Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread - Page 865

As long as it's not a muscovy it may work. they take 35 days. what breed duck? 

Day 8 and counting!!

I recently had my hen set again, third time this year. She's a bantam Mille Fleur d'Uccle, and a super protective momma. She wouldn't start setting until she had eighteen eggs under her!! So now she's sitting under fifteen and about eleven of them show signs, but a few of them were layed later and just started to show signs. Day eight is today and the eggs are all moving so much I fear they'll hatched out too soon lol. 

Baby news

I recently had a Silkie that hatched out about nine chicks, three of them passed for unknown reasons, but the other six are doing well. I just have one question, for some reason, the hatches were staggered. It was about one chick a day that hatched, and some are a week old now. We just had one that hatched yesterday morning, he/she's doing fine, but smaller and less feathered than the others. There is also another egg she is setting on, far along, and still alive!! It hasn't hatched yet, and I don't want to kill it if it's been waiting this long, and fought this hard to stay alive. It looks like it'd be on day seventeen or eighteen, maybe farther. I'm worried though, is there something I should be doing. I don't have an incubator as I'm trying to make one, but the first one melting the side where the light was attached and I don't know how to get the heat lower. 

Help?

I have a question for those of you in the know.  I have a broody who was sitting on 12 eggs, one day last week I checked them when she was out for her daily stretch and one was missing.  Missing.....no evidence of it being broken.... nothing.  I thought that's wierd maybe I counted wrong.  Now today I just checked and another has gone missing!  We have never had any egg eaters in the coop and there is no evidence of an intruder.  It is a brand new coop so its solid.  Will she eat them if they are not growing??  Help!

  I'm stumped! 

I have a question for those of you in the know.  I have a broody who was sitting on 12 eggs, one day last week I checked them when she was out for her daily stretch and one was missing.  Missing.....no evidence of it being broken.... nothing.  I thought that's wierd maybe I counted wrong.  Now today I just checked and another has gone missing!  We have never had any egg eaters in the coop and there is no evidence of an intruder.  It is a brand new coop so its solid.  Will she eat them if they are not growing??  Help!

  I'm stumped! 

 No idea what type duck. This gentleman at my work that buys chicken eggs from me, left it on my SOs desk witha  note" Found in Yayuns front yard-please help save baby duck egg" lol. I dont have any other ducks but am relying on the help of my BYC friend who has them to help me out. She has also offered to take it if it hatches if I dont become to attached.

 The egg is cream in color....although can appear almost green ish. Duck eggs are so hard to describe color!

I've heard of them kicking them out of the nest if they are duds.  I suppose it's possible they were eaten - but more likely by something other then the hen.  Could you have a snake or mouse there?  Could she be moving them out and they are rolling to another area?  I know my little roosters are being curious right now and get into the nest boxes - I've found the eggs they mess with as far away as 10' from the coop.

Hope you can figure it out soon if it's someone taking them.  Are they marked or numbered?  That may help to keep track of them if not.

When I hatched my silkies it was in an incubator.  I had 3 hatch and each of them did so on a different day.  So for 3 days in a row a chick hatched.  Maybe that's what's happening with your silkies.  I've read that they are harder to hatch.  Maybe the eggs were laid later or some other chick added to the pile?  That can cause staggered hatches.  Also if the weather is still cool and she's moving the eggs around and some aren't getting under her good - that can cause slow and staggered hatches.

Hope everything works out!

Day 15

Well, this morning I walked out to check on everyone and I found she was covered in yolk, along with all the other eggs and her nesting box...... Is it okay the other eggs have yolk on them now? I cleaned out her box completely but will it harm the eggs? Also, she is in a high nesting box so we will be moving her probably tomorrow and getting her broody box set up for her last week.  We've got about 9 confirmed that are more in likely going to hatch What are your suggestions for her broody box (Just a momentary place for her and her chickaroos to be so our roos don't bother them) We've only had a few mother raised chicks so I'm not really sure how to do this. Last time in our old coop the boxes were on the ground and only had 1 roo :/ Any suggestions.