Broody hen and eggs: Hatching journal! *UPDATE: PICS! 3 HATCHED!!!*

[77horses]

Thanks!!!!

I took a picture of most all the eggs that didn't develop. 1 of them had a baby chick in it and it had somehow died while developing. But the rest just weren't fertile. We threw them all out before they started to leak or explode:

These are some of the eggs were threw out:

And here's another pic:

Broody hen and her chicks:

 

[77horses]

Updates:

Chicks are doing good so far. Momma hen has been getting out of the nest occasionally to let her chicks explore and learn and to get a drink and some food.

All seem healthy and active.

I will get pics of them this weekend when I see them!

 

[coolchickens]

Guess what?! I've got peeping going on under broody mom. I have day 19 marked but I guess I was a little off. I went out and sat next to her and started hearing peeping, then louder, now there are two peeping noises going on. There are 14 eggs under her, not sure if all will hatch. Last hatch I had to remove all 7 (duds) and replace with 1 day olds from the hatchery. Very excited about this hatch. They will be 1/2 big Cochins & 1/2 Australopes (rooster) or possibly pure Cochins from other roo. who also bred her. I may sit there all night waiting for a look. That's the one down fall in using a broody hen, they don't let you look under them to see what's happening!!! Darn Let you know how many hatch when she's done. Sharon

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Wow! that must be exciting!

I hope they all hatch for you!

 

[77horses]

OK so our final results:

*Total # of eggs put under hen: around 15+

*Hatched: 3

*Lost during incubation: 2

*Lost during hatching: 1

*Lostoverall) 3

*Dud eggs: 10+

So, not including the dud eggs...6 would have hatched if they had made it, so 3 divide by 6 is.... 0.5, so that's 50%. That's not too bad for a hatch rate. Although if I include all the dud eggs, it's around 15-20% or less... Oh well. it was our first try at hatching with a broody hen.

And we lost so many because of them being infertile.

 

[birdlover]

Congratulations on your new baby chickies!

I know just how excited you feel - been there, done that! Even though only 3 hatched (out of 6 - I wouldn't even consider the duds), it's a day to celebrate. Think how awful it would have been if none hatched. Enjoy those sweet babies!!!

 

[coolchickens]

77horses, glad you got your 3 baby chicks! I wouldn't count the infertile ones in your count, that's the roo's fault! My broody's last hatch was 7 eggs (all infertile, young roo.) pulled and replaced with 1 day hatchry chicks but at least I got an unusual, pretty bunch of 6 golden laced wyandottes which was fun. This hatch is ALL hers so I'm very excited. Today my count went from 2 last night to 10 this afternoon. Still 4 eggs under her that haven't hatched so don't know if I should wait a while longer or pull those eggs. I put another thread out about that for help.

 

[77horses]

Quote:
Yeah it's the rooster's fault that some were infertile, but counting all the fertile ones(including the ones that didn't make it), it would be 50%, which isn't terribly bad.

I would say that that's pretty good for a first try, right?
Good luck with your broody hen and eggs!

 

[coolchickens]

Yeah, I'd say you did pretty good! Now enjoy those little chicks and take lots of pics to remember as they grow SO fast. I remember mine when they were about 1 wk old or so and I gave them a earth worm and one on ea. end tugging away, it was so funny. When they got a little older they just grabbed it and tried to out run the rest, no tug of war. I should have taken a picture. Have fun. Talk to you later. Sharon