Broody Hen started sitting 05/06/11--Anyone else with the same? PIC

[tls_ranch]

Black copper marans would be cool I hope your hen takes them

My broody did a really good job she hatched 17/17 but stepped on the first chick that hatched. She's being good to the 16 chicks. It's funny to watch her because there is not a lot of room with all of them under her, LOL. Her sister is sitting on 14 eggs due next week.

 

[deborah]

What nice pictures. And what a great success. We've never had a hen with that many. What breed are the chicks? And the mother hen?

The copper marans hatched today and I just got in from putting them under the mother hen. She squawked when I first reached under her. As I put a chick in, I removed an egg. At the end, I left one egg. I plan to take it out in the morning.

I'll have to make sure I get up extra early to check on her. Here's to hoping they imprint, on both sides.

 

[tls_ranch]

I'm sure she'll take them fine I bet after all this time sitting she's glad something "hatched" LOL. My broody hen is a barnevelder x BLR wyandotte cross. She's part of my project to make Blue laced Barnevelders. "Her" chicks are all Barnevelders. I wanted to hatch some more eggs from my best hens so I gave her and her sister some because they were so determined to be broody. I had to make them get of the next every day or so to eat, drink and poop. They just refused to get off the nests.

Good luck with your babies.. Post some pics when they are settled with their new momma
Trisha

 

[deborah]

The chicks and mama hen have bonded. This is only our second broody hen, so I don't have a lot of experience, and it is her first time. But I think she has a lot of learn about being a mama hen. Right now we've moved her and the chicks into our secure run with food and water. She is staying hunched down. She clucks to the chicks and they start eatting what she's eatting, but she hasn't showed them how to scratch yet. I'm sure that will come. I'm just comparing her to our other broody hen (sad story; she died last year.) We will put them back into the brood box for the night. I'm not sure how long to wait before letting them into the flock. With our other broody hen, we would do that the 2nd day, but she was high in the pecking order and other hens didn't bother her. This hen isn't even a year old yet, so I'm not sure she be able to get the respect of the rest of the flock so easily. We will play it be ear.

We had a big disappointment when we broke open the eggs she had been sitting on. One had a chick near hatching. I took 3 out from under her last night and the last one around 5:30AM this morning. I'm not sure which this egg was. But once we broke open the eggs, this is what we found. I'm assuming it died because it got cold. But today is day 25; maybe it died last week. We had candled the eggs Saturday (day 22) and if we moved them, it seems like there was just liquid in them. I keep questioning that and wondering if we didn't look closely at the 4th egg and just assumed it was the same.

I was blaming the failed hatch on the eggs getting cold one time early on, but now I'm thinking maybe 3 of the eggs weren't fertile. We have 22 hens and 1 rooster. We see him breeding the hens, but maybe he's just not getting to everyone very well. The rooster is a Buff Oprington. I'm thinking the mother had to either be one of our Barred Rocks or Black Astralorps.

 

[tls_ranch]

It takes them a day or two to really start moving around and showing the chicks how to forage. The first days they tend to stay put and just cover the chicks. Keep food and water close to her and she'll do fine.

 

[L0rraine]

Quote:
I had three Porcelain D'uccle chicks last year that would ride on their adoptive Momma's back. Wish I had gotten pictures.