Ok, So I need to figure out the plans and goals for this coming year when it comes to the breeding flocks..
Currently bird wise we have
Chickens- 16 Laying Hens -Two Roosters
Ducks-Regular Duck- Hens-Apple, Jackie, drakes spaz
Ducks -Muscovy Ducks- Mr. Big, and his gaggle of four breeding hens
Guinea Fowl – Two hens/One male.. ( Holding back four of the best last year till they can be sexed)
Geese- Honk/Hiss, Lou/Pom
The rest of the birds on the farm will be butchered out before breeding season starts.
The chickens main goals are as egg layers, the regular ducks are for meat production, the Muscory’s are for meat production, the guinea fowl is mainly for bug patrol, and as a added bonus, meat and feather production, the geese are mainly for flock protection and as a side bonus, meat an feather production.
So given that I would like at least two broody hens with one rooster set up for just that purpose, Two full size clutches of chicks will meet my needs for replacement hens and some chicken for the freezer just fine.
The two duck hens and the one drake will go together as a breeding set in their own pen for sitting on nests, but the muscory’s are different, I will allow them to all breed with Mr. Big and choose when they sit, Ideally keeping two out free ranging at any time, with two sitting, and still end up with four clutches, just with different timing on them. (I need the birds out working the yard to help with bug control)
The geese will be moved into two breeding pairs and allowed to do what comes natural to them, as I want to see who is a good sitter and hatcher, I know that Hiss is a very good mom, once the wee ones arrive.
The breeding guinea’s are going into a large covered breeding pen, and the range birds are just that.. range birds, if they sit, and hatch, their wee ones will be taken from them and raised up in a controlled pen, and only when big enough and strong enough will they come out to join the rest of the babies. (last year, we have real issues with raising different size babies in the same area, something I am not going to do this year)
That’s the plan at the moment.. if you are breeding this year, how many of your girls do you hope are going broody? How many sittings are you hoping to have happen per hen? Are you going to let them raise the babies? or are you going to take them away and give all the babies to one broody momma? Are you breeding for laying hen replacements or are you breeding for meat? and freezer camp?
Just another Day on the Farm 
What do you mean “give all the babies to one broody mama?”
you plan on working with and allowing two hens to sit at the same time, with a average of 14 eggs per nest, with the average hatch of 8 to 12 chicks (I did have one momma hatch 14 one year) and because you time the sitting, you in effect time the hatching, and then you give all the chicks to the same mom and put the other female back out with the flock, so she goes back to laying much faster. or if you only have one sitting broody mom, you can order chicks to come in the same week, and add the in after her’s hatch, or you can really cheat, get a good broody, only let her sit tight for a week, and then put day olds under her and they will do the mommy mode for you..
Oh man! I so wish I had known that two weeks ago! We had 11 hatch in our bator the same day a broody hatched 4. I had no idea I could give her the other chicks. That would have made life SOOOO much easier. Can you only do it the first day or two? I can’t give her the two week olds now right?
Thanks so much for sharing this! We will definitely use this in the planning for the rest of this year’s breedings. This is our first ever broody hen. Our goal is to have enough brood that we don’t have to use the incubator anymore. But for now we do not have any others that have been broody.
Hi Willow Creak, Typically its easier to give the hen the chicks in the first 48 hours, because a hen will sit on her hatching eggs for about that time in total if she thinks she still has some to hatch and so while its quiet and she is sitting, if you just start putting the other wee babes in one by one right by her, they come in, she takes them and all is good. for sure what I can say is that your average hen can easily cover the extra 11 for a total of 15.
As for now at two weeks in age, I would say give it a try and watch, put out fresh food and water, and a bit of a nice treat, and when her back is turned eating, just slip a couple chicks in right behind her and watch, if she takes them, then the odds are very good that she will take them all..
Only one drawback on this, if you have a weak chick, the mothers tend to know it, she might be more forgiving at day old but by two weeks of age, she would have naturally culled for weaker babies, so just beware of it in the new group, if they are all doing well, no worries on that end.
Its really handy, no heating required this way.. I do it because its so much easier.
Thanks for the information! I have learned a lot from you this year and really appreciate it.