4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[madchickenlady]

I have a broody pekin hen, Belinda, and am considering letting her hatch. I don't have a cockeral, so would have to buy in the eggs. A friend of mine is looking to get some chooks, and has said that if I do hatch any she would be interested in taking a trio (result! ) Just looking for other peoples experiences of hatching, and where you sourced your eggs from etc. Did any of you cull your cockerals? I know that it's a horrible subject, but has to be addressed I quite fancy pekin frizzles, and also blue laced wyandottes (bantams). I know pekins can be sexed relatively easily at about 6 weeks. Any ideas when wyandottes become sexable (so to speak!)? I realise that the frizzle gene can be a bit temperamental, so even a successful all female hatching could result in smooth feathers Also, last but not least, does anyone on here sell hatching eggs of either breed? Thanks

[Egg Lou]

Hi madchickenlady

 

I am by no means an expert on this in fact far from it, but do know there are many things to consider when going down this route however it does sound like you are doing your homework..I hatched last year and had a great experince however had homes for all boys that could have hatched.. do bear in mind that although its normal to have about 50/60% male it is also possible to be unlucky and have 100% males hatch so worth sourcing back up homes just in case

 

My eggs came to me by pure accident, however you can source hatching eggs from local breeders, other forums on the webb and ebay although do be wary!

 

I only had 1 male (v lucky to have rest as female!) who is now in a super pet home so cannot advise you on the culling aspect however if you have planned for all options and have separate accomadation etc for mum and babies for around 6 weeks and then babies only till about 18 weeks old and sure you want to go ahead then I an sure you will enjoy it thoroughly.. best of luck

[Daphne]

I'm not an expert either but I bought my hatching eggs from a well known breeder (via another forum). Next time I will be using my own girls eggs

 

Re boys I would try to rehome (partly depends on the 'desirability' and quality of what you hatch) if not possible a) I know of some people who offer homes to boys - is there anywhere near you eg petting zoo/farm etc b) I know somebody who will despatch - do you? c) I would have few qualms (but I realise people reading this might) about offering the boys as food (ferret etc). This sounds harsh but we need to face the reality - if/when boys hatch what are we going to do with them? They are totally our responsibility. There is absolutely no way most of us can keep more than 1 boy at any one time; its just not an option (noise & fighting) - and even that is a boy too far for many of us. And please don't underestimate the ties of affection that build up as you nurture and care for them.

 

Sorry if I sound like a prophet of doom, but really its not a decision to take lightly. If you do go for it then I wish you all the luck and enjoyment in the world. I'm sorry but I don't know the first thing about frizzle pekins or blue laced dottes so I can't offer any specific advice on them, although I think both are quite sought after. Have you looked in for breeders?

[BeckyBoo]

Good luck! Hatching under a broody is the best, easiest and most exciting way I reckon. I've only done it twice, both times last year when my Speckledy went broody. I bought a load of fertile eggs from a local breeder, just picked eggs that I liked the look of the end result, and put them under her. 21 days later we had a clutch of beautiful cheepy chicks! Theres nothing to beat the excitement of going to check on the mum and hearing that little cheeping! Apart from the cream legbars none of mine were sexable until they started crowing, I found homes for a couple of the boys and the others were culled (the last boy a Rhode Island Red, went on Monday, he's in the freezer! I have to have someone help me with the dispatching as I still don't have the confidence to ddo it on my own, but I did pluck and gut by myself this time, hard work but if you're not a veggie, you will never taste better tasting chicken!)

So anyway, once they hatched they were kept with mum, first time she got fed up at 6 weeks and she went back to the flock and the chicks stayed together until about 16 weeks, second time she stayed for the duration and they all went in at about 16-18 weeks. Obviously i you think you might end up eating the boys then probably hatching frizzles might not give you the biggest dinners! My Buff Sussex was the best, 5lb 8oz oven ready, but then again you will probably find it easier to home a boy frizzle than a boy buff sussex or RIR which are ten a penny really.

 

Good on you for giving it thought, never underestimate how hard it is to find homes for boys, so don't go for it unless you really are prepared to dispatch them - or have neighbours that hate you forever!

 

BeckyBoo

[Egg Lou]

Oh forgot to mention.. my pekins were easy to sex from 3 weeks... from what I have learned pekins are well known for 'showing' early and this seemed really true with mine as Astons comb was very pronounced from a few days old and most definatly male from 3 weeks onwards

[Charlottechicken]

I bought my fertile eggs off Dragonpoultry on ebay, she is in Wales and appears to have a fab set up and also sells pure breeds . I had an 83% success rate, with a cheap manual incubator, but I did buy pot luck mixed parent eggs as I do not want to breed from them. Only one of the six eggs failed to hatch and when I broke the shell to see, it was either never fertile or just did not develop past basic embryo (I was too squeamish to break the membrane covering the egg itself ) I am having any boys culled, and have arranged for someone to do it for me, as I am very urban and a cockerel would be a no-no.

 

Good luck