Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

i

When I give them a couple days to make sure, do I take the eggs or leave them? The cross hen was off the nest last night and laid an egg (my only EE hen laying). The buckeye was still setting with one egg under her.

When we were waiting to get Gracie's 'real' eggs for her to hatch I would just put one or two eggs a day from the other hens under her and swap them out for fresh ones the next day. Since she only sat on them one day they weren't really developed and I was then able to still use them. It kept her 'in the mood' until we got her real eggs. You could also just put actual fake eggs under her, such as ceramic ones... or ping pong balls. Just so she feels she is sitting on something. I chose to use the eggs from the other hens just to make it as real as possible, since it was going to be a while for the shipped eggs, but it seems like once they really decide they are going to be broody they don't really care what they are sitting on!

 

[bobbieschicks]

i

When I give them a couple days to make sure, do I take the eggs or leave them? The cross hen was off the nest last night and laid an egg (my only EE hen laying). The buckeye was still setting with one egg under her.

When she stops laying entirely, that's when I consider her to be broody. Until that time, I keep ping pong balls under her and remove her eggs daily until she is no longer laying because a fertile egg will start developing from the first day she is sitting on it. She will continue to sit on the ping pong balls for quite some time. You can use golf balls, ceramic eggs, and I've even used plastic easter eggs. She will also sit on the nest without eggs of any kind for a period of time - but your better chance to keep her sitting is with a fake egg until you give her the eggs you want her to hatch.

 

[CoopChick719]

Hi Everyone, I don't have any new pics of the chicks but just had to share what I saw last night. Spot, one of the BR chicks, was roosting on the top roost all by herself. I was so proud of her!! I don't know if she stayed there all night. Momma & the other chicks were on the floor. Tonight Momma was on the top roost with all the chicks under her. They'll be 4 weeks old end of this week. Hopefully I'll get some new pics this weekend but I've been dealing with a sinus/cold thing so really haven't spent a lot of time in the coop this week. Anyone got a sure fire method to unstuff your nose, I'd love to hear it!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Hi Everyone, I don't have any new pics of the chicks but just had to share what I saw last night. Spot, one of the BR chicks, was roosting on the top roost all by herself. I was so proud of her!! I don't know if she stayed there all night. Momma & the other chicks were on the floor. Tonight Momma was on the top roost with all the chicks under her. They'll be 4 weeks old end of this week. Hopefully I'll get some new pics this weekend but I've been dealing with a sinus/cold thing so really haven't spent a lot of time in the coop this week. Anyone got a sure fire method to unstuff your nose, I'd love to hear it!

Do you have a Neti pot? I use mine to unstuff my nose all the time and it's awesome! Totally rinses out your sinuses.

 

[gabrielle1976]

Well 2 of the 7 eggs hatched. I brought the incubator home and plugged it back in as the school decided they didnt allow hatching in the class room

I took butters egg that she has been sitting on faithfully for more then a week and stuffed the 2 little silkie chicks that hatched under her. One dived right under and hasnt made a peep since the other was peeping pretty loud so I tried to get him out from under her and she was haveing NONE of that thank you very much she puffed up and growled at me. I take this as a good sign tword her accepting the chicks. The one stopped peeping and last time I peeked in there I coudnt see them and butter was just sitting there like she has been so I will keep my fingers crossed that it will be this easy. They hatched yesterday early morning befor school and I put them under her about 8:15am today so there just a tad over 24 hours old.
Any thoughts?

 

[FirewifeJess]

Well 2 of the 7 eggs hatched. I brought the incubator home and plugged it back in as the school decided they didnt allow hatching in the class room

I took butters egg that she has been sitting on faithfully for more then a week and stuffed the 2 little silkie chicks that hatched under her. One dived right under and hasnt made a peep since the other was peeping pretty loud so I tried to get him out from under her and she was haveing NONE of that thank you very much she puffed up and growled at me. I take this as a good sign tword her accepting the chicks. The one stopped peeping and last time I peeked in there I coudnt see them and butter was just sitting there like she has been so I will keep my fingers crossed that it will be this easy. They hatched yesterday early morning befor school and I put them under her about 8:15am today so there just a tad over 24 hours old.
Any thoughts?

Don't worry at all. As long as there's immediate access to food and water, she'll take them out when she's ready and they should be just fine.

 

[CoopChick719]

Do you have a Neti pot? I use mine to unstuff my nose all the time and it's awesome! Totally rinses out your sinuses.

I do have a neti pot. I'm just a tad leary of using it again. I was using it last year and came down with a double ear infection & sinus infection that kept me out of work for 3 weeks.

 

[Johnn]

Turns out the eggs i thaught were Bellas actually wernt, they were my Ancona bantams. But Bella did lay her first egg yesterday!, She was in the nest box but got out because i was giving treats out then she went and stood in the fiels for 10 mins and a egg dropped out! Its so rewarding getting the first egg after having her from day one!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Turns out the eggs i thaught were Bellas actually wernt, they were my Ancona bantams. But Bella did lay her first egg yesterday!, She was in the nest box but got out because i was giving treats out then she went and stood in the fiels for 10 mins and a egg dropped out! Its so rewarding getting the first egg after having her from day one!

Congrats! So happy for you and Bella!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I'm feeling a little sad tonight. I traded my Topsy and Fluffy, both silkies, for Davy, the silky roo I used to have. He was with a great family, but they couldn't keep him so I said I'd take him back. I've been considering changing to a large fowl layer flock and this was the perfect opportunity. The family the two girls went is a very sweet Christian family with two adorable kids. I know they will love those two like I love them. I am certainly going to miss them for a awhile, but at least now Topsy won't be constantly beat up by Smokey. I did warn her that Topsy loves to go broody.