We have a variety of hens and one rooster. Our main flock is a breed called Production Reds which has proven to be an excellent layer of large brown eggs. They do exactly as their name...produce. We want to expand our flock by hatching some new chickies from our Production Red eggs. Good? Right? Yes?
Sounds great! But not so easy. We are learning there are a lot of factors to consider before a baby chick can be hatched if you are doing it the old fashioned way. In order for a chick to form, a rooster must have first fertilized the egg. The hen must lay the egg. Mother must sit on egg providing the perfect temperature and humidity during incubation period for baby to form and hatch.
BUT these gals wont sit on their eggs!
What gives?
From reading countless chicken forums I have come to the conclusion that the majority of the experienced chickens owners believe that Production Reds are basically a hybrid type chicken with the mothering instinct bred out of them. Besides that, Hens get to choose when they go "broody". Something we can't force.
So what is broody anyway? We are also learning about broody hens. Hens go "broody" when a certain hormonal change takes place. Mothering instinct kicks in. One day they are pecking around and the next they are sitting on eggs, rocks, tennis balls, or anything round while refusing to get up. They go in a trance like state only getting up 1 time a day to take care of business and stretch their legs. They will talk to their eggs, (or round objects) and rock them. The broody hens are even famous for "adopting" eggs from other nests to sit on as many as possible. They will stay this way for 3-4 weeks (incubation period) and if they are really good mothers, until some babies hatch! During this period they stop laying eggs and are even known to lay more than usual right before going broody.
So why not get a broody nanny hen to help us populate? That's just what we did. Waaay cheaper than an incubator. Plus, she will mother them. No dealing with heat lights and fussy eaters! Not to mention the chick will not feel orphaned.
We bought a Silkie Chicken from a friend! Silkies are known for their egg-celent mothering skills.
My husband calls her Tina Turner. I call her Nanny. Katie calls her Sugar. She was named sweet beak by the former owner.
Sweet Nanny Tina Sugar Beak Turner. Whatever you wish.
As custom around here, nothing really ever has one name.
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| Our broody Nanny hen, |
It just so happened that she was broody when we brought her home. Since we got a sweet deal on sweet beak, we decided to purchase some of her flock. Which are quite the uncommon breed. Sizzles is what they are called. They are a cross between a Silkie and Frizzle. Both fuzzy and frilly. Froo froo birds really! All of em. They are also known to have strong mothering instincts.
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| Grown sizzle |
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| Sizzle Chick |
Since they are bantam (smaller) size they are not really practical for egg laying or meat birds compared to our much larger Production Reds that lay large brown eggs and are hearty in size. We decided not to purchase a rooster to breed the flock. Our main purpose was for these gals to mother our eggs.
So we gave Miss Sweet Nanny Tina Sugar Beak Turner 3 eggs of our Production Reds. And 21 days later.....
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| Oh Yes! We have a chick! |
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| Oh wait! We have 2 chicks! |
Katie and I jumped up and down and celebrated!
When the baby chick is born, it absorbs the yolk which gives the baby 3 days to live without needing food or water. Since the mother hen has a duty of raising the baby chicks such as teaching them how to drink, keeping them safe from the flock, and helping them gather food it is difficult for her to continue to sit on the unhatched eggs past the 3 days. On about day 4 she abandoned the unhatched egg.
We waited patiently to see if she would sit on it again. No go. After 12 days of the unhatched egg being without an incubation environment, we decided that either the baby chick had chilled and died or the egg was unfertilized. Katie and I decided to experiment by opening the egg. When the egg opened we heard a "cheep". I had not considered that a living chick would be present! We tried to keep it warm but after about 5 minutes, it died.
What an emotional time for us. We went through the "what ifs".
We buried the baby chick and chalked it up as another one of life's experience. Life experience is what homeschool is all about anyway.
"It was a sad experience loosing a baby chick that was hatched too early. We know that it's ok. We go through bad things in life and that was unexpected. At least we have the two other chicks that lived! I am having a fun time seeing chicks and how fluffy they are. Oh they are so cute! I am thankful for my broody little hen." ~ Katie 8 years old
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| Mr. Handsome Rooster |
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