Broodies on eggs? Broodies with babies? Post here.

[Teresaann24]

good luck ohmychickies...Don't give up just yet one of my hens eggs didnt hatch till day 26

I have 7 days to go till mine are due to hatch... I am so excited

My girl is wanting chicks so badly she has been sitting over 31 days now. Her 1st try didnt go so good....

So we have 4 promising eggs and I am PRAYING she gets her babies this time.

 

[OHMYCHICKIES]

When she got up to eat this morning, I was looking at the eggs and gently took one and put it on top of another - (she's got lots on top on others) and I saw that egg rocking and rolling...I think it was the one under neath it that was making it move, not sure but I think we'll have at least one soon

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I have about a dozen mixed-breed bantams that go broody periodically. When they do I let them set for a few days on the nest they've made, then one night I'll swap out their bantam eggs for standard-sized eggs from the rest of the flock. We get nice mixed-breed chickens, the pullets grow up to be good layers and the cockerels make fine dinner guests.

I always try to either move them to a secluded spot or fence them off from the rest of the flock. They have more success if they're not interrupted by other hens wanting to lay in their nest, and also if they don't have too much room to roam on their breaks, and mistakenly return to the wrong nest and leave their developing eggs to get cold.

Sometimes I'll try to slip them & their nest into a box or bucket a few days after they've begun to brood. Then, if they stay in that container, I'll move the whole container to a better spot the next night. Then, if they stay in that container in the new spot, I'll switch their eggs for the ones I want them to hatch.

I don't like to disturb my broodies by candling their eggs. Neither do I take them off their nests to eat or drink. I just leave food & water handy & let them obey their instincts.

I have 2 banties setting on eggs that should hatch today or tomorrow. This morning I saw one peeking underneath her and making soft bukking sounds. I'm hoping to see lil' fuzzy faces peeking out soon!

 

[chickie momma di]

congrats!!!

my buff orph just went broody also. we didn't know what was going on at first (we are new at this) but thanks to byc we know she's ok & just broody as heck. so this is what we did..........
we weren't sure at first and it took us a couple of days to track down some borrowed eggs but, she is now sitting on 5 ( was 6 but she kicked one out) mix breed eggs. They are brown. She wen't broody on monday pm which is when she laid her last egg. Do you guys think this will work?

We feel so bad that we ate all of her eggs but we had no way of knowing what she was up to until it was too late.
any input would be appriciated.
I am soooo excited!

 

[smom1976]

here is a pic of my girl all moved and sitting on her eggies..

Still dont know if they are fertil..

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Your setup looks great and she looks very happy! Mine was similar but I used a box that was a little higher, same cage though. Each day she kicked out at least one egg until I found her roosting on the edge of the box. She's back in the coop now. The other broody is still doing well and sitting on 5 of her eggs and 7 of the mixed that I snuck under her last night.

I did read in my Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens book that you shouldn't give them laying feed while they are brooding because they don't need the calcium since they aren't laying eggs. Says to give them scratch grains instead. I haven't seen her eat, unless she's doing it while I'm not home) but when I fed the others scratch last night, she actually jumped off the nest, ate some, and hopped back on. I'm hoping this is a good sign.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

It seems that since chickens no longer "need" to have broody instincts for the survival of their species, and since many production breeds have had that instinct bred out of them, that those hens who still retain that instinct do it with varying degrees of expertise. Some will be fantastic setters, committed to their egg babies through all kinds of weather, who will attempt to hatch golf balls if that's all they can get, who will tend their hatched chicks for months after they hatch, etc. Others will not do as well, may quit the job halfway through the incubation period, will leave their chicks after only a few weeks.

And I've never thought about not feeding them layer feed while they're setting. It seems they don't need to eat much anyway, they're not being very active, I don't think they'll be ingesting too much calcium for those 3 weeks. It would seem that a diet of scratch grains would be too rich for a setting hen, or might tempt her to eat more than she was hungry for. Once the eggs hatch I switch to chick feed for both Mama & chicks.

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
OMg!! I will have to post a pic of my hen! The hen and set up look exactly the same!! How funny!!

We switched the eggs on her tonight. So we are at square one. The 14 mutt eggs she was setting are in an incubator at a friend's house tonight and our hen is now on 12 Golden Cuckoo Marans eggs, 2 Wheaten Ameraucanas, and a couple of my hens' mutt eggs (fresh ones).

I noticed, when we picked her up to do the switch, that she has lost some weight. I expected her to lose a little, but she has only been there for 6 days and now she has 21 to go!!! Is she going to be alright??? Is this normal?

Also, she pooped!!! OMg!!! The poop was bigger than the eggs!! I was wondering, because she hadn't pooped in a few days. Wow, did it stink!

I hope she is eating. She has it available to her. I know she is drinking water, cause it was almost gone.

Keeping my fingers crossed about the whole situation!!

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
As for broodiness - this is what I am worried about. That is why I set up a classroom to do the incubating. This is my hens first time and I am worried that she will quit on my expensive eggs!!

I know that scratch grains are "hot" as they say. Scratch is high in grain sugar and will heat up the birds. We in Phx, AZ don't feed scratch in the summer for that reason. So maybe it warms the hen in the chilly weather, helping her keep her eggs warm.

We have been alternating pellets with crumbles to see if it helps with the picking they have been doing. Read that crumbles are associated with less picking.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

We feed ours crumbles and I don't think it helps with the picking. If it does, I'd hate to see what they'd look like otherwise!