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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Thank you bev for taking the time to explain.....bobford


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--- On Sun, 11/23/08, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

> From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Eggs are hatching-UPDATE
> To: bobford79 AT yahoo.com, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Sunday, November 23, 2008, 1:56 PM
> For many breeds of chickens, instinct is gone.  Many breeds
> just won't
> go broody or sit on a nest at all.  I do have some of the
> better breeds
> for broodiness, but still, it is hit or miss on having a
> broody hen, and
> much of it is a seasonal thing-this just isn't the
> right season for
> natural broodiness, even if you have in your girls..   You
> can tell if a
> hen is going broody because she will be continually sitting
> in the
> nestbox for several days or more.  She will eventually stop
> laying her
> own eggs and incubate the eggs under her.  To keep the eggs
> at or near
> 100 degrees and the right humidity, the hen must stay on
> the eggs pretty
> much 24/7, getting off maybe only 15 minutes or so a day to
> eat and
> drink for herself, and a really 'good' broody hen
> won't leave a nest
> even for that.  Generally, naturally, hens go broody in the
> Spring and
> Summer, and raise their chicks when temps are
> warmer-ensures a higher
> survival rate AND she can lead them around teach them what
> to eat, etc.
>  More bugs are available, more grass, etc.  This time is
> year it would
> be unnatural for a chicken to go broody, but I have seen
> it.
> Some hens are so broody that it actually becomes a problem,
> and for the
> health of the bird you have to break their broodiness.(I
> won't go into
> that now)...so anyway, the short answer is that they
> won't do it
> naturally this time of year.
> 
> bob ford wrote:
> > Okay, I'm confused.  You already had hens and a
> rooster to fertilize
> >  their eggs, and you've been stealing their eggs
> to hatch in an incubator.  Why not just let the chickens
> hatch them naturally in their chicken nests.  They
> wouldn't harm their own?
> > 
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --- On Sun, 11/23/08, EarthNSky
> <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
> > 
> >> From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Eggs are hatching-UPDATE To:
> homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org Date: Sunday, November 23, 2008,
> 1:01 PM I should also say that I am thinking of asking a
> neighbor for a few eggs to fill out the incubator.  He has
> more chickens than I do at present. He may want
> >>  some chicks as well, but I doubt it.. I'm
> just trying to think of
> >>  what to trade for the eggs if he doesn't want
> any chicks.
> >> 
> >> B
> >> 
> >> 
> >> EarthNSky wrote:
> >> 
> >>> This is round 1 of chicks.  I am already
> collecting
> >> eggs for round 2
> >>> of incubation, which, if I can get enough
> eggs, should
> >> start next
> >>> weekend. As long as I have use of the
> incubator,
> >> I'm going to hatch
> >>> as many as I can.  If my girls stop laying,
> then I am
> >> dead in the
> >>> water.   There's an economy of scale here,
> it
> >> makes no sense to run
> >>> the incubator(and then lights) for a dozen
> eggs...at
> >> least, that is
> >>> my break point, but I haven't done the
> math on it.
> >> I should.
> >> 
> >> -- “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear
> leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to
> suffering.”        Yoda
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> -- “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to
> anger. Anger leads to
> hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda