Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[KWAK]

I have 16 eggs in the bator
20 chicks that went in the coop with the hens
20 chicks in the brooder
2 hens on 30+ eggs


GAHHHH

 

[oldmcdonald]

I'm very interested in the broody approach to hatching. I have 2 broody hens sitting on a dozen eggs (not all theirs - some from all the hens)
I was out of town when they began setting - so I don't know when the "due" date for hatching is, but very soon I believe. Because this caught me by surprise, the nesting box, etc was not prepared and I obviously didn't know what I was doing as this is my first time. It started with one broody hen, and her "sister" horned in and shared the nesting box. I secured the box with cardboard so no eggs would be shoved out. Try as I may, they resist being moved at this point in time and the 2 hens resist being separated into 2 separate boxes. I have a large coup so I separated their area with food and water away from other laying boxes and chickens. I have not candled the eggs to see what is fertile and what is not, but will do so this weekend. Weather has been awful so not out there at night. The girls are doing a great job of never leaving the nest at same time and keeping everything very warm....and crowded. At this point, I'm unsure of what to do. Just wait, candle the eggs and remove non-fertile, (have 1 Ameracauna rooster) or just leave them alone and see what happens?

Any info you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Pam (Old McDonald) McDonald

My Farm: 1 Barred Rock, 1 California Grey, 1 Sex Link, 1 Rhode Island Red, 3 Australorps, 5 Ameracaunas and 1 Ameracauna Rooster. (yes I know my spelling of the names is autrocious)

 

[ams3651]

Quote:
When placing "cold" eggs under a broody hen do it one or two eggs at a time....wait about 6-8 hours and do it again! I've had broody hens abandon a nest that had too many "cold" eggs placed in them. Last year I experimented with near frozen hatching eggs, they were left out over night in 20F temps brought indoors allowed to warm to room temp and went into the bator the next day. Out of 24 eggs 20 hatched....3 candled clear after day 7 and the one that didnt hatch was fully developed but dies in the shell. I'm not suggesting everone "freeze" or refrigerate hatching eggs but I wanted to test it for myself. Perhaps if an egg remains frozen for several days rate rates might be significantly lower??? I've never found any research on this personally.

Good luck,

I brought all the eggs in and left her on 3 to satisfy her, I will take the cold ones back out and check for more through out the day and give to her as well. My hens are great moms, I have another RIR who went broody in August of last year for the first time and I hope she tries again this year. Last year I lost several chicks to either the neighbor cats or rats and got a couple roos so I only actually increased by 3 hens. My first chicks I raised by hand but i much prefer the broody hen to do it for me. They get used to me quick and neither of my hens are very mean when brooding or with chicks. They growl and peck but never very hard. its like they know Im not going to hurt them or the chicks but they have to warn me anyway. I will be busy tomorrow readying the broody box. This is her last year.

Looks like my gal was faking too. Maybe I talked her out of it when I tried to move her. Oh well, its still a little too cold here anyway. later is better

 

[Kathryn4629]

I have a question about my broody:

How long is to long for her to be off the nest?

Everyday she comes off the nest and eats/drinks and the literally runs over to her favorite dust bath area and takes a quick bath. Along the way she does what I have deemed her "crazy turbo scratching" fast scratching at the dirt. Total she is off the nest for about 15 min. Is this to long? Other than her one outing a day she never leaves the nest. Oh yeah and she also has her very nasty and very large broody poop

 

[KWAK]

Quote:
i've heard they can be off for up to 1/2 hour

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
i've heard they can be off for up to 1/2 hour

Yay, I was so worried!! thank you

 

[ams3651]

Quote:
sounds normal, I keep food and water close by her so she doesnt have to go far.

 

[Mrs. Mucket]

bantyhen'sfriend :

I just candled my hen's eggs, and I guess it is just too cold here at the moment, because none of the 7 eggs made it.

Poor mama hen, all that work.

Of the seven egs I had in the incubator, all made it to lockdown, but I had my doubts about a couple. Sure enough, only two are alive as I type, one hatched and one peeping/tapping in its egg. The others were quitters: two at day 15, two at day sixteen, and one at day 17/18. It is better than my first attempt at eggs from the same pair; all those eggs quit/died at days 15-20, no pips. I am trying to figure all this out; I can't seem to hatch these eggs. I have tried three times before this, and all three times I have had horrible hatch rates: 0%, 15% (2 out of 13), 33% (2 out of 6).

I have looked at the troubleshooting sites, and the only thing I can think of is that the eggs are getting too cold before I gather them. I might be able to try in the summer and see if that makes a difference.

Just wondering how you can tell what day they quit? Do you candle each day and look for movement?​

 

[Fuffy]

Quote:
Sounds like your mammas are doing just fine without your help.

If it were me, I'd probably candle once...maybe around 2 weeks just so as to remove anything that isn't going to hatch anyway. You don't want exploding egg gunk all over the live eggs.

The whole broody thing is all just trial and error really. Learn from what happens and change it next time.

Good luck

 

[willkatdawson]

Yeah!!! We've got little ones hatching under our broody.......one's even out to say hello! come by the blog to take a look

http://thewannabecountrygirl.com/millie-and-her-brood-part-3-theyre-hatching/