Lilyofsalen
Songster
- Jul 2, 2020
- 229
- 263
- 111
It all started with my smaller wildtype hen . . . I noticed her building a nest and sitting on eggs in the "hen cave" but she was leaving for too long and too often for me to take her seriously. Then I opened an egg that had developed somewhere between days 2 and 3 while making omelets one morning. I decided to take her more seriously. I marked some eggs and took all the newly laid ones out twice a day since it was a community nest. I candled about five days later and found that the eggs were five days in development, however, she still left the nest more often than I liked. I hoped that another, more determined hen, would take her place. One did.
One of my tamest (if not THE tamest) hens took over and showed some very promising signs. She refused to leave the nest until I removed most of the eggs from under her (to sort the marked eggs from the newly laid eggs) and then she would get up and roll them back inside! One time she just gave up on rolling them, fluffed herself up like a broody chicken, and plopped herself on where I moved them! She is constantly building/maintaining the nest and stays on the nest for most of the day (but she still gets up to eat, drink, poop, and dust bathe for short periods). I watched her behavior for four days before deciding that I was confident in the consistency of her broody behavior (and I was also tired of disturbing her nest to pull out the new eggs), so I put up a barrier so other hens wouldn't disturb her nest. She has food and water in her little area and I let her out at least once a day so she can run around and stretch.
I candled her eggs again tonight and I believe they are on day 13, which means they are due to hatch soon. Does anyone have any advice on what to do when the chicks hatch? I'm unsure whether it would be a good idea to let my broody hen and her future chicks to mingle with the flock. I just looked at the forecast and it looks like it will be rainy when the chicks hatch so I think I will move them inside but I am unsure how to do so without really upsetting them. On another note, I just saw some mice prancing around the aviary two nights ago. I am working on getting rid of them but does anyone think they pose a special threat to my broody hen and her newly hatched chicks? I would hate to come out one morning and find a chick murder scene.
Also for those who think it's ridiculous that a Coturnix hen is interested in hatching eggs in January--I live in one of the mildest climates in SoCal. The days are pretty warm (but not too warm right now--70s) and the nights are cool (40s-50s). It almost never reaches freezing temperatures around here.
One of my tamest (if not THE tamest) hens took over and showed some very promising signs. She refused to leave the nest until I removed most of the eggs from under her (to sort the marked eggs from the newly laid eggs) and then she would get up and roll them back inside! One time she just gave up on rolling them, fluffed herself up like a broody chicken, and plopped herself on where I moved them! She is constantly building/maintaining the nest and stays on the nest for most of the day (but she still gets up to eat, drink, poop, and dust bathe for short periods). I watched her behavior for four days before deciding that I was confident in the consistency of her broody behavior (and I was also tired of disturbing her nest to pull out the new eggs), so I put up a barrier so other hens wouldn't disturb her nest. She has food and water in her little area and I let her out at least once a day so she can run around and stretch.
I candled her eggs again tonight and I believe they are on day 13, which means they are due to hatch soon. Does anyone have any advice on what to do when the chicks hatch? I'm unsure whether it would be a good idea to let my broody hen and her future chicks to mingle with the flock. I just looked at the forecast and it looks like it will be rainy when the chicks hatch so I think I will move them inside but I am unsure how to do so without really upsetting them. On another note, I just saw some mice prancing around the aviary two nights ago. I am working on getting rid of them but does anyone think they pose a special threat to my broody hen and her newly hatched chicks? I would hate to come out one morning and find a chick murder scene.
Also for those who think it's ridiculous that a Coturnix hen is interested in hatching eggs in January--I live in one of the mildest climates in SoCal. The days are pretty warm (but not too warm right now--70s) and the nights are cool (40s-50s). It almost never reaches freezing temperatures around here.
I am really glad you started this thread, DH and I were just talking about expanding into quail. We already have chickens, were discussing how frequently quail go broody and what we would need to get started. I don't have a bator and have always hatched using a broody. I wish to continue with broodies. I am sorry I can't be much help to you, as I am just starting to amass info, but if you don't mind I have a question or two.
