Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

Can I ask abour candling the eggs under my broody. My husband thinks I should just leave her to it and not try and candle the eggs at all. But i'm worried about exploding bad eggs or if she sits for all that time and none are fertile or something.

Should I candle them? As a first timer, what would be the best time to try and candle them? Can I do it with just a torch? Some of the eggs were quite dark and some were blue and I'm reading they are harder to see. And how do I get them from under the broody without upsetting her too much? I haven't seen her off the nest for the past 4 days (on day 3 now), although she must have got off at some point as there was poop in the run and I think some food has gone.

I agree it is a preference of whether to candle or not.

Blue and dark brown are especially hard to candle. I personally prefer to do those at day 3 to 5 as it is easier to see the singular embryo dot with map lines of veins. By day 10, with those dark or blue eggs, it is really, really hard to distinguish from shell and embryo growth. By 14, you can sometimes see the growing air sac.

I am not sophisticated in my candling though. I use a cheap LED flashlight with a cupped hand standing outside the nest. Gently lift, scoop, candle, return. Hen will be grumpy, but shouldn't protest much as you will be doing this in the dark of night. I haven't tried it yet, but you can place a washer on the face of the flashlight to focus the beam better for brighter light into the egg.

I tend to let my blue and dark eggs run the course unless I make effort to really try to candle with better equipment.

On the other hand, if you really want chicks, candeling can tell you if they were fertile, and candeling early at day 3 to 5 gives you ample time to reset with new eggs if a majority are a bust (You would need to reset all eggs otherwise you'd have a staggered hatch unless you supplement with an incubator).

LofMc

 

[gimmie birdies]

I am only at measuring air sack on some of the dark ones. The 2 black dots were clears. the rest are good. due 16th some, the rest due 20th.

 

[katatonic123]

Don't forget the broody hiss and puff.

Tomorrow's lesson will be how to do the grumpy broody bark!

 

[fisherlady]

Don't forget the broody hiss and puff.

Absolutely, a required course for broody graduate school!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Momma, the Queen Mum, had the littles out today in the main run. I opened things up as my bantam Cochins were getting a bit restless having been locked up for 3 days straight. I figured momma would either keep the babes up in the hutch or bring them into the run.

She decided run. The Queen Mum (Buff Silkie) with her 2 female Backyard Stars (Barnevelder/California Grey cross). Aunty Banty Cochins Mimsy (left) and Rosey (right) are behaving perfectly around the babies. The Queen Mum is both a good mommy and a good mentor to her younger handmaids.




and for those who have doubts that broodies and babies and winter go together....I offer the following photo that is a panorama of the covered pen with the snow and freezing rain falling outside it...babies, who hatched late Wednesday/early Thursday, so 4 days old, have been scratching some, then momma sits and warms them:




I enjoy mommies with their babies in the run.

LofMc

 

[fisherlady]

Momma, the Queen Mum, had the littles out today in the main run. I opened things up as my bantam Cochins were getting a bit restless having been locked up for 3 days straight. I figured momma would either keep the babes up in the hutch or bring them into the run.

She decided run. The Queen Mum (Buff Silkie) with her 2 female Backyard Stars (Barnevelder/California Grey cross). Aunty Banty Cochins Mimsy (left) and Rosey (right) are behaving perfectly around the babies. The Queen Mum is both a good mommy and a good mentor to her younger handmaids.




and for those who have doubts that broodies and babies and winter go together....I offer the following photo that is a panorama of the covered pen with the snow and freezing rain falling outside it...babies, who hatched late Wednesday/early Thursday, so 4 days old, have been scratching some, then momma sits and warms them:




I enjoy mommies with their babies in the run.

LofMc

Beautiful! And such a wonderful example of just how resilient and hardy a broody and her babies can be.

These are two very lucky chicks to have such a wonderful flock of young hens to grow up with!

 

[daxigait]

[COLOR=333333]It's official....2 beautiful baby girls...Barnevelder roo/Cal Grey hen sex link cross....all black, no head spot, and some lovely dark brown bleed through.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]The brown egg was a no go as was suspicion all along. It had no chick developed only yellow egg yolk.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Momma Silkie and babies are doing fine even with Aunty Bantam Cochins pushing through the barrier and snuggling with momma when they came in to roost. (I did remove Aunties again for the night as I don't trust one of them to be kind to the chicks until I observe her better...she chased the chicks last time when I tried to reintroduce them after a bad hatching and incubating them for a few days....and she had hatched them!)[/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]But 2 beautiful baby girls, all active, lively, and momma calling them to come back under when I checked tonight (day 22) to clean up and count. The Queen Mum is such a good momma.  [/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]Happy New Year![/COLOR]

[COLOR=333333]LofMc[/COLOR]

congratulations! Any pictures??

 

[JennyBchickadee]

Ok guys this is my first time hatching with a broody. Today is day 21 and I havent heard anything yet. My hen is young and this is her first hatch also. She has been extremely dedicated to sitting. I only had 4 eggs under her. My question is- Can I peek and see whats going on with the eggs at this point or is it with an incubator and you risk shrink wrapping chicks that havent fully hatched??? The suspense is killing me!! I even built her a whole new coop so she could be separate from the other chickens when they hatch! SO...CAN I peek...???

 

[fisherlady]

Ok guys this is my first time hatching with a broody. Today is day 21 and I havent heard anything yet. My hen is young and this is her first hatch also. She has been extremely dedicated to sitting. I only had 4 eggs under her. My question is- Can I peek and see whats going on with the eggs at this point or is it with an incubator and you risk shrink wrapping chicks that havent fully hatched??? The suspense is killing me!! I even built her a whole new coop so she could be separate from the other chickens when they hatch! SO...CAN I peek...???

You should wait, they certainly can shrink wrap if humidity is lost. I know it is difficult, but give her a chance, with weather being cold they will stay under mama for a day or two.

 

[JennyBchickadee]

You should wait, they certainly can shrink wrap if humidity is lost. I know it is difficult, but give her a chance, with weather being cold they will stay under mama for a day or two.

ok I will try and be patient! Would I be able to hear chicka chirping if they hatch and are under her still or will they be quiet since they are warm and snuggly? Lol