"Bertha" is a Dark Cornish that has been trying to hatch a chick all summer. We've had several heartbreaks and hard lessons through it all, but she finally has a chick. I've learned more about broody hens from this single hen than all the other uneventful hatchings combined! Here are some things I've learned with her 3 attempts at hatching.
1) Not all broody hens move well. She doesn't and gets very attached to where she thinks her eggs are.
2) Not all broody hens will adopt newly hatched chicks. Bertha killed 3 chicks I bought for her about halfway through one of her settings. I watched and things seemed to be going well, but she killed them in just a few minutes when I walked away.
3) Dogs will eat eggs from under a broody.
She killed the chicks because she preferred her eggs. A few days later the dog broke in and ate those same eggs when she was taking a break. We learned to run the electric fence around the broody coop. Ugh.
4) Hens can hatch in a nest box within the main flock. Bertha doesn't move easily, so I let her try to hatch in a nest box. I marked her eggs - a few were broken in scuffles, and one was broken open pretty late (gross), but she ended up hatching two little fluff balls right within the flock. It was easy to move her and her chicks after they hatched.
5) Chicks can drown in bowls even when the sides are WAY over their heads. I found one of her chicks drowned in a bowl with very high sides. I thought those bowls were okay because the sides are so high I don't know how a chick could even get in it and we've not had a problem before. But one of her hard worked for chicks drowned. Those bowls are gone.
6) Sick hens can still mother their chicks. We've had fowl pox and Bertha spent about a day and a half very sick. All she did was sit around with her eyes closed...waking up just long enough to cluck to her chick. I was going to take the chick, but gave her an extra day after she managed to get it into the coop for the night. I'm glad I left it because she bounced back the next day and has done a great job with her little chick.
Thanks for reading!
Here she is today with her little chick:
1) Not all broody hens move well. She doesn't and gets very attached to where she thinks her eggs are.
2) Not all broody hens will adopt newly hatched chicks. Bertha killed 3 chicks I bought for her about halfway through one of her settings. I watched and things seemed to be going well, but she killed them in just a few minutes when I walked away.
3) Dogs will eat eggs from under a broody.
4) Hens can hatch in a nest box within the main flock. Bertha doesn't move easily, so I let her try to hatch in a nest box. I marked her eggs - a few were broken in scuffles, and one was broken open pretty late (gross), but she ended up hatching two little fluff balls right within the flock. It was easy to move her and her chicks after they hatched.
5) Chicks can drown in bowls even when the sides are WAY over their heads. I found one of her chicks drowned in a bowl with very high sides. I thought those bowls were okay because the sides are so high I don't know how a chick could even get in it and we've not had a problem before. But one of her hard worked for chicks drowned. Those bowls are gone.
6) Sick hens can still mother their chicks. We've had fowl pox and Bertha spent about a day and a half very sick. All she did was sit around with her eyes closed...waking up just long enough to cluck to her chick. I was going to take the chick, but gave her an extra day after she managed to get it into the coop for the night. I'm glad I left it because she bounced back the next day and has done a great job with her little chick.
Thanks for reading!
Here she is today with her little chick:
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