Broody Hen Thread!

[bigtom856]

 

[nchls school]

Quote:

 

[nchls school]

Well I'm not very optimistic but I bought some fertile eggs (just laid today) from a guy down the road. 3 dollars a dozen makes me not very worried if it's a failed attempt. I'm not sure what kind of set up is the best so I tried a couple.. none of which are perfect but the goal is to keep expenses low until I have a better idea how this works.

[/URL]

What kind of broody hen do you have? More than one hen? Neither of your pictures shows a hen. I use the same plastic tub as a brooder for the first couple of days after one of my hens hatches a new brood; just to be able to observe the new family and be sure everyone is drinking, eating, and is healthy. After a couple days the family is returned to the coop from our kitchen. Seems like a new family hatches each week so the clear plastic tub gets a lot of use.

 

[bigtom856]

What kind of broody hen do you have? More than one hen? Neither of your pictures shows a hen. I use the same plastic tub as a brooder for the first couple of days after one of my hens hatches a new brood; just to be able to observe the new family and be sure everyone is drinking, eating, and is healthy. After a couple days the family is returned to the coop from our kitchen. Seems like a new family hatches each week so the clear plastic tub gets a lot of use.

As of now I have a speckled Sussex showing serious sign of broody and a red/Buff Orpington cross (I believe). Both ladies are shrilling when approached, puffing up, nesting significantly more, etc. I don't think they're full on broody yet. However, I'm guessing any day now? This is all guess work for me. There's so many variables lol

 

[bigtom856]

As of now I have a speckled Sussex showing serious sign of broody and a red/Buff Orpington cross (I believe). Both ladies are shrilling when approached, puffing up, nesting significantly more, etc. I don't think they're full on broody yet. However, I'm guessing any day now? This is all guess work for me. There's so many variables lol

 

[microchick]

A quick question to somebody who is in the know about Welsummers. I have an 8 month old Welly girl who has a hankering for some chicks. I have about a half dozen Welly girls all 2 years old but this little girl is the first to go broody on me. I plan to give her a few bantam eggs to hatch but I've been reading that while they are fairly dependable broodies, they aren't very good moms. True or False?

I'm brooding 11 bantams right now so having a brooder on line isn't a problem. I'm just wondering what the prospects are for her raising her babies once they are hatched or am I going to have to pull them and brood them?

 

[fisherlady]

A quick question to somebody who is in the know about Welsummers. I have an 8 month old Welly girl who has a hankering for some chicks. I have about a half dozen Welly girls all 2 years old but this little girl is the first to go broody on me.  I plan to give her a few bantam eggs to hatch but I've been reading that while they are fairly dependable broodies, they aren't very good moms. True or False?

I'm brooding 11 bantams right now so having a brooder on line isn't a problem. I'm just wondering what the prospects are for her raising her babies once they are hatched or am I going to have to pull them and brood them?

I don't have Welsummers so can't speak for them in particular...but I can say that broody 'normals' just can't be depended on within a breed basis, or a hen by hen basis in this case. We have a widely mixed flock and frequent brooding by many hens which aren't known as broody types. Some hens have been great, others do well for setting but not as great at rearing and others are the other way around. Some hens turn into broody dynamos and are aggressively protective of their chicks but some are still easily intimidated by other flock members...their just isn't a predictable pattern within any breed or flock, it is still a very 'individual ' thing.
Our flock is very broody friendly and we are set up to provide support when needed to help the hens do well so 'no chick is left behind' lol, but not everyone is. I would say to give her a chance, keep a close eye on her and see if she needs support to get it right and have a back up plan in place. You have a lot of experience with broodies so I don't think you will have any trouble with her.

 

[Dharmachick]

Yay! I caught my GLW rearranging two eggs in a basket, turning them until she was satisfied. I hope she is broody again. I bought six eggs for her last year, and she was a good mom. I really hope she is broody. I just gave away my rooster, but have 12 eggs on the table in case someone went broody within the next week or so. Wish me luck! Oh, and of course I went to the feed shop yesterday to celebrate the rooster being gone, and I got a California grey and a black sex link. Very cute.

 

[microchick]

Thanks @fisherlady.

She is now sitting on 8 bantam eggs. 7 I got from our Amish neighbor and one is an egg donated by one of my two bantam hens. I'm not certain if it is fertile as they just started laying. Just curious to see. She did remarkably well with the switch. Besides the one bantam egg, she had two of my Welsummer/Buff O cross eggs under her that I pulled along with the 6 ceramic eggs. She is confined to her own pen/nesting box and I expect I'll have to nudge her off the nest to eat and drink tomorrow but for now she is just as cute as she can be setting there like a pancake wearing her little blue ruffled hen apron. All I got was shrieked at once. No pecks, but Dolly has always been the best of my Welsummer hens, probably because she was raised by a broody. so maybe she will be okay.

 

[microchick]

Special request.

I remember about a zillion pages back somebody posted one of their spread sheets that they used for data collection on their brooded/incubated eggs. I have tried looking for it on 'search' but I'm getting nowhere.

If you have a spreadsheet would you be willing to share it with everybody?

DH did a layout for my babies that just hatched that I incubated and I'll be glad to post it.

I'm just curious to see what everyone is doing as far as data collection goes.