Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[lannfren]

My first broody experience and two days ago...2 are here, 2 eggs left. The entire thing has been amazing!!

 

[Citychick11]

I did it! I found a little one acre farm near me with just hatched chicks. I bought 3 and brought them home to my broody. I swapped one egg she was sitting on for a chick. When she seemed ok with that one and it started listening to her call it, I introduced the next one. All the rest of the eggs were duds. Even though when I candled them they were dark and not clear. The yolk was spread out throughout the whole egg. And it was rotten. I have a video of the hen teaching her chicks how to eat and drink. And when she went back into the nest box she called her chicks and they all followed!!

 

[fisherlady]

And a few more...

 

[Faraday40]

So glad you have faithful broodies. That is such a blessing. Mine would be better, but I already hatched this year with my first gal, and the later hens' persistence encouraged me finally to think bigger. I knew I risked over extending some, but fortunately have others just coming into set so can flex a bit.

As to length of laying years, it really depends on breed genetics, care, and individual bird.

All my commercial red sexlinks are pretty played out by 3 years. My breeder quality birds have been less prolific but overall longer laying. My California Grey, a commercial hybrid breed, has been an awesome layer, but at age 3 her egg quality is now poor.

I like the longevity of breeder quality, so I have been breeding for color and hybrid vigor for a more sustainable flock hoping to average more of 4 years productivity with reasonable laying.

I have barnyard mutts now, due to that, but they appear to be sustaining better...but I'm still only a couple of years into the project.

Some have claims of 8 to 10 years life span, but that is not the norm in my experience. Those aged lay infrequently.

Generally it is 3 years of best production with larger eggs but slowing quantity by age 3 to 4. How much beyond that is genetics and care.

Longevity has been greatly skewed by the commercial industry's selectivity for very high production then cull at 2 to 3 years of age as that prevents a lot of med need in closer quarters.

LofMc

Tyrion is probably a mutt. She came from a breeder who showed Amerucanas but decided to get into fancy rolling pigeons. So he put all his breeds together in the barn to let them live out their lives as a layer flock. That's where her egg came from. Her eggs have always been a very pretty blue in spring but fades by fall. Her 1st 2 years were not as productive as my other birds. Maybe 3-4 eggs per week + winters off. However when she turned 3, all of a sudden her production increased up to 5 eggs per week (but still took winters off). Her Leghorn mix "sister" laid daily and took a max of 1 day off per month - not even a break for molting until she was 2! Sadly, her giant eggs were very fragile when she turned 3. They'd break more often than not. I was afraid the hens would become egg eaters, so I had to put the leghorn down.

Tyrion's eggs are bigger with age but shell strength is still good. From late Feb - early Sept she lays about 3-4 eggs per week. With her adventurous lifestyle, I never thought she'd live this long. (She was a hen that liked to chase squirrels, steal dog food, fly over the fence, grab cookies from toddlers, investigate new things, beat up the roosters, etc. She even chased off a hawk once!) She calmed down a lot in her 3rd year. Perhaps her reduction of risky behaviors reduced her stress and allowed her to lay more.
I'm sure it's also her genetics.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Second set of Cream Legbar-Barnevelder olive egger chicks are hatching.

I took a quick look under mom tonight and heard a peep with some fluff...other eggs were not hatched yet...so hopefully tomorrow morning I'll have a bunch.

Banty is off the nest again, sigh. She keeps tempting me that she'll brood her own eggs. Instead she laid another...I think she is almost there as she spent a lot of time on the nest today.

Oh well....the grey Marans-Barn is happily brooding and flattened like a pancake on the banty eggs in the main coop. Hopefully I can get her to hatch...means I'll have to shift these olive eggers in about 2 weeks...but hey....I can do that...right? (Just where did I put that second dog crate???)

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Okay funny update.

Momma #2 has been in the left small side coop, closed, with the 4 babes, remember? (Two of the babes were actually hatched by Momma #3 in the main coop, but I took the first one as it hatched 2 days earlier than the second black babe...in the heat it needed water and care while Momma #3 was still hatching the black babe (who I didn't think was going to hatch). I then took the black babe, who had been in the main coop with Momma #3 for several days, foraging food and water I set there, as Momma #3 had led black babe into the yard and tried to sleep in the wood pile that night...not a safe place).

So Momma #2 has been cooped up, literallly, with 4 babes for about 1 1/2 weeks. Today being a beautiful day, and the littlest a week old and strong enough, I opened that coop up after closing all the run gates and blocking the larger birds. I wanted to give Momma #2 a break and time in the run with babes. That ramp can be tricky for the less bright, so I also set up a dog crate below in the run planning, if necessary, to use a gated system for awhile.

Well....Momma #3 has taken the loss of her babe fairly well...although she looked for it several days in the wood pile where she left it and still clucks for her chick. I thought she was over it as she has been running with the flock all day this last week.

Somehow, of all the 4 babes, this little black chick was the ONLY one to venture down the ramp into the run. When I looked up, it had squeezed through a small hole (I was actually looking for the wedge I use to stop up the gap in the gate bottom), and was chirping madly in the main yard.

Momma #3 and black chick quickly reunited and are now foraging together in the yard.

The other 3 babes stayed with Momma #2 in the coop, who didn't look as eager to venture out as I thought. So, I closed up that side coop again and re-opened the run so Momma #3 can get to the waterer and feed I have set low in that run for the chicks in those coops.

Hopefully Momma #3 will take up residence in the dog crate I set up in the run, but I saw her eyeing the wood pile today with chick in tow.

I may have to call Chick Services again tonight for poor housing choices by her.

News at 11.

Lofmc

 

[Kabootar]

I prefer an incubator over a broody hen. My hatch rates are a lot better also, I usually get 80% to 90% hatch rate with my incubator. My hatch rate wasn't even 10% with my broody hen. I hatched eggs under a broody once, but the rest of the flock tries to kill the chicks and separating is too complicating. The chicks ended up dying a couple days after too. Which I'm guessing the hen passed on a disease to them. I'd rather just do my incubator.

A good broody doesn't necessarily mean good mother. Raising chicks in a brooder is too much of a responsibility for a lazy person like me so I always keep a bunch of aseel hens in my flock. They are the broodiest breeds I have seen. An average aseel will go broody about 4 times in a year.
Aseels are not only extremely determined broodies they are the best mothers in the chicken world as well. They are always on the top of the pecking order, even roosters avoid them when they are broody. You will never need to separate aseel hen from the flock cuz no hen will ever risk taking fight with her. A broody aseel or an aseel hen with chicks knows no relations, no sister, no friend, no boyfriend. I have seen one of my aseel hens with chicks beating up a rouge RIR rooster who pecked on of her chicks. They look after chicks even after they resume laying. They try to cover almost grown up chicks under their wings.
Since aseels are excellent foragers and stay on the top of the pecking order the chicks raised by them are well fed and grow up to be excellent foragers. I have seen them spanking slow learners. Since aseels are very comfy with humans chicks raised by them tend to be docile.
Trust me there is no better mother in the chicken world.

 

[AllenK RGV]

To all my equally chronic broody hen hatchers (@Faraday40 @fisherlady and those I can't think of call name)....

I've been quiet on the thread but busy hatching. After 10 years of mostly happy brooding, I have a semi-big problem.

I've got a new broody hen (a coveted F1 Cream Legbar-Barnvelder) who is almost violent in protecting her nest.

She insisted in brooding in the main coop (which I've had very successful hatches in...I've got one mom with 2 new hatchlings and 1 more almost hatching), but my goodness, trying to investigate the eggs she stole so she only has her marked set amount is putting my knuckles at severe risk (yes, gloves is the partial answer there)....but she will go full Mexican standoff mode.

I of course already have my side coop filled with a broody and 5 newly hatched chicks who doesn't share well (this hen got pushed off her nest easily), so I don't see moving this gal to that side coop as an answer.

How have you ever helped calm your overly excited broodies?

I'm totally used to a cranky peck or two, but this gal goes into full combat mode. (The good news is NOBODY is going to mess with her nest in that main coop).

Since my knuckles are going to have to endure this for another week or so, until the first hatched chicks in the side coop are old enough that I can move this Rambo hen into that one....any suggestions other than let her sit on all eggs and clear out in a week or so when I move her to final lock down? She is upsetting the apple cart!

Thanks
Sore-Knuckled LofMc

Here's my broodzilla(I caught her while launching at my face) and an easy solution with these HD gloves(Florist Pro brand $17~). I expect her attacks and also take her barehanded as I know what is coming. She now has two 3 day old chicks under her. Just 2 from 5eggs as tug of war with another broody claimed 1, and I probably did the last two in by an emergency de-miting of all bedding due to an infestation. I had to move the last 4 eggs to the incubator(day20-21) for 4 hours to apply permethrin. You can't really see it from the photo but yep she is still biting me in the picture.

 

[Faraday40]

Sorry to hear about all the broody-zillas.

I've never had an 'aggressive' broody. The worst is a hen that may peck a little bit.... but only if I'm candling her eggs and she feels I'm taking too long.

At the moment Cookie is back in action. I love this sweet little hen. She's a very good mama, keeps tight control of her chicks, and allows me to check eggs & chicks. She does the usual broody grumbles and can do a very good banshee scream if irritated. She's all noise & no action.

Here's a pic of Cookie yesterday. She's got 3 dozen chicks & poults at the moment, but I feel most will sell quickly.

I just love the timing of the photo!

 

[Imse]

This is Persille (Parsley in english), a swedish hedemora. She's been laying on 11 eggs since march 27. We are counting down the last week.
We have been candeling two times and are sure there are life in the most of the eggs, but the last time we candles she wouldn't let us touch the eggs