Sitting Hen?

Joyce · Sitting Hen?

I bought a dozen baby chics or chicks back in the summer. I know I bought two sitting hens, but I didn't know which two it was. They are about six months old now and two girls are sitting on the eggs. Been on the nest for three days. I was getting about 10 eggs a day. Now with the sitting hens hogging all the eggs I'm not getting any. They will not give any up.

I tried. I am afraid of dwarf bucks now, I don't want to get beat up by a chicken too

I think I'll try to move her in a small pin alone so she can sit, but not in the main nesting box. The dogs will help them self to all the eggs if they are layed outside the box. Dogs have not been hungry lately

McBunz

Maybe you should take up raising live bait.. Never heard of anyone getting
beaten up by a worm...

Joyce

I didn't expect her to fight about it. Usually they move over. All the roosters run over to see what I'm doing. geezz not a quiet place anymore. I think I'll let her hatch out some chics though if that's what her plan is.

IZZY

Haha, I know the feeling...I have been attacked by a rooster....I guess you could say I'm chicken of chickens

Joyce

Oh yes I was attacked by a rooster a few years ago. He chased me from my barn all the way to my house ( which was a long way back then)

My sons and their father were laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes. None of them helped me. I was scared and mad. Not funny at the time to me. I went in the house came back out and shot that rooster.

He had attacked me several times before. I was the ONLY hand that fed him.

So far these roosters are good, but I always watch when they are around me.

McBunz

Sure don't want to pee you off...

I was chased by a turkey once..
but I only about one yr. old.. My grandfather saw to it that we had turkey for supper that night..

Betty B

McBunz

It is amazing how fast and how far a chicken can go without a head...
When I raised chickens I tied their legs together, put them in a plastic bag
with their head and neck sticking out a hole I made in the bottom of the
bag.. and then chopped the heads off.. then no blood drying on the bird when
you clean them...and no brused chickens from running and bouncing
off things.. and then hung them on a line to bleed out properly..
Talk about tasty chickens too.. not this tasteless four week old stuff
we buy in the stores now.. but big 8 pounds or more self basting roasting chickens..

Joyce

Yes hubby has told me stories about the chickens running after him with the head snapped off.
We did raise some meat chickens up north. They did taste so good.

I remember something about letting them bleed out. They would get so fat they could not walk and huge.

IZZY

Mmmmm....chicken.
My sister told me that when I was little I thought it was the funniest thing to see them running around like that. Farm raised meat is soooo much better, I have a hard time switching back to store beef after we run out of farm beef from my hubbies boss. Store meat is not the same at all.

Joyce

NO the store beef is NOT the same at all. It's too bad because most people can't raise their own.

That's why I'm hoping the 4 steers we're raising will make some good beef. We refused the growth hormones they offered. We don't really eat that much, but it seems like there's always a RECALL somewhere we hear about AFTER we did eat some

Plus have to feed all the dogs the same stuff we eat. It may be nice to have all the bones extra for them. We used to be able to buy some of the part we don't eat to feed to the dogs but I guess that's not allowed anymore even if it your own beef??
These little beef boys are getting freindly though

IZZY

When we grew our meat as a child or now, the rule was that the ones that were going to be butchered were not allowed to have names...tooo easy to get attached.
We raised meat rabbits as kids too, the ones that were ours were the main does, and we were not allowed to play with the bunnies

but it worked out for the better that way in the end.
I did the same things with my kids when we had our rabbits.
It's so hard when they get friendly....I totally know what you're talking about.

Joyce

I don't know .. those rabbits are just so darn cute.

IZZY

We used to have to do it all the time. My parents are from europe and rabbit is basically a staple in their meals as beef is sooo expensive. 7 years ago I went there to go see my grandfather one more time before he passed away, when I went to the grocery store, my jaw pretty much hit the floor...80.00 franks for a roast beef! at that time the exchamge was about .10 cents difference. a single smokie was 3.50! so you can see why they would eat so much rabbit...You know the saying...breeding like rabbits.
I got used to it quick, I remember helping with the butchering when I was 5. I tried it for a while again a couple of years ago, but it didn't last long as my hubbie couldn't bring himself to eat rabbit....so I stopped cause there was no sense doing it to cook meals that only the kids and I would eat

They sure seemed to like it, and I"m sure you have herd of Hasenpfeffer...like what they're always trying to turn bugs bunny into.