First Time Hatching with a Broody Hen in Mid-October

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najeen54

najeen54

In the Brooder
May 23, 2016
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Hi Everyone! I am super excited that today, our first chick was born! I just started raising chickens about 7 months ago. We started with 18 eggs in an incubator, hatched 12 including 1 hen and 11 roosters!! My luck. For better or for worse, a bear took out all but one rooster while I was away on vacation and since then we have added to our flock.

From 4 hens and 1 roo, our blue laced red wyandotte decided to go broody and we were super excited. She has been sitting on a clutch of 11 eggs from 3 different mommas and our proud dad, PIkachu, our rhode island red roo. It seemed strange to us that she picked the fall to go broody, and we were worried about those nights that dropped into the low 40s here in Northern NJ. But, today, Rosie hatched her first chick and I'm hoping for many more over the next two days. She gathered her clutch over 2.5 days before we took away her access to other hens eggs, so I'm hoping that span is ok.

We were able to move her easily and she has been doing great as a new momma. Here is a picture of mom and baby just hours after hatching. Does anyone know what a RIR roo crossed with a blue laced red wyandotte ends up as? The other eggs are barred rock and RIR so hoping for a great mix.

Really happy to have hatched in the fall and hoping for a few hens that will start laying come spring :)


 
Congrats on your hatch! Sounds like everything is going great for your hatch. I laughed so hard a couple weeks back when 3 of my hens went broody (One made a nest in my lilac bush and another hid under the coop's water table, couldn't find either for a week) and hatched the first day of fall. It gets close to the 30's in the night and well into the morning in my part of Iowa, but when chickens want babies.... LOL. Good luck with hatching the rest! That first one is super cute!
 
Thank you! We are up to 3 or 4 chicks at this point. I notice that she has gotten off the nest once or twice today because the three chicks are very active. Is that ok? Do I need to stick the rest of the eggs in an incubator if its for more than a few minutes? Luckily its in the 70s/80s here today which is very rare for this time of the year!
 
I think they should be alright so long as they are still warm. Have you candled them to check for viability at day 18 or so, or just let the hen manage it all? I had an egg that hadn't hatched and I put it in a box with duds when my lab came over to sniff (or maybe get a treat(he likes raw eggs to my dismay)) and picked it up carefully. He ended up laying in the middle of the yard and gently removing the egg shell. He was pretty shocked to find a peeping baby there (It hadn't pipped and had been away from the broody for at least 3 hours). He licked it clean and claimed the baby as his until I put it in a brooder to warm up then snuck it under a broody. While I hope your hen doesn't ditch them, a few minutes should be okay. (My dog is also now not eating eggs.... LOL)
 
Should one of my hens go broody in the fall, I would have no problem letting her hatch eggs. It just requires four weeks for the chicks to be impervious to cold, and meanwhile, the broody will keep them plenty warm. By the time really cold temps sweep in, the chicks should be pretty well set.

If your broody began sitting on all the eggs at the same time, they ought to be hatching within 24 hours of each other, regardless of how long the hen spent gathering her clutch.

The problem with a staggered hatch, one where it takes longer than 24-48 hours for all to hatch, is that the broody may continue to sit on eggs and not focus 100% attention on the chicks that have hatched. I remove unhatched eggs and discard after candling shows no viability. By removing the unhatched eggs, it forces the broody's attention where it belongs - on the live chicks.
 
najeen54 said:
Click to expand...
Love this picture. The folks over in the What Breed/Gender is This? forum will probably have some good info on what to expect from those mixes if you are impatient. :) One of my bantam cochin started laying two weeks ago. I've left the eggs in the nest to see if she was interested in going broody--it will be the job of the cochin and silkies in my flock to incubate babies for me in the spring, so just curious if those instincts have kicked in yet. No indications so far and there are 10 eggs. I'll probably candle them today just to practice and make sure someone didn't sneak-set them and remove them.
 
Yes, they were all viable at day 18. I see a few more have pipped. She starting sitting on a bunch on a Monday, I added 3 on Tuesday (from my fridge, just to experiment... and they were developing no problem), but then she acquired 2 more early on Wednesday from other hens before I could separate her. So, they have about a 2 day window between when the first eggs were set until the last eggs. Hoping it will all work out. I have an incubator, but would rather not go that route. I did move her water and food very close to her and the chicks so she can still start teaching them the ways without getting up. Hope that works!
 
najeen54 said:
Hi Everyone! I am super excited that today, our first chick was born! I just started raising chickens about 7 months ago. We started with 18 eggs in an incubator, hatched 12 including 1 hen and 11 roosters!! My luck. For better or for worse, a bear took out all but one rooster while I was away on vacation and since then we have added to our flock.

From 4 hens and 1 roo, our blue laced red wyandotte decided to go broody and we were super excited. She has been sitting on a clutch of 11 eggs from 3 different mommas and our proud dad, PIkachu, our rhode island red roo. It seemed strange to us that she picked the fall to go broody, and we were worried about those nights that dropped into the low 40s here in Northern NJ. But, today, Rosie hatched her first chick and I'm hoping for many more over the next two days. She gathered her clutch over 2.5 days before we took away her access to other hens eggs, so I'm hoping that span is ok.

We were able to move her easily and she has been doing great as a new momma. Here is a picture of mom and baby just hours after hatching. Does anyone know what a RIR roo crossed with a blue laced red wyandotte ends up as? The other eggs are barred rock and RIR so hoping for a great mix.

Really happy to have hatched in the fall and hoping for a few hens that will start laying come spring :)


Click to expand...
That is so cute.....Congrats...

Cheers!
 
We ended up hatching 8/11 including two that were born on a Thursday while the rest hatched Monday and Tuesday. I rushed them to an incubator after mom gave up in the nest and hatched 2/5 that were left behind and were pretty much cold. So proud :)
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I would love to know how to sex 2 week old chicks. We had them hatch over a three day period and was told by a chicken farmer that depending on the day they were set will determine the sex of the chick! How do I know? He said if the were all set the same day, we could wind up with all roos or all hens. I want a roo or two!
We started out with 30 eggs and 20 hatched in the home made incubator. A dog killed our only rooster so my husband got this bright idea to save eggs to hatch so we would have more laying hens and at least one rooster.
Thank you for any help!
 
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