It’s that time of the year again when hens start pumping out eggs pretty much non stop….. unless they decide they want to become mother hen. I have two in the brooder and the first set of chicks have hatched. 7 for now, with more on the way.
The first 7 hatched thursday and friday of last week with a definitive color oddity with the new breed mixes. All the chicks that are hatching now are from a single father as I removed the other wannabe’s from the flock and stuffed em in the freezer.
As you can see the dark brown one is a definite surprise and I look forward to seeing how it turns out color wise.
The hen on the left is old faithful Brownie, she lays about 1 egg every 4 or 5 days but is a great mother hen. I will definitely be keeping her even after she stops laying as long as she keeps brooding.
This year I am going to try and brood as many as want to as long as they don’t all brood at the same time. I have only one brooder left and it can take two hens and her clutches as you can tell from the photo. Any rooster will just be raised for meat and stuffed in the freezer. These aren’t great meat birds as they don’t get large or very meaty but they make for great chicken stock and great soup birds.