• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • John F Dean
  • Jay Angler
  • paul wheaton
  • r ranson
stewards:
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Leigh Tate
  • Liv Smith
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Matt McSpadden
  • thomas rubino

Renewing your flock naturally: let them brood!

 
pollinator
Posts: 519
Location: Finland, Scandinavia
386
trees
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I have old Arctic landrace chickens. They spent the winter in an unheated henhouse, with temps falling to -18°F for months. They grew extremely fluffy, ate like horses but were really healthy!

So I wanted to breed them. The sad thing is, that many chickens have been selected to be not broody.

Luckily, I had several that were. They all sat on a big pile of eggs, but the results varied. Fennia got eight chicks, and was really busy tending to them all! Many got only two or three, the rest of the eggs turning out rotten at various stages of growth. Some chicks were lethargic at birth an died within days.

But my 17 hens now have 15 youngsters scuttling around happily!

No electricity at my farm so no way to use a machine. But the positive side is that a mother hen is so much superior at tending to the chicks! No pecking the young: momma keeps others at bay. Roosters find food for the chicks and help them out. Chicks sleep under momma hen's wings even once they have learned to jump to a roost.
20240831_153113.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20240831_153113.jpg]
 
A lot of people cry when they cut onions. The trick is not to form an emotional bond. This tiny ad told me:
Freaky Cheap Heat - 2 hour movie - HD streaming
https://permies.com/wiki/238453/Freaky-Cheap-Heat-hour-movie
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic