Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

Good news Bitty B keep us updated.

 

[marymac]

Quote:
i checked this evening and the 1 little chick hat was all covered in the fine shavings is Beautiful! Just like you said the shavings all fell of and it is all fluffy and walking and hiding around momma. So far no more chicks have hatched, maybe tomorrow. i think I will move them after I see how many hatch. Keeping my fingers crossed. I'll try and get a pic up tomorrow.

 

[artsyrobin]

My cochin banty mutt has decided now is the time to be broody- been 5 days, had to move her and her box due to a leak in the coop- so now i need to know the basics- to put her in a broody pen? the roo is a cochin, so they may not even be viable- the other hen is a duccle- since there are only the three, do they need to be seperated?

 

[Miss Lydia]

hi artsyrobin, since it's a small group she will probably be fine where she's at. and your cochin would probably be able to do the task better than my bantm roo trying to take on his Brahma girls. so if you've seen them together the eggs are probably fertile. What a handsome roo! If you decide to keep her with the rest be sure tonumber her eggs that way if one of the other girls decides to lay in her nest you will know hers from theirs and can take them out. you want to be sure all the eggs will hatch within 24 hrs. from first hatched egg till last one. Chicks can go for a couple of days without eating or drinking.
heres a great link to help out. keep us updated on how it's going.. http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[Carol.in.WV]

Quote:
All hens vary in temp. Hatching time will then vary. Mine began hatching "a day late" as well. But who is to say when late is?

I didn't know that! Thanks

 

[Carol.in.WV]

artsyrobin, I see your setup is similar to mine. What is with the pet taxi...I have 5 nest boxes on my front porch (easy to just pop out the door and gather eggs) two of which are pet taxis but just the larger pet taxi is the most popular. Yesterday I noticed that the hens actually line up to wait their turn for the one pet taxi and sometime 2 silkies will be using it at the same time.

Well this is an exciting day for me.... a clutch of 8 are due to hatch. Two days ago I brought the mama and eggs down from the coop and put them in my bedroom. My last hatch I only got 4 out of 7 but I did fool with the eggs a lot so am thinking maybe I messed it up. That mama was on and off the nest all day long eating and drinking and shifting the eggs around. This mama has barely moved in the last two (or more) days. This morning I offered her some water and food on the nest and she stood up a little so I could see under her. None of the eggs has pipped but I hear a lot of chirping from them. I really like the cheap $1 dishpans for nest boxes because when I want to move them all I do is put an empty dishpan over the top and carry them. I am using sawdust as bedding. At first I thought of using sand (the previous mama kept pooping in the nest) but then figured it was too drying. Luckily we have a friend that owns a sawmill so getting sawdust and shavings is easy. I have shavings but thought they might be a little rough on the babies. Unfortunatly I can't stay home today so I almost hope the eggs wait until tonight to hatch.

Its funny, but no matter how many times I've had a broody hatch out eggs the excitement never diminishes. I also have 46 eggs in a Little Giant incubator in the same corner as the broody but am not expecting much from the 'bator which still has almost 2 weeks to go.

 

[Carol.in.WV]

Miss Lydia
Quote:
I would put more eggs under her and move her inside where you can monitor her closely and give her very nutritions food. I had a broody bantam cochin that sat thru 2 messed up times until the third time worked out for her and she hatched chicks.....seems like she was broody a couple months. I felt so sorry for her eggs not hatching that I kept letting her try. I fed her yogurt while she was sitting and other treats because she started off run down and with diahreah (one thing you do not want in a broody!). Since a broody only poops once a day I just pin an old sheet to the carpet in the corner where I put them and put out fresh food (chick starter or laying pellets, because they can't go outside to pick up gravel and stuff for their gizzard to grind hard food with) and water just a foot or so from the nest box and they will get up once a day (usually) eat, drink, poop at which point I pick the poop up with a tissue and flush it. It helps being retired and home all day. One of the benifits of this method is that the hen is never disturbed by the other chickens and I can keep a close eye on the proceedings.

 

[Nystra]

Quote:
YAY For mutt chickies!!!! mine are gonna be Light Brahma and Buff Orphington X Americana Roo. They are due to hatch Any day now!!! my Brahma has been sitting on her eggs since the first week of April I stuffed a few of my buffs eggs under her once i realized what she was doing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

thanks for advise Carol, I am going to put more eggs under her, she is still sitting. she looks good but very light weight, but she is half bantam so not very big to begin with. Let us know when your chicks hatch. don't ya love to hear the peeping? so sweet.
congrats on the broody Nystra. mutts are wonderful most of mine are. Thats is so funny about the favorite nest box. I also use pet taxi along with stacking bins from lowes, for nesting , but my hens favorite is a cat littler box with a top. when I was just out there they were waiting for one to come out so the other could go in. Crazy girls. And while they wait the holler, I don't know if they are saying hurry up but it is funny.

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

By golly we have a broody! I'm so excited and nervous- first time hatching anything. We've been collecting eggs for a month, made a new little broody house and then-not so patiently-waiting and lurking on this thread. I put 11 eggs under her last night. Should I take a couple away from her? This morning she had all covered but 1.

Now if her friend would go broody... I still have eggs set aside for her friend. They are usually right in sync...

Little Bit on the nest. Where did all these eggs come from!?