Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[OHfarmerswife]

Awwwwww Congratulations!  You did it.    I'm so excited for you. 

Sorry don't mean to brag, but my broody hatched all 8 eggs on her first brood....oh it's my first time too!!!


I'll be sitting here with my popcorn. 

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Well my broody hatched all 8 eggs on her first brood.....it's my first broody & hatch!!!!!!

 

[SJ]

I got three broodies going but i moved my kraienkoppe yesterday and now she wont sit on her eggs. Any suggestions on how to get her to set again? I'm just leaving her alone for right now.

 

[SJ]

Well my broody hatched all 8 eggs on her first brood.....it's my first broody & hatch!!!!!!

Congrats to you both!!!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I got three broodies going but i moved my kraienkoppe yesterday and now she wont sit on her eggs. Any suggestions on how to get her to set again? I'm just leaving her alone for right now.

Is she sitting on anything? If she's given up sitting there's nothing to be done. But if she's stubbornly changed nests, move the eggs to the new nest.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Well my broody hatched all 8 eggs on her first brood.....it's my first broody & hatch!!!!!!

Yeah! Congrats!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Still no action from Bunny. But she also hasn't oven up yet. She has until Sunday to give up. I vacillate between wanting chicks and not wanting them. I don't like it when they try and aren't successful, but I also don't need any more chicks.

 

[Crazy4mypeeps]

Well my broody hatched all 8 eggs on her first brood.....it's my first broody & hatch!!!!!!

I'm so very happy for you, my dear. She was a trooper for you. Now you get to watch them grow up.

Mine should hatch tomorrow.

 

[CrazyCatCulby]

Hi there! I found this thread a few weeks ago because two of my hens went broody and I wanted to learn more about it. I just put five eggs to hatch underneath them--they insist on sharing a nest box, I tried for hours to move them but they refused--and they seem happy at the moment. I will try to post some pics soon!

 

[rebecuna]

So, no action since my one chick hatched Monday (of 8). Mama still hasn't gotten off the nest... do I need to help her with this? Should I give her one more day? I'm afraid the one chick isn't going to get the nutrition it needs... my kids dumped some feed in her nest the other day, so the chick may have eaten some of that, but it doesn't have access to water in the nest (it's too small to put anything in there). I hand-fed the mama scrambled eggs 3 times in the last 5 days, and have given her water every day by holding the chick waterer by her head in the nest. She pooped once in the nest and I scooped it out, but I really don't think she's gotten off the nest at all since Saturday. Should I take the chick out and show it water myself?

Reposting the above for reference.
There are 2 more eggs hatching today!

One has a decent sized round hole and I can see its little beak and eyes peeking through. The other had a lot of shell stripped off but membrane still intact (? how can that be?) and the egg is jumping and peeping! The mama just stepped on it

and it's super cracked and flattened now, so hopefully little chicky can get out of there quickly. I posted about that separately b/c I don't know if I should help it. I also found one egg she had pushed out that was a crushed shell with a seemingly-full-grown chick inside. Looks like it had been there awhile. Blech.

So after these 2 hatch should I pull the other eggs? Or let her try another day or so? The first chick is already 3 days old, and they were all started on the same day.

Also, she finally got up today, enticed by a little bowl of food DS brought out, and her backside is COVERED with matted, dried feces. Totally disgusting. Is she going to be able to clean herself once she's up and about again or will I need to bathe her? She also let out a huge stream of diarrhea during the 1 minute she was up-- she was very agitated, I haven't seen her like that before. She knew she needed to be sitting on her eggs but wanted to get to that food and didn't know what to do. She actually turned in circles a few times before choosing the eggs. Poor girl. Just another day or so!!