Broody Hen Thread!

[PD-Riverman]

....never lost a kid though to my credit (lost car keys, locked myself out of houses, forgot appointment dates......)

Only slightly better now in middle age, just dotty over chickens,
LofMc

Back in "those days" bet you never forgot to feed the chickens and collect eggs------see chickens are good to work your memory/brain. LOL

 

[Lady of McCamley]

21 but I started with two broodies together but one quit as the first took her eggs. Then there were four more eggs added over the next few days until I moved her. What I have is a mess. She's too tolerant of the smell, I thought they could tell which were bad and roll them out. Do you think I should do the water test? I know two are really heavy in comparison to the others. Two dark, I can't see but they feel almost as heavy.

If nobody has pipped yet, change out the nesting material to rid as much gook and smell as you can if you haven't yet. Do this with as little fanfare and bother to the hen as you can.

During this candle to see movement (or candle again to see the dark eggs). Hold the egg up and listen. You may need to listen for a minute as many chicks will stop moving upon being picked up (instinct). Often you can hear them scruffling or see them (while candling). Remove any weeping or obviously rotten eggs. Then hands off for two more days.

At the end of two days, then you can reassess. I can tell you that if you think the hatch should have happened, gently shake an egg from end to end (long lengthwise). A chick will feel solid and likely start to move or chirp, but a rotten egg will give a slush thud feel as the putrification slides from one end to the other (and yes, watch out that you don't break or cause egg to explode...I often do this in a clear plastic bag).

I would avoid a float test at this point because of the putrification that was in the nest. Water will drive the bacteria through the pores of the egg and set up a potential situation for omphalitis (naval infection in the unhatched chick).

Float testing was developed to check the viability of unhatched chicks in very rare bird species and is a last ditch effort to save a chick. It has its consequences such as driving bacteria through the natural bloom protection of the egg. If you float test, you should follow procedure carefully to observe the egg and not drown the chick and reduce the risk of pushing bacteria through the egg.

http://www.avianaquamiser.com/posts/Float_test_of_egg_viability/

My thoughts
LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I can relate LofMc. You just wait till those wonderful years between middle age and Medicare hit. It reminds me of the old joke about the minister who went to visit the elderly man and said to him, "Joe, you are getting up there in years. Tell me, are you thinking about the here after?" And Old Joe replies, "Yes sir, Pastor, I think about it every day when I go into the garage, the bathroom, the kitchen, scratch my head and say, 'Now what am I 'here after' ?"

Then there is the definition of Middle Aged ADHD. You know, when you start out going to the kitchen to get a glass of water and wind up in your garden, pulling weeds with no idea how you got there but boy are you still thirsty.......

Good grief. Maybe I've just been broody all my adult life!

LOL...yes, indeed.

My favorite elderly joke....

"Officer, I have to drive this fast. I have to get where I'm going before I forget where I'm going."

Oh dear....yes, I am at that phase...did I come into the kitchen to get food or clean it? Two hours later I am in the chicken coop cleaning it because I decided I needed eggs for something back in that kitchen which is no longer getting done.

LofMc

 

[dgibson0604]

for everybody on this thread do you prefer letting your broodies hatch or hatching in an incubator
my dad didnt want to hatch with broodies this year just to make sure we got chicks

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Back in "those days" bet you never forgot to feed the chickens and collect eggs------see chickens are good to work your memory/brain. LOL

Well, they definitely are good for some things then.

Although my memory is worse now that I have a rooster.

Back in the start of my flock when I was getting hatching eggs to build my birds...I carefully wrote the set date in my calendar, marked off the day of hatch, knew exactly when/where/how many.

Now? Oh, Mimsy has gone broody again...lean over into main coop, pick out some nice eggs...plunk under Mimsy...tell myself I will write that down in my hatch book.

3 weeks-ish later....oh dear...were they to hatch today, or tommorrow, or was it next week???? And that chick...when did that one hatch?????

Somehow I've gotten a bit "free" with my hatching duties now that I've got fertile eggs and willing broodies....they sort of just appear here and there.

Not good...must get back to some order around here or my OCD is really going to kick in hard.

LofMc

 

[PD-Riverman]

Well, they definitely are good for some things then.

Although my memory is worse now that I have a rooster.

Back in the start of my flock when I was getting hatching eggs to build my birds...I carefully wrote the set date in my calendar, marked off the day of hatch, knew exactly when/where/how many.

Now? Oh, Mimsy has gone broody again...lean over into main coop, pick out some nice eggs...plunk under Mimsy...tell myself I will write that down in my hatch book.

3 weeks-ish later....oh dear...were they to hatch today, or tommorrow, or was it next week???? And that chick...when did that one hatch?????

Somehow I've gotten a bit "free" with my hatching duties now that I've got fertile eggs and willing broodies....they sort of just appear here and there.

Not good...must get back to some order around here or my OCD is really going to kick in hard.

LofMc

Thanks to that pencil and pad I remember to put in my pocket very morning----habit----I just write it down---to transfer to the calendar that night-----do not have to remember anything then-----LOL.

How does a rooster affect your memory??

 

[slordaz]

ut oh chicken math is catching up , broody with the 6 week olds l, so far 14 chicks out in the pen now by them selves 2 nests got about a week under broodies and hatch is getting ready to start in the incubator

 

[slordaz]

Thanks to that pencil and pad I remember to put in my pocket very morning----habit----I just write it down---to transfer to the calendar that night-----do not have to remember anything then-----LOL.

How does a rooster affect your memory??

well ours reminds me I need to look up the home made egg noddle recipe he keeps it up lol

 

[Kjukkjuk]

have my first broody hen in the flock so far (an olive egger). moved her to a wire type rabbit cage beneath a tree so she has shade but lots of indirect light and air flow to cool her off. i was putting her into the coop at night to roost with the others and it seemed to work as each morning she'd come out with the others and spend several hours doing the scratch and peck thing before going in to lay (i thought) but then she wouldn't come back out so she's in the jailhouse again... should i just leave her there overnight by herself in the open air cage and just give her a good 3 or 4 days of that until she actually lays an egg in there? thanks for any input.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

for everybody on this thread do you prefer letting your broodies hatch or hatching in an incubator
my dad didnt want to hatch with broodies this year just to make sure we got chicks

That is a really good question. (I've stepped away and come back to my computer so hopefully I'm not at the end of a long line of answers for you here).

In my opinion, the answer will be different for each chicken owner and totally depends on your chicken philosophy, flock needs, and goals. How much property and your physical environment will also determine which is better as well as how long you actually want to keep chickens.

I have done it both ways and have transitioned over the years to using only broodies.

If you are in the chicken business for profit, your needs will be different than the average backyard owner.

If you want to sell chicks for profit, especially of expensive breeds, then you likely want the ability to brood whenever you want, no matter the season, and will want to be able to carefully control all aspects of hatching and grow out. You'll want a very good incubator and industrial quality process. (Although @PD-Riverman who has perfected the use of broodies for more of a business set up.)

If your focus is layers for an egg business (like my grandmother was), you'll likely just buy a new set of chicks each spring and brood in a separate building with heat lamps...no guesswork as to how many live chicks you get. Let the hatchery undertake the cost and effort of bad hatches.

If this is a hobby, or you are wanting to keep a sustainable flock on a bit of land, I can highly recommend hen brooding. Once you understand the mechanics and set up, hen brooding is very efficient.

I have read several studies (done in 3rd world Agricultural studies) that show broody hens can be 80 to 90% efficient in obtaining a clutch. Most inexpensive incubators are about 50%. Better quality incubators, with a knowledgeable handler, can come to almost 100%, but average around 80%. See our own BYC @PD-Riverman for his personal best (overall) percentage.

I personally am lousy at hatching with incubators (did a bit of that with a 4H project with my kids). Mostly because I never would dole out the dollars to get a good one. The cheap incubators are a lot of work and require a lot of fiddling to get good hatches. However, I was reluctant to get a good one because I discovered I really didn't like the mess and hassle of artificial brooding chicks with a heat lamp inside the garage. (Over time, the mess gets really, really old.)

While we were pondering that decision of how to best brood with our start up flock, a huge turning point came when we burned a coop down to the ground, to ash heap, by adding a flood lamp to keep the newly transitioned pullets (from the artificial brooder) warmer during a really big cold snap. Turns out most of our chicken friends had either had a fire or nearly had a fire from heat lamps. The fire was so intense that it scorched the nearest tree but thankfully missed our wood pile and the neighbors. I could have easily burned down a whole area on the map.

So that set a bad taste in my mouth for heat lamp brooding, especially in the garage. I decided to set up to brood the natural way and have never looked back.

During that transition year, I even had artificially brooding chicks along side naturally brooding chicks.

I can honestly tell you that the naturally brooded chicks grew faster, feathered quicker, were overall healthier, and had no transition issues or losses. No pasty butt, no coccidiosis, and absolutely no need for artificial heating even in the dead of winter. Momma literally does all the work, and you have healthy little babies running around with snow on the ground. Those winter hatches generally mature early (as they mature during lengthening day light) into pullets that lay early.

This is offset with less efficiency on hen brooding than at top rate artificial incubator/brooder. (I overall get maybe 66% to 70% hatch rates...but I am dealing with a couple of less than satisfactory bantams which has lowered my rates...my good broody hens are at about 90 to 100% hatch rate consistently....survival rate is nearly 100% though...lost one in winter who wandered out of the grow out pen.)

Broody hens will only brood when they want to, while an incubator is ready to fire up at will. You can increase your frequency by purchasing known broody hens or pullets from a really good brooding line and breed. My Silkies have gone broody at least 3 to 4 times a season. My bantam Cochins likewise...although somehow their fluff is not as effective as a Silkie. My breeder quality heritage Marans and Rhodebars are probably twice a year.

The hen brooded chicks are not as tame as artificially brooded chicks, if you were to handle them a lot, but they are wonderfully adapted to being chickens and living smartly on free range.

So there are pros and cons of each method. Choose the method that best fits your needs and goals.

LofMc