Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fowlsessed]

I haven't read through this thread(sorry), It's really long(if you haven't noticed,lol). But was just wondering if someone could help me with some questions I have. I haven't had good success with hatching in an incubator, so I wanted to try putting some eggs under a hen, but how do I go about it? I would be getting the the eggs from online, and would also have to buy a hen. Could I start her on some dummy eggs? That way she is already broody when the eggs arrive. Or could I just set the eggs in the nest when they arrive? Also, I would probably need to get her conditioned to her new home before putting eggs under her?
thanks for any help.

 

[suebee]

There really is no way to "make" a hen go broody so I'd get the hen first and wait until she's broody before buying any hatching eggs...You'll be wasting your money otherwise.

 

[ChicKat]

I just discovered last night that some of my birds have lice,

so I'm going to have to dust them and the coop. I don't see eggs on all of them, but even 2-3 is enough to make me treat them all. I brought in straw to add to the run when it was super muddy this spring, I'm thinking that might be the culprit, I've seen others report as much. I'll have to rake all the straw out of the run when I clean out the coop.

Does that mean a no-go for my broody? Even if I dust her now before giving her eggs, I'll need to re-treat in 10 days, by then she would be on eggs. I'm guessing dusting her with developing eggs under her would not be a good idea? Would that affect the chicks still in the egg? I really wanted a broody to raise some babies for me, but I want to start them off well. I've been reading that it would still be safe to eat the eggs after dusting the chickens, but I don't know that advice applies to eggs being used for hatching as well.

I think if you were to dust with food grade diatomecious earth (d e) you, the eggs, the hen etc. would be without risk. Sounds like you are thinking of dusting with chemicals.....d e is organic.

 

[ChicKat]

For some reason this double posted. Maybe it's an iPad thing?

That picture is soooo magnificent. Pls. submit it for next year's calendar----I think I would love to look at it for a whole month. ;O)

whoops meant post 9259-- this threat IS too long. ;o\

 

[Noymira]

I think if you were to dust with food grade diatomecious earth (d e) you, the eggs, the hen etc. would be without risk. Sounds like you are thinking of dusting with chemicals.....d e is organic.

I would love to consider an organic method, but almost all the posts I've read on here say that DE is great preventative, but will not get rid of an infestation.

I have some permethrin poultry dust on hand, but have never used it.

 

[Farmin Momma]

I would love to consider an organic method, but almost all the posts I've read on here say that DE is great preventative, but will not get rid of an infestation.

I have some permethrin poultry dust on hand, but have never used it.

About 2 months ago I was getting a rooster ready for the freezer and realized he had brought in lice. Now this is one of the many birds that get brought to me for free and he had not been in direct contact with the flock but still shared a common area. After I was done with him I checked some of my girls and they had the adult lice but not the eggs yet so I covered everyone in DE (food grade) and have not seen a problem sence then! Also yes I try to remember to dust them a few times a month to prevent anything as well as sprinkling it in the coop, nest boxes, run, and dust bathing areas. Good luck!

 

[Noymira]

About 2 months ago I was getting a rooster ready for the freezer and realized he had brought in lice. Now this is one of the many birds that get brought to me for free and he had not been in direct contact with the flock but still shared a common area. After I was done with him I checked some of my girls and they had the adult lice but not the eggs yet so I covered everyone in DE (food grade) and have not seen a problem sence then! Also yes I try to remember to dust them a few times a month to prevent anything as well as sprinkling it in the coop, nest boxes, run, and dust bathing areas. Good luck!

Would that be enough for birds that do have eggs on the feather shafts near the vent area? I could not find any live lice, though I'm sure they must be there since I found the eggs. The clusters are not as large as some of the pictures I've seen and they are not on all the birds I've checked. Do you apply it in a similar fashion to poultry dust? I was planning to fill a sock with the dust and apply it around the vent and under the wings and stomach areas of my birds while they are roosting at night. I also plan to clean out all the shavings in the coop and dust everything there.

I guess there would be no harm in trying the DE first, I just don't want to risk the health of the whole flock by delaying chemical treatment if it's needed. It seems permethrin dust seems to be the lesser of some chemical evils based on the posts I've read, but I have no direct experience to go on.

 

[Tripp16]

About 2 months ago I was getting a rooster ready for the freezer and realized he had brought in lice. Now this is one of the many birds that get brought to me for free and he had not been in direct contact with the flock but still shared a common area. After I was done with him I checked some of my girls and they had the adult lice but not the eggs yet so I covered everyone in DE (food grade) and have not seen a problem sence then! Also yes I try to remember to dust them a few times a month to prevent anything as well as sprinkling it in the coop, nest boxes, run, and dust bathing areas. Good luck!

Oh I know how you guys feel! Everybody in my coop had lice/mites. Not anymore! I dipped them all in seven dust liquid diluted with about a gallon of water and I havent seen a mite yet. I also sprayed the whole coop down clean out everything (including the wet silkies

) and now it seems that I have gotten a good percentage of them

I need to bathe them again to get any babies that have hatched but I just checked the other day it seemed to get rid of alot of them.

 

[Tripp16]

Well this morning was interesting!

I went in the coop and Momma hen (Henrietta, I seem to call the hens momma when they go broody.

) was on the nest well during feeding time she decided it was time for her to get up and relieve herself. Which was perfectly fine, except the fact that it was the middle of egg laying time and my little RIR looves Henriettas nest so before I could get back Lil Red was on her nest...

While Henrietta was out in the run all fluffed up and drinking a ton of water. Well I was on a time limit, so I figured they will work it out. I was afraid Henrietta would go back up to her nest and sit on the one with golf balls. But nope when I got home Henrietta was on the right nest and lil Red was perfectly content.

I was so glad they worked it out! It really made me nervous....

 

[bobbieschicks]

Everything I've read said that DE was preventative, but didn't help once the lice were there. I wouldn't bother with DE at this point as you have an infestation. I'd try something more substantial to treat since you aren't preventing but eradicating the lice. Could you treat her with something like Ivomec pour on for cattle? You could get that at TSC. Since she isn't laying right now it won't affect egg production and she won't transfer it to the hatching eggs. I believe you can put a dose on bread and she eats it. You may want to search on BYC for treating under the emergencies thread. Is she in with the general population or separated into a broody area? You will still want to dust everyone else or treat them with the same product. But for anyone laying you won't be able to eat the eggs for about 2 weeks. You will need to discard them instead.

Would that be enough for birds that do have eggs on the feather shafts near the vent area? I could not find any live lice, though I'm sure they must be there since I found the eggs. The clusters are not as large as some of the pictures I've seen and they are not on all the birds I've checked. Do you apply it in a similar fashion to poultry dust? I was planning to fill a sock with the dust and apply it around the vent and under the wings and stomach areas of my birds while they are roosting at night. I also plan to clean out all the shavings in the coop and dust everything there.

I guess there would be no harm in trying the DE first, I just don't want to risk the health of the whole flock by delaying chemical treatment if it's needed. It seems permethrin dust seems to be the lesser of some chemical evils based on the posts I've read, but I have no direct experience to go on.