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  • From: Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Mama hens
  • Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:41:42 +0000

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




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