Broody Hen Thread!

[BLT79]

I need some advice. I am only a year into having chickens. It appears I had two hens go broody today. Even though the hens have 2 nesting boxes, they have never laid in them. They chose a corner in the coop to lay their eggs. I have 4 hens, 1 roo, and 1 duck(who thinks he's a chicken), in that coop and pen. I was not prepared for this as I like to be well informed and research a lot before new adventures! Since it's only day 1 I knew the fastest and most accurate info would be found here. I just collected 14 eggs yesterday so they can't be laying on many eggs right now. Thanks for all help!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

BLT79: Do you want the Hens to set on the eggs and hatch chicks or do you want to break them of their broodiness? What sort of advice are you wanting at this time?

 

[philyaw539]

Sorry to jump right into this thread but I honestly think broodies are the best way to 'incubator' eggs/chicks. Yes I have an incubator but I also keep Black Cochin bantams and Buff Silkie bantams so as soon as they go broody I slip eggs under them because they do 100% better than humans do! I love broody hens and it passes that "broody gene" to those chicks which will usually make those chicks go broody more often!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

AHHHHH!! I just did my 8 pm check on Abby and I could swear something is going on! The other chickens are in bed, so it is pretty quiet outside and if I stick my head near Abby, I can hear a noise, almost like a thump every so often. A lot of the times this happened, Abby started making a low clucking noise.
We might have an egg hatching!

Yep...sounds like that is what is happening.

In answer to your question before...how close to day 21 for hatching does depend upon certain variables...breed types, weather (how cold it has been), how fresh the eggs were...but generally if eggs are set at the same time and are of the same breed, you have hatching on days 20 and 21 with the last hatching within 12 hours of the first...give or take.

My experiences
Lady of McCamley

 

[DarynA146]

it is the first time my hens are hatching eggs and only one hatched out of 5, and with another first timer she hatched 2 out of 8. Is there a problem?

 

[DarynA146]

by the way it is day 26 and I'm abit worried?

 

[Alaskan]

by the way it is day 26 and I'm abit worried?

Unfortunately, unless you miscounted, you are not getting anything.

On the off chance that you counted wrong, I would candle the eggs before tossing them. And, if you think you can handle it, after making sure they are not alive, you can crack them all open. Cracking them open means that you can at least have a better guess as to why you got nothing.

it is the first time my hens are hatching eggs and only one hatched out of 5, and with another first timer she hatched 2 out of 8. Is there a problem?

Same as above, you don't know you have a problem unless you crack open the ones that didn't hatch.

If the eggs are clear, then maybe they didn't even get fertilized.

 

[KinkyMKD]

I heard from some folks(which are longer than me into chickens) that first food newly hatched chicks will eat should be boiled mashed egg.Is it true?
my chicks should start hatching Saturday and Sunday!Cant wait

 

[BLT79]

My husband said to let them sit. So I would say that is the advice I need to go with! Haha!

 

[mollybuck]

My husband said to let them sit. So I would say that is the advice I need to go with! Haha!

if you have 4 hens and pulled 14 eggs, how long were they sitting on them? they might have already started.. maybe day 4?if you were going to let them sit, i would have left the eggs! JMO tho. check to see how many they have, and let them do their thing! I love my broody silkie, she is doing such a good job so far!