Broody due 12/29, anyone else??? It's not looking good :-(

[kathyinmo]

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I LOVE your broody picture! Don't ya just love those determined broodies? LOL

 

[justmeandtheflock]

Thanks

I do love it! She is the tiniest, sweetest bird most of the time but the other birds figured out real quick to stay away from her on the nest. She sounds like a cat when she growls at them

I just love the clucking noises she is makeing now.

 

[ZooMummzy]

My Partridge Silkie is due a week later. I was late getting eggs under her (no rooster here) due to the shipping time of them. She is house chicken so it's a bit easier to keep an eye on things, even though I really have no idea what to keep an eye on since this is my first broody/hatching hen

I was just happy she accepted the eggs. She has been sitting on plastic ones for over two weeks now. Fingers are crossed she follows through.

 

[rosco]

The majority of my eggs are set to hatch the 29th. i candled tonight on day 8.5 and there, suprisingly, is development in several if not many of the eggs. we'll see. (what is that saying?)

It is Awesome that your chicken will he hatching them naturally.

 

[justmeandtheflock]

Here is a pic I snapped this morning of my girl in her lego bin

I haven't candled the eggs yet

 

[adorable]

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It's not that cold here!!! It's been going into the teens at night and 20's during the day but then we get 40's mixed in there too. We had about a foot of snow over the last week but then it rained so it is just about gone now.

Here is a picture of them. I started off with one being broody. Now i have three.

 

[justmeandtheflock]

How's everyone's broodies doing??? I candled a little while ago and had to pull her 2 brown leghorn eggs because they were clear but her EE egg looks to be full so

in 3 more days Bunny will have a baby so she can go back to eating. She is so skinny right now I am worried about her. If this chick doesn't hatch I am going to have to find her one fast.

 

[JestersEye]

I also have a very committed broody hen, despite the cold weather we've been having here in NJ!

Our head hen (a light blue Orpington named Sky) went broody about 19 days ago. She's barely been spotted out of the nest box since then, at least (and then only for VERY short periods). She started out sitting on four eggs, but I had to remove two that were clear when I candled them a few days ago. I left her with two that I HOPE will hatch sometime in the next few days to a week! One of them appears to show more signs of development than the other, so I'm not positive the second one is still viable. At least one seems to have chick movement, though, so I am optimistic about it's survival. I don't know what I will do if she doesn't have at least one baby chick to take care of, after all her efforts.

I really don't think she'll EVER give up on that nest unless something hatches for her! I'm a little concerned because the egg doesn't look as ready to hatch at this point, as I had hoped. Could the cold weather be retarding the incubation process somewhat, or should I have started estimating the gestation period later than the first day that I noticed her staying in her nest box?

I had a feeling this hen would eventually be the first of our girls to go broody, because she had "fooled" me into thinking she was ready to hatch a clutch twice during the summer. In both of those cases, she sat for a few days or almost a week before giving up and going back to her daily routine. This time, though, I could tell right off that she had finally figured things out and was acting more serious. She's been so determined. I became concerned for her nutrition, so I even moved some food and water up near her nest box so she wouldn't have to go very far to keep her strength up. I don't want to disturb her too much, but she's been okay about letting me feel her eggs every few days to check on things. I plan on moving her and her chick(s) to a secure "brooder pen" that I made, so they have a warm safe place with their own food and water source, away from the rest of the flock (but still nearby within the coop). That way, I can be sure the chick stays near a heat light and is unable to leave the warmth of the coop to play in the snow. So far, the whole flock is refusing to leave the coop much in this weather, but I'm not taking any chances with our first "natural" born chick(s).

 

[justmeandtheflock]

I was wondering the same thing about the cold slowing down the eggs

Hopefully both of our girls will have a baby in the next few days. I would hate for her to have to sit for another 3 weeks in this cold. I do have her in a cage so the baby will be safe from getting outside but the rest of my chicks have yet to venture any further than peeking out the door and they have had access for weeks. My big birds don't seem to care what is going on outside, the only time they stay in is when I don't let them out because it is just too cold to have the door open for the babies. They were out all day in the cold rain today but the snow was melting so they were able to see the ground and scratch around. Good luck with your babies!!!

 

[JestersEye]

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LOL Ain't that the truth?!