1st. Time broody hen hatching

[Hawgon]

I have done alot of incubator hatches but I have a very broody Serama hen and was wondering about letting her hatch some of her own. I have 3 Serama hens and 1 rooster. I have hatched some of their eggs before and have about 80% fertility rate. Is their anything special I need to do to let.her hatch her own? I am a total rookie at this so any and all info would help. Thanks in advance.

 

[thebanthams]

Just leave her alone let her be a momma ! Just make sure she is safe from other predators. Good luck ! Make sure you mark on your calender when she is due.

 

[Hawgon]

Thanks for the reply.... I have them in a very secure tractor from predators but how will my other non-Serama chickens be with the chicks once they hatch? My grand-daughters and wife are really excited for a momma hen and her chicks to be in our own yard...

 

[thebanthams]

I would try to keep the other chickens away from the babies until they get a little older about 3 weeks. Some hens do try to eat their babies. it happened to me.

 

[hrhta812]

My first attempt at letting a broody hen hatch eggs didn't go well due to my lack of knowledge. We got one chick out of it and she's laying now, so that's a great feeling. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough reading beforehand, so I didn't learn about collecting eggs ahead of time and starting several under the hen at the same time so you get the same hatch date. I also didn't have the hens with the rooster long enough before starting so we had a lot of infertile eggs.

We left momma with her chick for a couple weeks before separating them, but we had the two of them separate from the other chickens for safety's sake. When we were about a week from what we thought would be hatch time, we very carefully moved the hen, nest and all, to a separate pen. Her nest was made inside a plastic bin turned on its side, so we were able to just pick up the whole thing and move it.

We ended up buying a few chicks that were about 10 days younger, so we put our hatchling in with them; my husband tried to put one of the new chicks in with the hen and hatchling, but she attacked it instantly [hubby immediately had one of those "should have listened to my wife" moments!]. We do want our chickens to be friendly and comfortable being handled, and now I've read that not leaving them with momma is better for that.

I would just advise you to do lots of reading about it before you get started, so you can get the most possible eggs to hatch. Good luck!

 

[Hawgon]

My first attempt at letting a broody hen hatch eggs didn't go well due to my lack of knowledge. We got one chick out of it and she's laying now, so that's a great feeling. Unfortunately, I didn't do enough reading beforehand, so I didn't learn about collecting eggs ahead of time and starting several under the hen at the same time so you get the same hatch date. I also didn't have the hens with the rooster long enough before starting so we had a lot of infertile eggs.

We left momma with her chick for a couple weeks before separating them, but we had the two of them separate from the other chickens for safety's sake. When we were about a week from what we thought would be hatch time, we very carefully moved the hen, nest and all, to a separate pen. Her nest was made inside a plastic bin turned on its side, so we were able to just pick up the whole thing and move it.

We ended up buying a few chicks that were about 10 days younger, so we put our hatchling in with them; my husband tried to put one of the new chicks in with the hen and hatchling, but she attacked it instantly [hubby immediately had one of those "should have listened to my wife" moments!]. We do want our chickens to be friendly and comfortable being handled, and now I've read that not leaving them with momma is better for that.

I would just advise you to do lots of reading about it before you get started, so you can get the most possible eggs to hatch. Good luck!

Thanks for all the information. I am going to give my grand-daughter and wife a bunch of "what-if's" just so they are all ready in case it isn't a "Little House On the Prairie" moment. I am going to do some more reading and see where it ends up. I have had really good fertility rate with the eggs I have hatched in the incubator but I am concerned about the other chickens and I may have to build a "Hatching" tractor I guess. I will keep this thread updated,