brooding

Hi! New to chicken raising, and we’ve put some eggs under our hen, which she’s taken too. The only problem that she leaves them for up to hours. Will this problem be fixed with her next eggs, is it due to her young age? Thanks!

Hello again everyone! I’ve recently purchased 6 Indio Gigante chicks from Greenfire farms! And I have a few questions for anyone who may be more knowledgeable than myself! I’ve heard mixed ideas on whether or not Indio Gigante chickens are good mothers / brooders. I’m always looking for a good...

Howdy, I'm new here. I have quail but they're young and still indoors as my hutch isn't QUITE ready for them (I want to make alterations and want to make them before moving them into it, as it'd probably be stressful to get them used to being in it only to pluck them out for a time while I alter...

I have two chicken houses. I found that buying from 2 different hatches sometimes separates the pack. I have a lovely rooster. He is in with his two older babes and one is brooding her first clutch. The other female is the rooster's companion for now. I have another pen with six 1 yr old hens...

So I have a couple broody silkies who have been hatching eggs, plus I tucked a couple incubated chicks under them. My question…. There is a couple ducks in the mix and I’m struggling with what the best thing to do for food is? I can’t use medicated chick feed because of the ducklings, so I used...

Recently got a flock of 10 chickens and a rooster, a week has passed now I believe one of my hens have gone broody. She sits in the nest box all day, when I get close to her or open the nest box she runs away and clucks non stop until she goes back in. I’ve been told that broody hens are usually...

Hi! First time brooding. Our chicks are hatching at different times, we’re getting roughly 1 a day at the minute. We have 2 currently in the brooder, separated, as the 1 day older one was pecking the younger one. Another has hatched today and is still in the incubator. How is the best way to...

Hello! I'm planning on getting some ducklings and chicks in April (they'll be hatched on the same day), and was wondering if anyone has experience with brooding them together. I've read different veiwpoints on the matter, some say it works, others say it's dangerous. I can definitely do two...

Let me start off by saying I am far from an expert; I've been keeping chickens for about a year and a half. I've been a reading BackYard Chickens during almost all of that time. I've learned a few things along the way, mostly enough to be dangerous. But it's that learning curve that I really...

Hello, i would like your advice on feather loss. I have 2 hens, no rooster, and there is no pecking between them. One of my hens (she is 23 months) has been missing feathers on her belly, near her keel bone for 6 months. Her skin is a bit red and it looks like a brood patch. She has been...

Hi! So let me start off by saying that this is all still rather new to us so I have a couple questions. So we have a little silkie hen who has recently started to go a bit broody. We've still been taking the eggs but I'm starting to think about if we should just let her keep a couple and see if...

I've been reading through posts and I think I've decided what I might do. But if anyone is in a similar climate or situation, I'd love some advice. I've brooded chicks outside during the spring twice with success. I used a small coop and a brooding plate. This was the plan again for this year...

Hi everyone, I'm new here, and we're preparing to start our chicken journey this summer. We're going with meat chickens - likely Freedom Rangers and Kosher Kings - and will have them on pasture as much as possible. A few questions in planning out our adventure: - Timing: Part of our objective...

I am wondering what y’all would recommend for brooding chicks artificially in the winter? What kind of brooder should I buy/make? I can put it in the coop so it’s draft-free, but I also want to make sure they are warm enough without a fire hazard. We got electricity there, so that’s not an...

Hello! I am a new duck owner. Over the pandemic me and my wife decide to get pet ducks. We got two from the local farm store, hoping both were females, but to our suprise we got one male ancona (marty) and one female cyuga (Bernadette). The males aggression made us worry after the first year or...

Hello! My cayuga is currently sitting on 6 eggs. I keep checking every 2 days to make sure they’re all doing well. This egg has a lot of dark matter in it and it’s pretty hard to see. I’m pretty sure it’s a bad egg, but I figured I would get a few other opinions before ditching it, since I’m...

This is my third time raising a group of ducklings. I've been looking for more convenient ways to clean after them and I heard of some people using towels. I have them on some old blankets right now and it is helping them walk a lot better (they were really wobbly, as they had a tough shipment)...

Hello, im looking to raise some button quails as pets and im getting some quail eggs from random coloured pairs so colour guessing should be fun! I have several questions regarding the equipment i will be using. The eggs will be shipped today (freshly laid eggs today), and if all goes well in...

Hey yall! We have a hen that has gone broody, and she's on roughly day 7 today. She is a first-time brooder and she is one out of a flock of 15. I have read the books I have and scoured the web for what to do regarding her living arrangements and there is so much conflicting information and I'm...

Hi! First time chick owner here. I am getting a mixed flock of layers (full size and bantams) in mid Oct. I was researching brooding options and came across the Mama Heating Pad method. I was wondering if I could get help figuring out if that is a good option for my chicks. Originally I was...