Even though a hatch rate of 9% is nothing to
cheer about, I’m content with our broody hen
experiment. 
This is only our second attempt, and each time we’re learning something
new and important.  Hopefully our third try will result in
numerous chicks.



What did we learn this
time around?  We’ll be building a new brood coop where the nest
box is on or close to the ground.  We nearly lost our chick on
Sunday due to a sudden deluge which sent the hen fleeing for cover into
her nest box and the chick stranded on the ground — it had followed
its mother out of the nest to forage but couldn’t figure out how to hop
back in.  Hopefully the new brood coop will also be in a location
that’s not directly under the runoff from the barn roof — oops.



I also plan to start giving the hen food and
water within the nest box itself.  She is a very good brooder,
which means she only hops off the nest once a day to feed and hydrate
herself.  When the chick hatched, I moved the waterer up into the
nest box, and our hen was so thirsty that she drank over a cup in one
sitting!  Why have a spill-proof chicken waterer if we’re not going to put it
to the perfect use, placing it directly in the brood box so the hen can
drink without getting her eggs wet?



Finally, I’ll plan my
next brood experiment further in advance.  We clearly lost the
majority of our eggs because it took too long for the hen to decide to
sit on them.  Next time, I’ll put the cochin in the brood coop
with a nest full of golf balls and get her settled a day or two before
I introduce the fertilized eggs.  I suspect the result will be a
much better hatch rate.



We’re going to let our
hen raise her lone chick, but once it’s “weaned”, we’ll start broody
hen experiment number 3.  Stay tuned!

There
are hundreds of different varieties of chickens out there to choose
from, so figuring out the right one for your needs can be a bit
daunting.  This week, I’m going to highlight the pros and cons of
the chicken breeds I’ve had personal contact with.  I hope you’ll
chime in and let me know your favorite breed(s) and why you love
them.  Are they good pets, wonderful mothers, prolific egg-layers,
great meat birds, or something else entirely?



I’m going to start off
the week with a bit of a dud.  Two years ago, we went in on a
somewhat random assortment of chickens with a friend.  We brought
home Golden Comets, Barred Rocks, and a White Cochin, the last of which
was our least favorite by far.



First, I should mention
her good point — she’s very, very broody.  At one year of age,
our White Cochin decided it was time to become a mother and she started
sitting on the nest.  Since we don’t have a rooster in our flock,
this broodiness went for naught.  All summer, we pushed her out of
the way to take out the eggs, but she just kept sitting.  Finally,
we gave in and got some fertilized eggs from another friend for her to
sit on.

Here’s where the White
Cochin showed her mettle — even after trying to brood for months on
end, she sat on
that nest all day and all night.  Finally, the chicks
started hatching…and our broody hen pecked them to death. 
Apparently, our White Cochin was smart enough to realize that the black
chicks coming out of those eggs couldn’t possibly be her offspring, but
that intelligence made her pretty worthless to us since we couldn’t
even use her as a brood hen.



Except for her tendency
to go broody, our White Cochin seems to have no clue how to live on a
farm.  While her tractor-mates are busily scratching
in the weeds to find bugs, she usually hops up on a perch and takes a
nap.  Her eggs are a slightly different color than everyone
else’s, so we can tell that she rarely lays.  Actually, as I write
this, I can’t quite realize why we haven’t eaten her yet.  I would
recommend a White Cochin only to someone who wants a gentle pet with no
redeeming livestock features.



Have you had experience
with a cochin and disagree?  Leave a comment and let me
know!  Meanwhile, check out our homemade chicken
waterer, enjoyed
just as much by a broody cochin as a hard-working egg-layer.