Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
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of the eggs you collect probably will be dirty. You can clean eggs by dry cleaning
them with a loofah or a sanding sponge from a hardware store. Dry washing eggs is safer than
washing them with water. As long as the eggs are dry, bacteria is less likely to get inside the
eggshell.
Certain breeds of chickens tend to go broody more than others. Examples of broody chicken
breeds are Australorp, Brahma, Buckeye, and Chantecler. Other breeds have been bred to re-
move the broody gene. Examples of non-broody birds are Rhode Island Reds, Leghorns,
Minorcas, and barred Rock.
Collecting the eggs each day will help prevent a chicken from going broody. If the broodiness
is a big problem, you may want to remove the nesting boxes. A hen's broodiness is a problem
if your bird is no longer producing additional eggs or if she is aggressive and preventing other
hens from laying eggs. A hen will find anything that resembles a nest to lay her eggs in, such
as a planter or crate. Once she is on there, it will be hard to remove her because she will be
feisty due to her hormones kicking in.
If you want your hen to become broody, for instance, if she is producing more eggs than you
need, leave several golf balls or plastic eggs in her nest to induce the process. Chickens can be
tricked into thinking they are hatching their own eggs. They will not know the difference. You
can even do this to help move her cycle along. She will be broody for an average of 21 days if
she sits on her eggs, and when they do not hatch, she will lose interest and go back to her nor-
mal daily routine.
Mating
You can try several different mating techniques depending on your skill level and the number
of birds you have. One type of mating is flock mating, which is not recommended for the
novice breeder and chicken owner because it can produce a large quantity of birds, and as a
novice, you may not be ready to handle so many birds immediately. With flock mating, flocks
are made up of about 14 hens and one rooster, and the rooster can mate freely with the hens.
This is a good method if you want to produce many chicks. The main negative aspect is that
you cannot keep an accurate record of which hens the rooster is mating with and how many
eggs they are producing. Also, you have less control over the quality of the birds you are cre-
ating. This may be a method to choose once you have more experience and plan to have a
large flock of chickens.
