Broody Hen Thread!

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16 paws said:
Wowsers, thats a lot of chicks I would love to see the mamas covering that many, how cute
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I'll have to see if I can get a picture of it -there are chicks sticking out of every nook and cranny! And the ones who can't get under sit on the mommas backs, wings, and I even saw one perched on a mommas head... Lol
 
I had a broody hen, she is a buff orpington, and after a couple weeks of her puffing up and shrieking when I removed eggs I decided to let her give it a try. I made the mistake of not marking the date on my calendar. It's been a while and and I'm now starting to get a batch hatching from my incubator but still no chicks under her. I'm going to let them go for a bit more but if for some reason all those eggs were bad or died, how long until she gives up on them? I'm thinking I could switch the eggs out with some of the chicks I'm getting from my incubator but I would like to give her the chance if the ones under her are still viable. Has anyone had this happen before? Will she give up after a while or just keep sitting? Thanks for any help.
 
Therrm said:
I had a broody hen, she is a buff orpington, and after a couple weeks of her puffing up and shrieking when I removed eggs I decided to let her give it a try. I made the mistake of not marking the date on my calendar. It's been a while and and I'm now starting to get a batch hatching from my incubator but still no chicks under her. I'm going to let them go for a bit more but if for some reason all those eggs were bad or died, how long until she gives up on them? I'm thinking I could switch the eggs out with some of the chicks I'm getting from my incubator but I would like to give her the chance if the ones under her are still viable. Has anyone had this happen before? Will she give up after a while or just keep sitting? Thanks for any help.
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Don't give up hope on your eggs too soon. A dedicated broody will not give up easily, especially when she has already had eggs under her to hatch.

Have you candled any of her eggs? Might be worth a try. If there are viable chicks in the eggs you will have an idea then if they are going to hatch. At near term for them you won't be able to see much other than a large black area in the egg but you will be able to see if there has been early quitting or infertile eggs.

There is an excellent article a few pages back that a member wrote about brooding a hen and how things work with them. I greatly recommend it. Much depends on your hen and whether or not her eggs are going to hatch.

Just an FYI. My hen set 11 eggs. 2 hatched on day 21, 4 on day 22 and 2 on day 23. Chicks, I have learned, are working on their own time table.
 
microchick said:
Don't give up hope on your eggs too soon. A dedicated broody will not give up easily, especially when she has already had eggs under her to hatch.

Have you candled any of her eggs? Might be worth a try. If there are viable chicks in the eggs you will have an idea then if they are going to hatch. At near term for them you won't be able to see much other than a large black area in the egg but you will be able to see if there has been early quitting or infertile eggs.

There is an excellent article a few pages back that a member wrote about brooding a hen and how things work with them. I greatly recommend it. Much depends on your hen and whether or not her eggs are going to hatch.

Just an FYI. My hen set 11 eggs. 2 hatched on day 21, 4 on day 22 and 2 on day 23. Chicks, I have learned, are working on their own time table.
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X2

Alternative pending the candling results...if all or most are duds then put whatever is viable into your incubator to finish and graft your incubator chicks to the broody...but the grafting should be done as soon as possible, preferably as soon as dry and fluffy and you will need to use general grafting precautions.

Use the search option to look up the phrase 'stages' under my user name and also 'graft' ...should give you quite a few posts to review.
 
Here is wire cage momma hen and babies. Caught them out from momma yesterday b4 noon.
:D
700
 
Our chicks spent their first night away from momma without any problems and were eagerly waiting at the door for me to deliver their morning oatmeal and scrambled eggs. I think the first things Aggie taught them were food, water, danger,dirt bath, and finally Treat Lady. Everything else wasn't important.
 
microchick said:
Our chicks spent their first night away from momma without any problems and were eagerly waiting at the door for me to deliver their morning oatmeal and scrambled eggs. I think the first things Aggie taught them were food, water, danger,dirt bath, and finally Treat Lady. Everything else wasn't important.
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Sounds about right...broody babies seem good at knowing where the treats come from. Sign of a good broody and a spoiler for a human! LOL
 

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