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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Hatching your own

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  • From: "Gwen Giffen" <ggiffen@1st.net>
  • To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Hatching your own
  • Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:48:40 -0400

I looked at the price of incubators and have been reading for the past year about people working kinks out of fridg-a-bators they've built, and I tried using a shoebox and heating pad a couple of times, very UNsuccessfully. Of my commercial hatchery Rhode Island Reds and White Pekin Ducks, only one hen and one duck exhibited broody instincts, and their rooster and drake respectively called them away from the nest too often for a hatch. I know of a woman who sells eggs off her farm from her Golden Comets. People buy from her to have fresh rather than storebought. She buys from a hatchery and feeds mostly grain. If one goes broody, she dumps water on it, or culls it. I offered through someone who buys from her regularly to purchase any broody hens, but haven't seen one yet.

I've learned a lot on a yahoo group:
[All_Poultry_Talk_All_The_Time]

What I learned there is why I decided a broody hen would be best. Also there is some talk about new restrictions on shipping poultry. If and when this bad strain of bird flu gets to the U.S., it may become much more difficult to buy peeps from a hatchery, not to mention an increase in price and decrease in availability of meat and eggs. It is happening in Europe already. It will then be important, IMO for many to have small flocks to insure the ability to not only feed ourselves and be able to have eggs locally, but also to help keep the gene pool large, and help replenish what is lost.

In the short time I've been looking for a broody hen I've discoverd more local enthusists than I knew existed. I don't think it will be a problem to find people to swap, barter and share with to prevent inbreeding. With farming careful inbreeding is desireable at times too, remember.

Chickens eating raised maggots does not bother me. My chickens are free range - they choose what they eat, and what they choose ain't pretty sometimes. We supplement them with feed. They do not like the maggots on the moles my cats bring in - and the cats won't eat the moles either. They do love japanese beetles; but they also like tomatoes, beets, grapes and gooseberries, not to mention the delicacy of fallen apples and the worms in them. Gardening is a bit more complicated with free range poultry. Our eggs are very good too however - deep yellow yolks with lots of omega fatty acids. That is worth keeping a few silkies and cochins.

Gwen


Now that's a concept, Harvey - no incubators. In your experience is that
better for the chicks? One more area where rising cost of electricity may
slow down production of chicks commercially. Or if folks are off-grid they
look for ways to cut down the kilowatts. Hmm?

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Better for the chicks, are you kidding me?! Better in every possible
way. Read any advice on brooding chicks artificially, and you will be
told to avoid drafts and keep temp at 95 degrees. Well, my first batch
of chicks this spring went direct from the nest to the pasture with the
mama hen. First couple of days, daytime temp's were 45-50 degrees, with
20-25 mph winds. Water froze in the waterers overnight. No prob--didn't
lose a single one--mama knows just what to do.

I hatch using natural mothers mainly because I like more natural
methods, and because I love seeing the mother hens taking care of their
young. But yes, it is very much in my mind that there will come a time
when use of lots of electricity to incubate/brood artificially will not
be so casual a thing. So I work to preserve and enhance the broody
instinct in a portion of my overall flock. (The trait has been bred out
of many modern hens.)





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