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I am so frustrated with Broody #2. I only have 1 Black Copper Marans hen--who rarely lays. It was a huge stroke of luck to collect 8 eggs from her within a suitable timeframe for hatching. I've been trying to hatch more Marans in the incubator and after two large batches I have lots of chicks...

The partition method worked with the first broody, but this time around with a larger and less docile hen it isn't working. She's been sitting for 5 days and has battered the partition down twice to get out when she feels like it. Then she gets on another nest full of eggs, and I find the BCM...

My broody bantam's 2 chicks are almost a week old. They don't seem to be doing a whole lot of growing but they are getting wing feathers! She's a very attentive mother and they are so interesting to watch! So now I have an EE sitting on 8 Black Copper Marans due to hatch in early June And...

At first their down is like a regular chick's. When they start to get their feathers they will look "stringy looking," not smooth like the others. Check the number of toes that it has.

Your black chick may be a Silkie! (or Silkie mix if they were mix eggs)

End of day 23 - second chick just hatched! The last chick is still alive in the half-opened egg in the bator.

That is interesting LofMc. It actually has been pretty warm in the last week (but is now chilly). I wonder if the fringe was a factor too. I really like seeing the hen interact with her chick and I'm going to start the process again in a few days with my EE! If the one in the incubator...

Congratulations to her

I can't believe what just happened. I thought I put ONE fresh egg and FOUR old eggs under her. Turns out I put THREE fresh eggs and TWO old eggs under her. I misread the dates because the pencil had rubbed off slightly on two of them; the others I had done in Sharpie. ...so end of day 22...

Sadly, I think they are duds. It's day 22 and they were old eggs. The one that hatched was a fresh egg. I've held them up to my ear and tapped and there's no movement. I will probably make a hole very carefully in the large end before I open up the eggs completely.

Chick is almost 20 hours old. Hen is very attentive to it but she wants to sit on the eggs. She gulped some chick starter when I put it nearby but her baby didn't seem interested and just dived under her to keep warm. I'm thinking of taking away the other eggs in a few hours and opening them up.

Just went out to check on them again and felt reassured. Chick (a blue Ameraucana) stuck its head out from under her wing and she just looked at it. Then she seemed to peck it back under her. It was chirping and she was clucking back. They seem to be acquainted now! I was a little paranoid...

Thanks! I was planning on not intervening, but I hope my broody knows what to do. I happened to be nearby when it hatched. I went inside and came back out a few minutes later to check. The chick was lying beside her (cold) chirping loudly! Broody didn't seem to be doing anything so I pushed it...

It hatched! My broody has a chick!

Looks like my broody will only end up with one chick. 2 eggs were too old and the other 2 may be as well, also could be infertile. Do you think it will be okay by itself? A little worried about it socially... If chicks were sold in feedstores here like in the US, I would get a couple more to...

Good for her! I hope you get even more! My hen is extremely alert too. Eating out of my hand but not interested in leaving the nest. She clucks to her pipped egg constantly.

The egg is pipped!

It wasn't pipped last night, just tapping on the shell! This morning the same egg is chirping quite loudly and still tapping. Expect it will pip soon. Day 21, hear nothing from the other eggs. Edit: This is going to be a long process, I just realized. I might not have a chick for 24 hours if...

I just went back again to check on that egg. It definitely is tapping and I heard a faint chirp! It's one of the fresher eggs. Even just one chick will be a success. I want to put eggs under another broody but I won't do it unless I get something out of this hatch.

My small flashlight doesn't have batteries currently. I've been using a larger one. Nothing happened as of yet, but I went out and tried to candle. Only one I could see through was the older, paler Marans egg--wasn't good. But, I held other eggs up to my ear, and I'm pretty sure I heard one...