I sure hope no one gets made over valid questions.

I have about 2 dozen laying hens. Mix of americaunas, barred rocks, RIR, and hybrid sexlinks. I don't tend to encourage them to go broody, and I haven't let any of my current hens hatch a clutch, so I can't say too much except that you will want to stick with the older, unimproved breeds for that. The sexlinks show little broodiness compared to the RIRs.

My best broody is gone now. We miss her. She was a little bantam Brahma who could be counted on to hatch a clutch every spring. She lived to be about 12 years old, and was active and "happy" till the end. She was the only "friendly" chicken we ever had. She would come to us and follow us around. The others act more like "real" chickens, and shy away from us.

Good luck. Hope that helps.

I think your rooster would love a couple of hens!

There are lots of great brooders out there. The attached link is a good and comprehensive resource for the various breeds and their broodiness and hardiness.

I had Dominics and they were great layers and mothers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Henderson's Chicken Breed Chart

Your roo is going to be one happy fella. :)

I use the dark 'hidey-hole' type of nest. I've found that my hens prefer them, they instinctively want to feel that they are hiding their clutch from predators and also want to feel safe. So we have basic wooden nest boxes with open fronts, a small lip on the front holds in the nesting material (straw) and prevents eggs from rolling out. I stapled a sheet of black landscaping cloth across the front to hang like a curtain, and cut a slit up the middle of the nest box opening. The hens can easily come and go as they please, they like the dark and the landscape cloth breathes well so air circulates.

Must be a hit because this year I had 9 broodies at once! Mostly bantams, silkies and cochins. As a rule, the 'fluffy' girls are the best bet for broodies--Orpingtons, Silkies, Cochins, Brahmas and a lot of the fluffier bantams--my slender girls don't go broody much.

Try to get breeds that will get along together--for example, silkies are extra sweet and docile, and Rhode Island Reds are notoriously aggressive, so don't mix birds at each end of the scale. Either stick with aggressive breeds or docile ones and everyone will be happier.

I use plain old chicken scratch mix plus lay mash, and supplement that with fresh water, free range to forage in, green grass and table scraps here and there (what's healthy for you is healthy for your chickens). Live mealworms are a tremendous treat for chickens and they gobble them like candy. Raw corn on the cob is a great treat, too, and provides interest and fun as well.

I've got a chicken info site here that may help:

http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChick.htm

Enjoy your chickens! :)

Velvet ~:>

i have used laying pellets, crumbles, and scratch. i have also just used plain old table scraps mixed with whatever weird leftovers we have (for instance dry dog food that got wet and the dogs wouldn't touch), the leftover egg shells crumbled up, fruits and vegetables, dried out tortillas, etc. i can tell you that they vastly prefer the table scraps. maybe the variety? i don't know. and it doesn't seem to bother them that there are grapes mixed in with sunflower seeds mixed in with dry dog food mixed in with old bread mixed in with old cucumbers. they love it. they peck and scratch at it much more animatedly and compete for it in a way that they never do for anything storebought. my g'ma and the rest of my family who were rural (i'm a city girl) always said that chickens will eat anything and it's true.

they are also allowed to run over the property and so they eat grasshoppers, dirt, weeds and whatever else they find, too.

i think for winters more storebought food is good because nature can't provide for them as well.

i don't find any difference in how many eggs i get from storebought versus scraps and range food.

Hi, sorry I didn't leave feed back for a while. I was at a goat show. Thanks everyone.
I am considering modifying my old rabbit cage for the hens. It is approximately 24" tall, 24" wide and 71" long. It has a removable divider, two doors, and is made of hardware cloth with a wooden frame on stilts. I am worried that if I put plywood over it, it won't have good air flow and could get to humid inside. What do ya'll think? Does anyone have any good ideas on how I should make a nesting box or modify the rabbit cage?

Thanks again!!!

Can you post a picture or two of the old rabbit hutch?

If you have concerns over enclosing the entire thing with plywood, maybe think of only going halfway up the walls with the wood, leaving the hardware cloth near the top so air can circulate. Do you live in an area prone to high humidity?

Velvet ~:>

We used 1/4" plywood and furring strips to build our nest boxes and hung them on the wall of the wooden coop. I mounted a furring strip in front of the boxes about 4" out for them to hop up on when they wanted to go in and out. the front is open and the boxes measure about 15" square. We put 1/4" hardware cloth on the bottom to allow for air flow up from below.

The first boxes we built were flat on top and the chickens would roost on top of them, so they were always messy. The ones we have now have a top that slants towards the front, so they can't roost there. I like that idea about the landscape cloth on the front. I never tried that before so they may like that.

VelvetSparrow, I was wondering if you have a way of breaking them from roosting in the nest boxes? Some of my hens like sleeping in the hay. Maybe I should build a little platform on top of one of the roosting poles and they could all scrunch together up there? Cheryl