Broody Hen Thread!

[Rhandi74]

Jewel's last chick and some pics of them out today.

 

[fisherlady]

Im sure the answer is in here somewhere, but this thread is vast!

I put fertile eggs under my buff orp last friday. I dont take her off the eggs, I let here come and go as she pleases, I figure she will know when is best. Usually she is out and back in within 20 mins, however today she was still wandering around after an hour, so I picked her up and put her back in the nest.

How long is safe for her to be off the eggs? Its not exactly boiling here in the morning, around 17c.

I guess I will wait till cadling day on friday to see how things are progressing, but was curious if I should just leave her to it.?

Each hen varies, and honestly, our hens can even vary depending on the weather when they are brooding. Our hens are quick about their business during cold weather (sometimes as little as 5 minutes a day in deep winter) and much more relaxed about it during summer months, with as long as an hour to 90 minutes off of the nest when conditions are right. It hasn't seemed to affect the egg hatch/percentage with ours. Having cooling periods during incubation isn't always a death sentence by any means, I have heard (but don't have 1st hand knowledge) that some commercial level incubators have cool down cycles built in to daily temp controls....

 

[calichicken]

Each hen varies, and honestly, our hens can even vary depending on the weather when they are brooding. Our hens are quick about their business during cold weather (sometimes as little as 5 minutes a day in deep winter) and much more relaxed about it during summer months, with as long as an hour to 90 minutes off of the nest when conditions are right. It hasn't seemed to affect the egg hatch/percentage with ours. Having cooling periods during incubation isn't always a death sentence by any means, I have heard (but don't have 1st hand knowledge) that some commercial level incubators have cool down cycles built in to daily temp controls....

This is good to know..thanks for the info! I have a hen that is broody right now and is getting on and off the nest. But it has been 80 degrees plus here so maybe that's why? Right now she is sitting on her own infertile eggs with fertile eggs coming Friday!

 

[kaseythomas86]

Hey everyone I am pretty new to chickens I got my first flock this year. My grandmother has 9 chickens and one of them is sitting on eggs. She had a heart attack this past week so she is in te hospital and I'm caring for her chickens while she is gone. Should I be doing anything diff with this hen that is sitting? Also when should I expect them to hatch? She hasn't told me when she started sitting so are there any signs I should look for?

 

[Back2Roots]

Jewel's last chick and some pics of them out today.

Awww, adorable!

 

[Back2Roots]

I don't count the days...I just look for broody mama's resistance to leaving the nest...and the funny look in her eyes when she can feel and hear the chicks in the shell trying to hatch.
Now, this hatch.....for July 7th....I didn't know if or when they would actually hatch. This OEGB hen seemed unsure of when she wanted to sit. Or even IF she wanted to sit. So she would sit for 6 hours...then get off and go back to normal. Or not sit on them for 3 or 4 days. Between her and her roo, they broke one of the eggs. When she FINALLY (!yay!) decided to get with it....only then did I number the calendar for 22 days. But because of her wishy-washiness, I really had no idea if they were even still viable.
So..I left it all up to her and Mother Nature. I didn't take her off the nest either. She left to do her business on her own schedule.

You will prob know when she is in lockdown when her behavior changes. They refuse to get up then...as the babies are hatching. They seem to know when 3 days are up too.....or...if any of the remaining eggs is still viable. Of course they do!

Mama knows best.

Just watch her and give her access to food and water. She may not even eat....they get so concentrated. I buy fresh grapes for my broodies. They seem like they will never turn down a fresh cold juicy grape. And...it gives them sugar and hydration. I save the juiciest tidbits for the broodies. They are the hens working the hardest during that time.

We learned from the previous hatch..May 1st. I had given both broody hens some eggs....and the OEGB wasn't ready. So I gave her eggs to her daughter pullet...who was ready. But, out of ignorance, I added fresh eggs. That made for a week long staggered hatch. And as a result one of the babies died. Of the 13 eggs under the pullet......9 were from the older hen....2 laid fresh from the pullet..and 2 laid from her same age flockmate. Of those eggs......they started hatching and took a week to finish. It was making the pullet nervous....as she knew the babies needed food, water and out of the nest. So the last egg didn't get what it needed. Heat. Turning. Whatever. That baby was the last to hatch and died 3 days later. It was too week to walk and keep up.

So.....out of 13 eggs. Of staggered development......2 of the original didn't hatch. Developed but died. 1 never developed at all. 3 of the fresh laid eggs hatched. We have 8 healthy juveniles left.

After that hatch.....I decided to not add fresh eggs to whatever was already being sat on.

This hatch......they hatched July 7th and 8th...being "due on the 10th (my calculations). I don't worry about it....my broody hens do a great job as mamas. I jsut stand back and observe, keep them dry and secure, and have food and water available.

Good luck with the hatch!! I'll be waiting ti hear the results!!

Thanks for sharing all your broody advice and tips - I appreciate hearing about other people's experiences!
I have been giving Gracie (my broody hen) treats and sustenance every day since she started sitting in earnest. I bring her stuff like grapes, tomato bits, cherries (pitted and quartered - they are her favourite!)
I left her alone this evening other than bringing her fresh water and of the ususal, plus alfalfa sprouts, fermented feed ... all sample portions of course. She is defintitely in the zone right now. I didn't hear anything, but then it's not day 21 until tomorrow. The suspense is killing me. This hatch will be only slightly staggered: I put two of the six eggs I gave her a day earlier, just to make sure she would stay broody. In hindsight, that was a totally unnecessary precaution - she is one committed broody! The reason I took her off the nest regularly is that she didn't seem to be getting off on her own. She's such a little thing to begin with ... I didn't want her to lose too much condition, and I wanted to keep her strength up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she winds up with a few healthy chicks for her efforts.

 

[n3kms]

Jewel's last chick and some pics of them out today.

Those are some great pics, and sweet beyond words!

 

[darkbluespace]

Jewel's last chick and some pics of them out today.

Those are serious fuzz balls... literally! How are they so round?! Crazy cute!

 

[Rhandi74]

Those are serious fuzz balls... literally! How are they so round?! Crazy cute!

Thank you.

 

[abserbean]

Day 19 today, almost time for new chicks! Our broody hatch earlier this year hatched on day 20, so maybe tomorrow, maybe Saturday. Lillie, our broody, seems to be in lock down mode, but I don't hear any peeping yet. I did see one of the eggs "rocking" a little, before mom screeched at me and pushed it back under herself. She hasn't been off the nest since Wed morning, but did eat and drink when I offered her some tonight. So much fun! I didn't candle this batch, so hopefully they are all developing. It will be a surprise batch, they are from a free ranging flock that we picked up from a farm swap, so no idea what we are going to get. We set two green EE eggs, a brown Marans egg, two unknown white eggs, and a little white hamburg egg, at least those were the hens, no idea about the possible roos. It will be a fun guessing game!