Mary Allen
Poultry farmers can hardly wait until they can lay the first eggs in the incubator. So that this does not become a disappointment due to insufficient fertilization and poor hatching results, good breeding preparation is required.
There is often a long wait before the breeding lines are put together. What speaks against putting the cocks and the hens assigned to them in their compartments immediately after the last exhibition? The longer the breeding line is together, the better the animals can get used to each other. The pecking order between the hens is also determined at an early stage. At the same time, one can determine whether the hens are using the laying nests offered to them
accept.
This is even more important for those who practice their breeding through fall nest control. The best fall nest is useless if the hens don’t accept it. If this is the case, you would have to move the nest to the darkest corner of the coop, maybe use different bedding or darken a little where the nest is going to be. If that doesn’t help either, you would have to lock the hens in the drop nest for a few hours, which often helps. The opened drop nests should already be in the barn anyway. The more often they are visited, the greater the likelihood that they will visit the hens again, even if they do
are “posed”.
The Rooster Shows Who’s Boss in the Stable
Now you can also see if the hens are kicked by the rooster. While you can see this several times a day in one breeding line, there are roosters that only do it in secret. Rarely are their roosters that the hens don’t kick at all. This can be the case when an underage rooster is introduced to the hens and is then dominated by the alpha hen. With such roosters, you run the risk that they will always subordinate themselves and never step again. However, that is rare.
If you never see a rooster stepping at all, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the hens will only lay unfertilized eggs. To test this, take one or two hens out of the coop for an hour or two. If you then put them back again, you can observe how the tap behaves. If he accepts this listlessly, it should give food for thought. However, the rooster often behaves as he should: he kicks the hens immediately and shows them who is the boss in the barn.
Unfortunately, there are always hens that don’t let themselves be kicked, or the rooster spurns them. However, this is only noticed after the first eggs have been sheared. In such cases, all the hens should be removed from the flock, and the rooster left alone for a day or two with the stubborn or scorned hen. The next eggs are then often fertilized.
Varied, But Moderate
Good preparation for breeding also includes feeding. While our feathered ones find a lot of green stuff and also insects, beetles, and worms in the run from spring to autumn, this additional food is completely missing in the winter and early spring months. The more varied you can make the menu, the better it is. Dried nettles that you have collected during the year, apples from the orchard that nobody picks anymore, all kinds of berries that you have collected and frozen throughout the year are a few examples.
Minced garlic and chopped onions as an addition to the grated carrots or beets, mixed with a little brewer’s yeast and oregano powder make wonderful wet food for our chickens. Be sure to add a dash of oil so the chickens can break down the carotene from the carrots and beets. By the way, onions are said to influence a good hatch, and garlic and oregano also work against intestinal parasites
Animal protein such as dried or fresh mealworms, dried freshwater shrimp, which can be purchased in stores, or even some minced meat is also greedily taken. However, all this additional food should be given in moderation and not just a week before collecting the first hatching eggs. Sudden too one-sided food change can have the opposite effect. The hens go into neck molting and then stop laying eggs for weeks.
You start with the additional feed at the latest with the compilation of the breeding lines. And the chicken delicacies must not replace the commercial feed. Grains are among the favorite treats of our animals. If at all, they should only be given in moderation. They often lead to obesity in the hens, so many eggs can no longer be expected from them.
Woe is When the Only Rooster Dies
There is no such thing as an ideal size for the breeding line and it is often breed-specific. In the case of heavy breeds, the trunks tend to be kept smaller than in the case of the dwarves. Even within the same breed, there are more efficient and phlegmatic roosters. If you look closely, you will soon be able to see them. The age of the breeding rooster must also be taken into account, as older roosters often only start kicking the hens later when it gets warmer. Three- or four-year-old roosters can still be very good breeding animals, but they are no longer as vital as young roosters and should therefore have fewer hens in their flock. Anyone wanting to make early broods should be aware of this.
Whenever possible, one should breed with several smaller strains. If there is no possibility of keeping a spare rooster, then one should be moved to acquaintances or friends. Imagine having only one breeding line and the only rooster dying. If you don’t have a spare rooster, you might be able to buy one somewhere, but then you start breeding again from scratch.