Broodies on eggs? Broodies with babies? Post here.

[gckiddhouse]

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I think I would wait until at least the end of the day. Not that I know squat about hatching eggs.

I also think that if your eggs don't hatch, you should go get a couple chicks for your broody so she thinks they did. She can't keep sittin'! There are chicks at our local feed stores now. I guess that probably isn't the case in most parts of the country.

 

[gckiddhouse]

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I am so glad you said that about her comb and wattles. I was wondering what the deal was with my broody's comb! It seems to be shriveling! I thought maybe it was frost bitten, but then reminded myself that we have not had any freezing temps, which would make frostbite pretty impossible. So, this is normal??? Is it because they are not eating well?

Oh, and mine did poop yesterday. Yay! I am not going to bother her, either, unless she goes three days without pooping again. Then I will get her up on the fourth day as I did before.
What I did do, was move her food. She is covered by a tarp at night and then in the morning we lift the front so she gets a little light. The food was right there by the gate of her cage and we realized that the other chickens were eating her food through the gate. This made it hard to tell if the broody was eating, and probably was making her nervous. So now the food is right next to her nest and I have seen her lean out and eat without coming off the nest. That is convenient for her. She does have to get up to get water as it is on the other side of the food.
So, not bothering her!!! Letting nature take care of things!!! Trying not to be nutty!!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Hey, I'm not going to criticize anyone for giving the care they feel that their chickens need. I just wanted to share my experiences with my broodies, and the success I've had with leaving them & their egglings more or less on their own. I've read others who insist that you MUST take the hens off and MAKE them eat/drink/poop and I wanted to add my opinion to the discussion.

I've got 3 hens on nests right now, and a 4th who looks ready to set.

 

[gckiddhouse]

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Don't you see, we need you to tell us these things. I know I would be out there obsessing if you didn't.

 

[what was i thinking]

i have one that had chicks hatch yesterday and the day before. everynight when i would go do night chores, she would run as fast as she could to get some food, then some water, then some food, then some water.... i would be done with my chores in 15 mins or so. i would tell her it is time for her to get back, turn off half the lights and she would run back and jump up into the nest.
last night i moved her down to the ground. made her a new nest and put her babies in there and she is fine. i put food and water out for them and everyone is eating and drinking, except the last one that was born just late last night. i think everything is going well.....
good luck.

 

[gckiddhouse]

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Oh, would you share some pics??? Congrats on the cutties!

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

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Oh, ghosh, I am so sorry. That's what happened to me the first time too. Only made worse when DH (not saying what the d stands for) said, "That's why they say don't count your chickens before they hatch." I admit to balling like a baby. I think you are right about it being a learning experience and hope you have more success in the future.

 

[what was i thinking]

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Oh, would you share some pics??? Congrats on the cutties!

i will try to get some today.

 

[Beau coop]

Hi everyone,
My broody bantam OEGB hatch 3 wonderful little EE's for me 36 hours ago. A fourth died in shell- pipped but did not zip. Poor thing!

I want to weigh in on the lifting off of the broody issue. I have now done both. I started lifting her off and letting her poop and eat- but then she did not know how to get back to her eggs. I would have to chase her down to get her back on the nest. Enough of that!

So I started leaving her to her own devices so to speak. Had food and water right next to her. And what do you know- she did get up to poop on her own. Nature- go figure!

Fast forward to last night. I brought my girl, nest box and all into the house a few days ago. I am a selfish chicken momma and wanted to watch the eggs hatch too. So after hatching, which I did not get to see as they hatch UNDER her.

I wanted to remove soiled material (she is in a very large dog crate with the top removed.) so I lifted her out of the nest first and then went to get the babies to her.

WELL!!!
My little miniature pinscher was standing a bit too close for Momma's liking and she went after my dog with a vengeance! She was in full attack mode. It was funny, scary, and amazing all at the same time.

To make matters worse- she hadn't been off the nest for about 2 days as the chicks hatched- and when she went after the dog she sprayed broody poop every where. Tons of it and did it STINK!!!! I opened all doors and had fans on- I did not care that it was 30 degrees and snowing. The stench! Ugh!

Good luck to everyone with your hatches. I got 3 out of 8 which is pretty good I think for eggs that were outside in freezing temps for 8 hours.

 

[Teresaann24]

OMG I am so excited!!! I went out and checked my broody this morning and I can hear the babies and all 4 eggs are piped. I am so excited!!!!!!!

I grabbed a quick pic of momma before I covered her back over to be left alone.

Here is Peppa