can any one tell me a couple names of some good sitting hens we want some "pretty" one or unusaul well basicaly any hen that wil;l hatch!!! thanks for the help guys

Are you sure you want chickens? If you don't you can get some partridges, quails, pheasents or ducks. If you do, i would choose bantams.

The best broody types of chickens are bantams on the small end and the feather-footed chickens on the big end (cochins and brahmas). All three groups have some breeds that are absolutely gorgeous, shapes, sizes, and colors for all tastes.

This site is the one I've found with the most photos of the most breeds of chicken:

http://www.feathersite.com//Poultry/BRKPoultryPage.html

Here is one of the poultry "stores" that also shows many breeds of chicken:

http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/

Personally, I would get a nice big brahma! You could put lots of eggs under her. I've only had one hen set eggs. She's a Delaware which are pretty rare. She's mostly white with some black on the neck and tail.

we have meat hens right now they lay aroung 4-6 eggs a day but we want some broody hens. i think we will go with some blue silkies hopefully they will do well thanks for all the help guys!!

They are beautiful little birds. I hope you enjoy them!

we have white silkies in the incubator!! wish me luck on hatxhing and breeding!! :P

Good luck! If you're hatching the future broody hens, I guess it'll be at least 8 months before you get them to hatch babies for you. They may brood at 6 months old but it takes 21 days to hatch them and their future adopted chicks.

we found a website that sells the eggs she lives in alabama so she is going to hatch them and i am going to pick them up i had no clue it took that long to hatch!!! hey any advice on how to keep a rooster from being mean to hens? we have a lack and white hen that my rooster is cutting hers sides up with his claws we had to bandage her up as to she was bleeding pretty bad

You can mix hens with quails, partridges and pheasents and sometimes turkeys or rabbits. Male pheasents and partridges are beautiful! Chukar are also nice birds. I like crowned hens. When you get your hens remember to only get one cockerel!
The rooster isn't a bully, hes a lover. He is probably trying to mate with the hens.

i dont know i think they are trying to get rid of her he will mate her roughly then while he is mating her the other 2 hens pluck her red comb on her head it is about gone i dont know why they are doing it but itsmean!!! can you but pheasants with the bantams hens?

I don't recommend mixing a lot of species of birds together because they may spread diseases and could hurt each other. Chickens will certainly peck at smaller birds like quail. Turkeys often carry blackhead which, while not harmful to them, is often fatal to chickens. Bantams and pheasants may get along since they're similar in size. Pheasants are a bit more flightly (or should I say, ironically, chicken?). I would certainly not mix rabbits and chickens in a million years. Their needs are totally different. Chickens will kill small animals, ours killed a squirrel that went into their cage.

I have two roosters and two hens. You can have more than one rooster but you don't need more than one. We didn't intend to have any but ended up with 4 over the years! The first two we got were supposed to be female. The other two were hatched.

As for the damage to a hen from a rooster, there are a few options.

1. If it's severe, separate the chickens from each other.

2. Add more hens to deflect the attention away from one particular one.

3. Trim the spurs on the rooster. You just have to have a few people catch and hold him while you cut the spurs if small or saw them off if long. I almost cut the spur on my big rooster but the trimmers were too weak! His other one broke off (must have hurt). Roosters don't always damage with their spurs. Grabbing the neck is also part of the mating but if overzeolous, it can certainly hurt the hens.

Roosters are mean. It's in their nature. If you have a nice one (one of mine is still nice to me but not his mom as he roughs her up), then you're lucky!

yes i always heard never no mix a flock we have a pen for our laying hens which the rooster is on then we built one for the upcoming bantams we are getting how small do you need to cut his spurs? that is what is damaging hers sides he is a HUGE!!!!! rooster i have never seen a rooster his size and he also grabs her neck so i have to do something he is my sons rooster(my son is 3) and my son is the only one that he will let get any where near him if i go in there he tries to claw and peck me he is very strange!! i would have gottn rid of him but my son loves him and says look momma hes not mean to me!!

The big rooster may be disproportionately too large for the size hens (bantams) that you have. You may have to house him separately. As for the spurs, you just want to cut the sharp end off mostly. Because I don't know how big he is and how big the spurs are, I can't give you a distance or % of the nail. They do have a quick in the nail which, if you cut it, will bleed a lot. To be safe, don't cut much off. That of course, won't help with the neck grabbing. My baby (year old) rooster is very nasty with his mother, grabbing her neck while she screams bloody murder. His dad sometimes then attacks him.

the rooster i am talking about is not in with bantams he is in just with the regular hens we have a bantam rooster with e the bantams but i think he is still to big for the hen is attacks ill try to post a picture of him so you can see the size he is monsterous he did some damage to my husband the other day while my husband was getting eggs. is there anything you can do for neck grabbing we tried spraying him with a hose when we caught him doing it but we soon found out he likes the water now when he sees the hose pipe he comes running for you to spray him!!!

That's funny! Attack rooster coming to get sprayed! I don't know how to stop him from biting the neck. That's part of how they mate. Some roosters are just more violent about it than others.

do you know if the bantams are as aggressive? we figured out he is a dominecker forgive spelling on that!! we are hoping the silkie rooster wont be so bad!!

I've never had bantams myself. I think bantam roosters do tend to be less aggressive, partly due to their smaller size. There was a lady on a chicken PBS show a few years ago who kept a white silkie rooster indoors as her pet!

yea a neighbor of ours has a rooster in her house its like a guard dog!! id think that wouldbe kinda messy!

Interesting converstaion here.. I was wondering at what age a rooster becomes aggressive? I seem to have two roosters (at least I think so), but they are not aggressive in the least. One of them ignores me when I go in the pen and the other one kind of stares at me, waiting for his treat. I always give out treats when I go in the pen. I have yet to see any agression in my roosters. (crossing my fingers) :D

do you have them with hens? mine did not get agressive till hegot with his woman!! we could carry him around play withhim and so forth but as soon as we got a hen he turned!!!

Some roosters are always mean from maturity at 6-months-old. Others never seem to turn mean or are mean for a while and then nice again. I have two roosters. One was super mean. His son, now a year old, is an angel to me but pretty rough with his mother. His father now has softened but still will pummel me if given the chance. He's getting older and more mellow. It really varies bird to bird. Roosters are most aggressive when in the 1-2 year old range. Your roosters may still be young.

Yes the roosters are with the hens and I certainly hope they are not going to get aggressive because I am not exactly a hero when it comes to that. :unsure:

lol meeither!! my husband used ot make fun of me b./c i was terrified of him!! we got rid of him b/c he attacked one of my kids. but i think he kinda knew i was scared of him b/c he would coming running at me and spur me he made me bleed one day so i always ran and screamed like a little kid when he got froggy and decided to charge me!! if yours turn me id advise getting new ones!!

Yeah, I don't think I could handle an aggressive rooster. (and I don't have a husband to protect me, lol).

Joe is funny though. Sometimes I'll sit there and talk to him and he'll tilt his head a bit as if he is listening. One of the chickens does that too. It's funny. They are still all "on guard" when I come in the pen. Is that going to change or are chickens always on guard when you come near them? I try not to go in the coop unless they are all in the pen because they seem to be very afraid when I go in the coop while they're in there.

To me, the funniest moment of the day is when I open the door to the coop in the morning. They all come running out and start picking at the ground, and it is a funny sight. They like to go outside. Once they come running out, that's when I take the opportunity to clean the coop and wash the food and water dishes and refill them.

My rooster always knows when I'm around but the hens don't seem to care unless I try to touch them.

i have young sizzles right now 7 of them and they run to me when i go in there they love the attention. love being held and petted but i am sure that will all change!!

I've noticed that the best moment to clean the food and water dishes and to do things around the coop is actually right after twilight, after they have gone into the coop. Once it gets almost dark they are very quiet and they just kind of watch me.

I hope that some day I will be able to pick them up and such, but right now they are still very shy.

once they get used to you they may start coming closer. get some good treats for them and try placing them on the ground on front of them so they ahve to come to you to get it.


We always dealt with our big chickens right before dark when they were on roost. they seemed "out of it" and real easy to move around them

LOL that's a good way to put it.. they do seem 'out of it' right before dark.

As for the treats, I buy bird seed and they LOVE it but I hadn't thought of making them come and get it. :D

i would kneal down on the ground and put it right in front of you and let them come to you to get it. this will get them used to you. thats what i did with my chicks and they run to me know.

Our chickens love the rinds of watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, etc. after you've eaten most of it.

My chickens seem to like tomatoes. I've been experimenting and giving them different kinds of vegetables, but it seems that tomatoes are on top of their list so far.

Oh and jessw.. I'm not sure if I should kneel down right now in the pen. Joe (one of the roosters) seems as if he is ready to let me know who's the boss in the pen. Should I kneel down I would put myself in a vulnerable position I guess..

NO!!! if you even think he may try to attack you then i would not!!We had a rooster that could make you bleed and would with in seconds!! so i guess just go in there and put the tomatoes close to you on the ground and let them come around you this will help you understand more who is going to befriend you and who not!!
!

Every time I go in there now the rooster stands right between me and the other chickens. I'm about to go open the coop for the day. Wish me luck!!

I hope the roosters behave. When I go into my hen house, I get Sugar to go into the run so I can get into the house. He'll usually go in if I pretend to throw food over there. When I want to go into the run, I have to bring a stick or shovel with me unless they're roosting. Sugar attacks the stick or shovel but at least it's not me! He's gotten me a few times. Once I thought he was far away, and I squated to get an egg from the nest box. He came around the side and pummeled me, breaking the skin with his beak on my arm and tearing marks with his claws in my leg. I grabbed the shovel and pushed it towards him, and he continued to attack. He shows signs of weakening the last few weeks. He may not live much longer. His year old son doesn't attack me (just the two hens) but he might change if his father dies.

Actually, that probably will change when his father dies. I read on different sites that there is only one 'dominant' rooster in a coop or pen. When that rooster disappears, another rooster will take over from him when there is one present.

I can't imagine having to go in the pen with a shovel to fend off attacks, not sure if I'll be able to handle this. Although I said that my chickens will die of old age, I might have to make chicken soup if Joe gets too wild.

How exactly does a rooster attack? Do they go for the legs? Do they only attack when you have your back to them? Do they attack EVERY time you are in the vicinity??

My rooster comes at me from any direction - front, back, side. He jumps/kicks up while flapping and biting so that he can hit you with his beak, feet, and wings at the same time. The beak rarely does much, a little red spot. The nails leave scratch marks but so do the wings. The stiff feathers are pretty strong. So, he's basically off the ground coming at you with three kinds of weapons at the same time. Damage is worse if I'm down on the ground as I can't kick him back which is the natural defense. He goes for whatever part of me he can get. He does NOT attack every time I'm in there but I never know. He gives no warning. He may be happily clucking and eating and then wham. His son goes a few rounds with him every few days and while the son has breeding rights, dad defends the flock. So they share dominant rooster chores. Both roosters are probably close to 20 pounds, big guys!

our rooster is the same way but he has huge spurs or whatever you call them. he was 26lbs when we took to be showed at fair before he became a free bird lol thats was fun getting him there my husband made a laso and roped his leg then we threw a pillow case over him and inot the pet taxi. everyone at the fair got a good laugh over that!! but we one largest cock and loudest crow!! it was just a fun type show!!


hey robin,
do you know when chickens start to get their combs and beards? we have 4 month old silikes and they show no signs of either yet!!

Oh boy maybe I shouldn't read about all those rooster attacks, it gives me the creeps! At least it is reassuring to know that they don't attack every time. But my deal stands. As long as Joe doesn't attack me he will live a long and healthy life, but if he attacks me he will definitely turn into chicken soup.

That's a good question, jessw. I was wondering about that too. My non dominant rooster (Sissy) has a beautiful comb but Joe doesn't have a comb or beard at all, that's why I thought he was a hen at first. Joe is also a lot smaller than Sissy, that's why it surprises me that he is the dominant rooster. Do roosters ALWAYS develop a comb?

I have another question.

Okay, I saw Joe "mate" with a hen yesterday and today. That was the first time I saw it. He mated with the white chicken which is the only chicken that resembles him (read: they are of the same brand). He mated with the same one both times. Now today, this white chicken didn't put her eggs in the usual spot. Usually all chickens put their eggs in the same nest in one of the upper cages. Today, this chicken put her eggs (two) in a far corner of one of the lower cages, right behind the cardboard box I had placed in there. The eggs are in a dark spot. I did not take them away. Should I be hopeful now? The other chickens still put their eggs in the upper cage. However, when I went in the coop tonight, all the chickens were sitting on top of the cages. If a chicken is planning on brooding will she sit on her eggs from day 1 or will she wait until she has enough eggs? It is getting cold here at night. If the eggs are fertilized and she doesn't sit on them right away will that spoil the chances of getting babies?

with the leghorns i had which i think are the same you have they waited till they had 7 eggs some may want more or less. my hen did not set on the eggs for 4 days then she started to brood(set) so i would sneak in and mark them with a lead pencil so you will know when they were laid and try leaving them for a week. see if anyone takes interest. they may be waiting for more eggs so they will all hatch at the same time. my hen after she went broody only came donw at dusk to eat and drink! i was always worried she was going to die but she ended up hatching all but 2 eggs. they know what they are doing when it comes to brooding so give them some time hopefully theyll set for you!!!