Bertha Our Broody Hen with Her New Baby Chicks

There has been so much going on that we have been giving many updates these days. Things are all good, but there has jut not been any time to “blog” about what we have been up to. Even this post is a little late, but better late than never. Since we started keeping chickens we had longed for the day that one of our hens would go broody and hatch out her own baby chicks. Several times we even left some eggs to encourage this to take place. It seemed our girls refused to brood just to spite us. So we’ve tried our hand at incubating a few times as well as continuing to buy baby chicks. But alas, Bertha, one of our Easter Egger hens, decided to brood. Continue reading “Bertha Our Broody Hen with Her New Baby Chicks”

Proper Rooster to Hen Ratio and Chicken Saddles

Our rooster to hen ratio is really off. The ideal ratio is 1 rooster for 10-12 hens. This advised ratio is to protect your hens from too much “rooster love”. Currently, we have 1 rooster and 5 hens. There is just too much of our roo a.k.a The Hoff to go around and our poor gals are receiving a lot of attention. Roosters dig their nails and spurs into the hen’s back and their beaks hold the hen’s head for stabilization while mating. 3 of the hens have complete bare spots with no feathers on their back. Luckily, none of them show signs of blood, raw, or broken skin.

We ordered hen saddles to cover the bare area for protection to allow the feathers to grow back.

Flame Pattern Hen Saddle for Protection
Flame Pattern Hen Saddle for Protection

Continue reading “Proper Rooster to Hen Ratio and Chicken Saddles”