Hatching the natural way

[BabyBantam]

Hello,
Would really like a couple of new girls this summer and knowing the issues with introducing new chooks, thought I might give one of my girls some eggs to hatch so they all rubbed along from the start. I've currently got 3 pekins. questions I have are
- can I raise chicks in a basic rabbit hutch within the current run as I have a forsham ark with the house upstairs
- what are disease implications, as none of my birds are vaccinated. (I had a maraks issue couple of years ago, but currently have healthy birds)
- will I need to keep the chicks separate from the 2 adults that are not their mum and for how long
- anyone know a good website I can swat up on this subject
And finally, can anyone recommend a reputable pekin egg seller as seen too many ebay horror stories and only have limited chances as can't really find space for 'mistakes'
Cheers.

 

[Tim]

Jeremy Hobson wrote about hatching chicks nature's way a few months ago: http://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-eggs/hatching-chicks-nature-s-way

Maybe this would be a good start?

You could use a rabbit hutch and run within the run if the ground of the rabbit hutch run was free of chickens for 6-8 weeks but it would probably be a little close for comfort.

You need to keep the chicks away from other hens who can peck (and kill) them and away from older birds (and the ground that older birds have been running on) to reduce the risk of them picking up disease before their immunity to these diseases has developed.

You should only integrate the youngsters when they have grown to be a similar size to your adult hens - this is (again) to prevent them catching diseases but also to stop them being bullied and too small to stick up for themselves.

We've got some articles on hatching and rearing but the only other article that might be useful to you at this stage is Incubation Using a Broody Hen: http://poultrykeeper.com/incubating-and-hatching-eggs/incubation-using-a-broody-hen

 

[BabyBantam]

Thank you, will have a read