Is 7 months too young for broody?

[Shezadandy]

One week of fertile egg sitting gone, 2 weeks to go. Still sitting pretty, definitely moving the eggs around, Definitely taking short breaks for a tiny bit of food, water, huge poo and maybe a quick dust bath. Every couple days I seem to observe a break- walks around puffed out like a turkey saying 'cooookoookooooookoooo'-- I'm down there a lot right now working on their run extension because good ole' chicken math took me from 10 to 18 and now however many hatch under Broody Betty. The others continue to respect her space -

All happy news so far.

 

[Shezadandy]

Made it to day 20! Time to start listening for new l'il voices!

 

[shortgrass]

Great! You'll have to post pics of the chicks for sure

I'm curious how she is going to be as a mum; I've never had a BR for a broody, but they have very direct personalities; she should be very protective and bossy enough to handle them lol

She probably wont get up for a few days or until they are all dry and as soon as they get hungry; about day 2 after hatch. They get the yolk as they hatch, so they dont need to eat it drink right away; they'll be fine until mom can show them food bits and water. Might not hurt to put a small chick waterer close by so they don't have rk wander far for their first drink..

Oh so exciting lol I love hatches

 

[Shezadandy]

Great! You'll have to post pics of the chicks for sure

I'm curious how she is going to be as a mum; I've never had a BR for a broody, but they have very direct personalities; she should be very protective and bossy enough to handle them lol

She probably wont get up for a few days or until they are all dry and as soon as they get hungry; about day 2 after hatch. They get the yolk as they hatch, so they dont need to eat it drink right away; they'll be fine until mom can show them food bits and water. Might not hurt to put a small chick waterer close by so they don't have rk wander far for their first drink..

Oh so exciting lol I love hatches

Thanks for all the information! Very, very stoked that she made it to this point, hatchery stock that she is. All the eggs are from a local breeder, so I'm interested to see the difference.

So far the nest is quiet but it's noon on day 20 so I'm not concerned. At last count she had 8 of the original 12 eggs left- but Sunday was the last time I saw the nest. Before that day she was still getting gently bossed by the others, on that day she ramped up her broody warpath self which I was sooo glad to see. 7 of the eggs looked very full of chick with a good aircell, one wasn't as good but no smell and she didn't dispatch it so I left it there.

The bottom nest box is a good 24" deep so I'm planning to put a chick waterer and feeder in the back where I can access it without bothering broody while she's still on the nest. The interior sides are 5" tall- doubt that will hold them in for long, but hopefully until she's done hatching. Going to put a hardware cloth cage over the front so we don't end up with an adventurous chick getting made into a snack before Betty's done hatching- otherwise the plan is to raise them with the flock. I am prepared if that doesn't work, but

... course, they have to hatch first ... heheh

 

[Shezadandy]

Just heard my first little baby cheeping under the broody! Can't see anything of course, but so far so good- broody seems to be making all the right moves and is responding to the little voice below.

 

[shortgrass]

Great! Lol that's when I usually have to start the guessing game of "which chick came out of which egg?"

Most should hatch together within 24 hours; if there are any left after 3 days, they're most likely non-viable, but you can candle for sure and check. She will leave the nest about 2-3 days after the first one hatches to find them food and water, so any eggs left after that, she'll consider "done" and will be a mommy instead of a broody.

If there are signs of jealous hens or severe pecking, be prepared to separate her, but in my experience, as long as she's the only broody, the other hens will most likely steer clear and give her space.

Oh, and safeguard the water pan; make sure its not a deep open pan or the chicks might drown. I lost one a while back because I spaced out and hadn't changed my water pans back to a shallow chick pan; poor bugger fell in and drowned Some lessons have to be learned firsthand, I suppose!

 

[Shezadandy]

Great! Lol that's when I usually have to start the guessing game of "which chick came out of which egg?"

Most should hatch together within 24 hours; if there are any left after 3 days, they're most likely non-viable, but you can candle for sure and check. She will leave the nest about 2-3 days after the first one hatches to find them food and water, so any eggs left after that, she'll consider "done" and will be a mommy instead of a broody.

If there are signs of jealous hens or severe pecking, be prepared to separate her, but in my experience, as long as she's the only broody, the other hens will most likely steer clear and give her space.

Oh, and safeguard the water pan; make sure its not a deep open pan or the chicks might drown. I lost one a while back because I spaced out and hadn't changed my water pans back to a shallow chick pan; poor bugger fell in and drowned

Some lessons have to be learned firsthand, I suppose!

We're right at the beginning of the guessing game for the 5 chicks that hatched. First one hatched 6/8 and the other 4 overnight - they were there midday 6/9 and fluffy dry. Our eggs were a mix of possible breeds (but hey, $10 for 12 eggs locally immediately available for a first time broody? pretty good) - including Cream Legbar, EE, GLW, BR, BSL, RIR and White Faced Black Spanish (the only white eggs in the group). And of course there could be mixes thereof, I suppose ... definitely no GLW or RIR's in the hatchlings.

I do know that one of the White Faced Black Spanish hatched, and I think that's the lighter gray chick on the far right, 1st pic.
The darker gray- front, 2nd pic- is either BR or BSL-- I'm crossing fingers for BR because that spot on the head would mean definite cockerel if BSL.
The yellow chicks are a little more of a mystery -- only one of the green/blue eggs hatched- so either I have an EE or a cream legbar in there .... prob EE. The chick with the chipmunk markings in front is probably my best bet for that- has the fluffy little owl face.
The plain yellow chick was first to hatch- no markings- doesn't seem to fit the list I was given of possibles.
The "yellower" chick with dabbles of brown (under beak 1st pic) without fluffy cheeks is another head scratcher.






When I heard the first baby on Wednesday, I put up a hardware cloth frame blocking entrance to her nest box and put a chick waterer (with a small amt of water, i.e. only 1 inch in the jar- in case it got knocked over) and a dish of chick starter at the entrance. Otherwise all of our waterers inside and out are poultry cups that are dry most of the time- they're not on a float, supplied by a covered bucket. Thank you for sharing your experience about the flock waterer danger!

Friday afternoon she wanted out so I locked everyone out of the coop so she could wander about with them worry free for a bit. Her relief was immediate ... and smelled horrible... hehehhahh and after she did a little broody yoga routine- wing flaps, a good shake and stretch- and then got down to tending the chicks- one of those hold the breath moments because she hadn't seen them outside the nest yet.

I built a little hardware cloth cage off the nest box so the flock could see the chicks without being able to touch for a couple days- tomorrow's our first try at having them loose. I can separate them if need be but hopefully everything goes to plan, so that will be the final step before declaring success.

For now, whatever the chicks turn out to be- I know I've got a momma hen that will sit on the nest, hatch and tend to babies, so super happy!

 

[drumstick diva]

what a wonderful broody, have to hang around hoping for updates.

 

[Shezadandy]

what a wonderful broody, have to hang around hoping for updates.

Thank you! Nature at its finest, whispering all the ancient chicken ways into her ear. It was a total joy to be shown the first hatchling for those few seconds and then to watch the others emerge under her chest one by one the next day.

 

[Shezadandy]

Today was the first 'mingle with the flock' day. Friday, Saturday and Sunday they spent most of their time in the little hardware cloth run off the nest box inside the coop in a look-don't-touch introduction.
Once the girls were done laying I closed the coop up for a couple hours a day so Betty could show the babies around, and for that matter, to figure out how to deal with 5 chicks underfoot before challenging her with flock interaction.

I added a flock block to the coop to distract from the chicks. They did notice the chicks and interact, but the block kept everyone's beaks busy digging into the bird candy reserved for special occasions. Betty delivered a couple quick beat-downs and she did step on one chick in the action but it was fine. They were whiny about going back into the pen. If all goes well tomorrow with frequent checks then they'll be free. I have left a side of the run up (to the right in the photo) to give Betty an easy line to defend in front of the nest box which worked well because the chicks know that area as 'home.'







Life-skill lesson today was how to dust bathe in as proper a manner as can be accomplished in the coop. I was lucky enough to sit on the floor while she worked on teaching them. We have not touched any of the chicks but she has no problem letting them walk right up, so she's not teaching them to run from people, another good broody bonus! The light gray chick got really into the lesson and needed a little nap. And then... under mom for a group nap.