Oh yaaa, those broody cochin mammas, at it again!!

HigginsRAT wrote:

CynthiaM wrote:
I understand what is being said about the age of the hens. I don't know if my blue cochin original gals (3 of them, one is a year younger) have just become fat, smiling that big smile, but I notice what seems to be a much bigger and broader breast this past year, from what I remember of last year. They are so big that there is really a whole lotta room for babies below that lovely belly and breast. When those four blues when broody last summer, late, August beginning, about 2 weeks after birthing, there was one mamma that took all the babies in, the other mammas wanted a baby or two, but she wanted all of them, and the little ones listened. I think she was the biggest one actually. Think the babies knew who had the warmest belly to snuggle under. Just an interesting observation, perhaps off topic, I apologize, whilst hiding behind a chair (where's a emoticon for that anyways, smiling again).

Yep, older gals have certainly stood the test of time, I see a good reason to use them as big time gals in the breeder pool for sure. Great post Tara, by the way, have a beautiful day, CynthiaM.

Heel low:
The drop in the body, or better said, the filling out of the pullet and cockerel, the giving in to the force of gravity, in a dually, so desirable, I must agree! Nature just seems to favour the older stock, the look we want is in the two year old more so than the younguns, at least for me I guess. The hens that are older also give us the bigger eggs, the more vigorous the chicks seem to be that hatch from these eggs. Another thing I keep noting, when the season is right, for us it is late May and June, that older hens are just pouring out the good hatching eggers and the chicks from these seem the best all rounders. James Hopkins of Lakeview Trust in Ontario, he tells me he too loved the big hen eggs and selected his breeding stocks from them. Eggs that are big are laid in June; for Jim's most favourable Chantecler stocks. His birds, his Chantecler stock, he says, has found its way into all our historical Chantecler lines, all but those in Holland as per his guesses.

I laugh at your tale of the Big Momma hording all the kids from the other hens. The chicks will often go to the most insistent Momma and what a great thing she is teaching them about...even if not her chicks by blood, certainly being taught how to pass on good mothership skills. The word hefted works well to explain SO much about chicken Mommas; here is a clip off my turkey page on that term:

"There is a Scottish term "Hefted" which sums up all the learned behaviours that animals learn from their parents and from life experiences. They learn where to go during seasonal changes, where to find food or water in winter, where to birth safely, where to hide at night, etc. It is not so much that our domesticated animals have gone "feral" so much as our animals are intelligent and independent and able to get on without us doting on their every need. This however does not eliminate our part in caring for them since we have chosen to contain and domesticate them. By choosing true "heritage" livestock, you are choosing to acquire animals with free thought and the ability to make it without you. If you are able to lavish attention upon them, they will reward your efforts by leaps and bounds. Heritage animals thrive when carefully attended to...the rewards are astounding! Near the bottom of this page and the "chicken" page, you will find ALBC's full defintion of "heritage." Heed this well.

Heritage Turkeys: 1. Naturally mating. 2. Long productive outdoor lifespan. 3. Slow growth rate.

Heritage Chickens: 1. APA Standard Breed. 2. Naturally mating. 3. Long, productive outdoor lifespan. 4. Slow growth rate."

I've heard stories of three females hatching all at the same time and the one Mom being favoured so highly, that literally "highly" is how she ended up! So many babes under foot, she is elevated under the brood massive numbers. I think, it was this summer that on the Canned Chicken list, one of the fellas posted a photo of, hmmm forget exact details (having an OLDtimers moment...duh) but think it was a Muscovy hen duck with her wings outstretched...so many ducklings she could not cover the brood otherwise...it was so CUTE!!

Oldtimers talk of letting their girl birds hatch the last of the season's eggs...so many will use an incubator, but these wise oldtimer gentlemen and ladies of the poultry fancy held fast that a hen needed to be left to raise a clutch. Moms talk to their eggs and I am sorry, the annoying whirl of the incubator, I cannot shake that somehow that would make the babies just a tad on the crazy side. LOL...so much peace and happiness in the bock bock of a mother hen to her babes. These ones raised by a real mother, maybe it is my imagination or wishful thinking, seem more viable and hearty, healthy and certainly happy. I know that for every setty hen, that is one less of my hens producing eggs, but I will NEVER be able to shake that is what we SHOULD be expecting from a good competent laying flock. So for me, I will not cull for broodiness, but hold fast to that need to go thru natural cycles and revel in the good natural qualities that it infers in my life with the birds. You are indeed not off topic at all, for selection for some is against the natural broody hen, just look to the Leghorn, suppose to be a non-setty breed for megga egg production. That part is not for me though!

The learned behaviours of our poultry, the intelligence and the natural instincts (the tool box or hardware they come with and the skills or software program that tells them how to operate those tools/equipment), we can make selections for these if we ourselves cherish these behaviours. The sadness part of the foot and mouth poultry and livestock disaster and massacre in Great Britain was not just for the genetics lost forever, but for the hefted stocks, the ones that taught their young how to survive and prosper in meager and sometimes savage environments. A dog friend in Scotland said it was easy to bring in new animals after all was over, but they put the creatures out and many just up and died for not knowing the accumulated generational knowledge of what was lost when the originals were removed.

We who raise these heritage beasties and birdies, WE know daily how smart and adaptive they are just by living amongst them daily. I feel honoured to be in company of heritage critters and hope my selections never lose these qualities we have come to cherish so highly.