Broody Hen Thread!

[Junibutt]

I'm so glad that the chick is still viable. Personally, I would seriously consider putting the slow start on antibiotics...I'm not keen on using drugs but I've learned it can save a chick who's had a slow start...chilling and hard hatches lower the immune system and allow bacteria to grow, and you often don't see the full result until you take out a dead chick at day 5. EDITED TO ADD: with a valuable breed, especially if it is the only one you got, I'd error on the side of caution and use the antibiotics. I didn't used to do that, but I got tired of pulling out dead chicks from stress and chilling when I tried to graft fosters...a little antibiotics could have saved the day.

As to the others...hmmmm....that is a tricky one. I'd be tempted to give them some help if momma doesn't clean them up....have they had a chance to dust bathe yet? I'd prefer not to water bathe them as you risk chilling them. If you do, bathe in warm water with the mildest of shampoo and place in the brooder until they fluff again. Mom will be madder than, well, a wet hen, but they should reintegrate well in a couple of hours. You can try to hurry the process with a hair dryer set to warm, low....again only if you feel it is absolutely necessary to bathe them...I'd see if some dust bathing doesn't knock most of it off.

My thoughts.

Lady of McCamley

Shall I give her the antibiotic I have from the local feed-store?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Shall I give her the antibiotic I have from the local feed-store?

If it is water supplied that is they type I mean.

The Duramycin10 and the Sulmet are sold at feed stores...so I don't know what you have but typically whatever they have, if it is for chicken use, and you can put it in water, that should be just fine. Figure out the dosage on the package. I adjust for quart size as I make fresh up daily as it loses its punch pretty fast.

Lady of McCamley

 

[jajeanpierre]

Last egg hatched late this afternoon. Now, I hope they make it through the night. I had planned on leaving them in the coop and letting them free range when mama decided to take them out, but I am having second thoughts. I'll move them tomorrow into a separate coop and pen in my back yard. One fell out of the nest box this afternoon, so I put a board and bricks in front of the nest box to make it very difficult for the chicks to climb up and out.

I just can't believe they all hatched. To be honest, I didn't expect even one to hatch. It was only a two days ago I bought some chick starter--I almost only bought five pounds not expecting any to hatch.

Seven out of seven, what a good broody!

 

[jajeanpierre]

You can try to hurry the process with a hair dryer set to warm, low....again only if you feel it is absolutely necessary to bathe them...I'd see if some dust bathing doesn't knock most of it off.

My thoughts.

Lady of McCamley

I'd be really careful with a hair dryer. I had a dozen chicks just soak themselves in their water dish and then not get under the brooder. They got really chilled, two especially. I used a blow dryer on low and even used my hand to block it. I still must have burned the skin because the head and neck of one ended up sloughing off all the skin and feathers over the next week or so. I was surprised--my hand was there and it didn't feel hot to me. It had to have been too hot for their very thin delicate skin.

 

[Beanzie]

So I have, hold your breath, nine broody hens! That is what I get for owning Silkies and Cochins, I suppose! But I am seeking serious advice. I had ten Cochins in one building that had four nest boxes. Fine when they were laying, but now they had to move so there is enough room for everyone to sit. Since just about all of my hens are broody, and my rooster is bum, I haven't had any luck with fertility. I want to buy hatching eggs, but I just don't know how I am going to coordinate this. How can I keep each of them to their own clutch? How do I make sure one nest doesn't go cold? Should I keep one less nest than I have hens, or put a sheet over the nest so other hens can't see in? Lock them in the nest and let them out a few times per day? I am really happy to have broodys, but Cochins just don't sit like the Silkies do. The are very haphazard. Help!

 

[jajeanpierre]

Unless you have a safe yard, or a roo that is watchful, I prefer to keep my babies in a separate pen until about 4 weeks of age minimum...but that has a lot to do with my flock dynamics, no roo, and my fencing has gaps that little baby chicks can squirm through....as well as lot of roaming cats and flying hawks.

But you can sooner. Fisherlady allows them to roam almost immediately, but she's got watchful dogs, roos, and very laid back flock.

Lady of McCamley

My yard isn't safe--it's two acres with fencing the chicks can easily get through. The fencing keeps any stray dog away, but I think a fox or coyote could find a way in. Plus, there are my own four mini dachshunds who killed a bunch of young chickens last year. They're good now, but a chick is a really really tempting prey for a dog with any prey drive. Of course we have hawks.

What I do have is a very good rooster and my neighbor has a couple of peacocks who make a lot of noise if they perceive any threats. My chickens pay attention to the neighbor's peacocks. My pit bull is out a lot and he probably scares a lot of predators away just because he might be out there. I don't know how he would be with the chicks, but he has been great with my chickens and juvenile chicks.

I think I've chickened out, no pun intended, and will put them in a pen in my back yard. I can also enjoy them closer to the house.

Tonight, they are in the nest box they hatched in and in the coop with my small free range flock of their daddy, two LF Polish and the bantam Plymouth Rock. I've tried to make it so no one can fall out of the nest box. I'll feel better tomorrow when I put them in the little dog house coop. I just don't think it is a great idea to move them right now--I want them to recover from hatching. I hadn't appreciated how much work hatching is for them.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'd be really careful with a hair dryer. I had a dozen chicks just soak themselves in their water dish and then not get under the brooder. They got really chilled, two especially. I used a blow dryer on low and even used my hand to block it. I still must have burned the skin because the head and neck of one ended up sloughing off all the skin and feathers over the next week or so. I was surprised--my hand was there and it didn't feel hot to me. It had to have been too hot for their very thin delicate skin.

Yes you have to be very careful...you don't blow on them directly and you don't blow long at all....and you have to have a blow dryer that truly has a low heat setting....not all do.

Lady of McCamley

 

[jajeanpierre]

I moved the broody and chicks to a little dog-house coop with a safe pen attached.

What do you use for water? I normally give chicks one of those gravity waterers but use a quail-sized bottom. It is too narrow for them to drown in. Poor broody had a heck of a time trying to get water from it this morning.

I've also given them a bowl of chick starter. I've put the water and food in the little dog-house coop with the regular-sized bottom to the waterer in the pen near the door.

One chick--I believe it is the last one hatched that took substantially a good 6 or 8 hours longer to hatch than the second to last chick to hatch--seems a little weaker and smaller than the others. Is this normal with a clutch? I've only had chicks that have arrived in the mail (at about 3 days old) so don't know what "normal" one-day old chicks behave like. Some are bouncing around in the dog-house coop--I know at least two of the really active ones are quite a bit older since they were all fluffy and dry when I first found that chicks had hatched yesterday morning Those two are easy to identify because they are the only two splash-colored chicks.

Here's how I have them now. I think she is trying to get them outside. One managed to fall out and immediately hopped up the two/three inches back into the box. The roof has an insert in for extra ventilation and the door can lock securely. I've stuffed thing into the spots where they might squeeze through between the door and the dog house. It was really funny when I was first setting up a pen for them. I thought I would use a double show cage I had. I worked hard at closing up any openings only to realize that the show cage had a good two inches between the bar/wire. How dumb can I be?

I have the regular sized waterer in the pen near the door. Is it safe for them?

Suggestions?

 

[abserbean]

I used a regular sized waterer, but placed marbles in it so it wasn't too deep until the chick were bigger. I used the flat marbles, and that worked well for us. Your set up looks great! Very cute chicks.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I used a regular sized waterer, but placed marbles in it so it wasn't too deep until the chick were bigger. I used the flat marbles, and that worked well for us. Your set up looks great! Very cute chicks.

Thanks. It is just a cheap dog house from Tractor Supply that my husband put a door on and of course made predator proof so nothing could push up the bottom or open the roof. It's easy to move around.

How long do you keep the marbles in the waterer?