The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: James1 on January 02, 2017, 05:27:58 pm
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Hi I was just wondering if anyone breeds bantams purely for their brooding qualities?
I have some Wyandotte cross game bantams and I'm thinking of breeding them into a strain selected and bred purely for setting. I have read a small article on the Alan setters from the USA that were bred with the same idea in mind.
Thanku J.
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Silkies are brilliant broodies as are most of their crosses so they would be my choice to add in :) I've never had any wyandottes or games to compare them but when I downsized a local breeder took my silkies for brooders :)
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The classic broody breed is Silkie crossed with a larger breed such as a Sussex, to avoid the excess feathers that sometimes cause problems for smaller chicks. I wouldn't have thought a game breed would have been included in the mix for a good broody.
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Thank you all for your opinions, regarding the game blood I have kept pure oxford OEG and also American game and found them to be very protective mothers. I think I will see if I can find a couple of silkie cocks to add to my flock.
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I didn't have good experience with silkies as broodies. One stopped sitting after two weeks and the other one attacked babies as soon as they hatched...
Silkie crosses were fantastic though!
I had one, I think silkie cross serama, that would go broody 3 times a year and she hatched chickens and ducks. She was fantastic! Muscovy ducks make great broodies.
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I've has a Silkie that was a very reliable broody for both chicks and ducks.
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I've had Indian game and game x and they are fantastic broodies. They cover a good few eggs and not aggressive at all so easy to keep checking under.
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I've always liked Sussex for brooding. I'm sure there can't be much difference, but light Sussex rather than spekled or buff for brooding chicks.
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We've had bad experiences with young broodies, both not going the duration and eating their chicks. However we had a 2 year old Wyandotte who was fantastic, but unfortunately she burned out two days into her third clutch and a lovely hen was lost.
Since then we've stuck to using incubators.
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Silver Grey Dorkings and Laced Wyandotte L/Fs have always been ood, reliable broodies for us, although only about one in five birds will go broody.