Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>]

> Nobody knows how to raise a baby better than a Mama - Good for you Harvey to 
> realize that. Which varieties have you had the best experience with 
> "adoption"? 
>
> Tameson - a Mama Hen herself - currently nursing #3 

I like Old English Game, best chicken mamas on the planet. I'm also 
working with an experimental cross: OEG cock onto proven broody hens of 
larger body size (to get reliably broody hens with the mothering skills 
of the OEG but able to cover more chicks w same amount of management 
input). Here's more on broody breeds from my BYP article, plus an 
additional observation:


. . . in most breeds developed in the past hundred and fifty years, the 
broody instinct is either entirely lacking, or “hit-or-miss” at best. 
Hens of some breeds—Cochins, Buff Orpingtons—are more likely to express 
the trait than most, but even in these breeds, emergence of a good 
working broody is more the exception than the rule.
	So my secret for getting lots of broody hens to do my hatching?  Revert 
to the older, historic breeds among whom broodiness is the norm rather 
than an oddity. Old English Games, for example, express the trait at 
virtually 100%, and the hens are accomplished, attentive, and fiercely 
protective mothers. Note that I am not recommending basing one’s entire 
flock on a broody breed. A broody hen is indeed less productive where 
egg laying is concerned—while incubating eggs and raising her chicks, 
she does not lay. But one can establish a sub-flock of reliable working 
broodies, based on historic breeds much in need of preservation, to do 
all one’s hatching and brooding chores. (In addition to Old English 
Games, consider Kraienkoppes, Malays, Shamos, Asils, Madagascar Games, 
Silkies, and some strains of Dorking.) [end quote]

An interesting thing which Darwin reported in one of his works (not 
Origin of Species): THere was an experiment crossing two decidedly 
non-setting breeds of the Mediterranean class. Most of the daughter 
offspring expressed the broody trait. This to me is great news: We 
manipulate our domestic breeds to our own ends, even suppress a 
fundamental reproductive function, but they retain a deep wisdom at the 
genetic level which, with one roll of the genetic dice, can come to the 
fore once again. Incredible! So keep this in mind for a time when the 
fecal matter hits the rotating ventilation device: Making mongrel 
crosses might be the shortest path to getting lots of broody hens to 
hatch your stock w/out electricity.

~Harvey
--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us