Britannia Ovens (esp Range cookers) your experience

[johnandkymberley]

i am thinking of hatching some chicks under my broody, i dont know how many eggs i should buy, i am thinking about 4? i have a farm who are willing to take the little boys but what if i am left with one hen and 3 boys or no girls at all? if i have 3 boys and 1 girl, will she reject the other as they other chicks are gone? xx

[Redwing]

With just four eggs you may only get one or two chicks if you are unlucky. They will stay with the broody till she gets fed up with them at around six weeks so by the time the males are sexed you shouldnt have to worry about rejection (thats unlikely to happen anyway incidently)

 

The thing to bear in mind now are:

 

Its very late in the year, the eggs will hatch as the weather turns colder, they will need a very sheltered run if not an indoor one (ventilated and fox proof shed/garage)

 

Once the chicks are hatched the broody will moult and again this will be in the cold months

 

you'll need to feed chick crumb which can be hard to source out of season

 

You'll need not only a safe place for the broody to sit but also a coop and run for the youngsters untill they are 18 weeks old at which time they can be introduced to the others

 

you are already at capacity (if not over) in your existing set up, you'll have the problem of introducing a lone hen/two hens in to that set up

 

I dont mean to sound like I am trying to rain on your parade but think very carefully about whether you actually want chicks - I'd maybe revisit it in the spring

[coco]

I was given six eggs last April, four chocolate bantam orpington and two millefleur pekin. Only three hatched, both pekins and one orp. I now have the orp and her friends in the WIR inside a smaller introduction run and have set up a seperate hpuse and run where the little ones will live. As Redwing says it is late to be hatching by the time they hatch it will be late September. If I was going to hatch again I would definately wait until the spring.