingle freely. The broody will keep the rest of the flock in line.
@@EnglishCountryLife Thankyou so much!
@@CourtneyX_ Any time!
Thank you.
@@jeepboya74ag You're welcome!