She is just under a year old. She hatched last May. I've had several first year broodys from my large girls, a dark Cornish, one Jersey Giant, and one Wyandotte. These are hatchery birds, too!
Broody Hen Thread!
- Thread starter FarmerBoy24
- Start date
She is just under a year old. She hatched last May. I've had several first year broodys from my large girls, a dark Cornish, one Jersey Giant, and one Wyandotte. These are hatchery birds, too!
Thanks, thats encouraging. I have New Hampshire and Speckled Sussex, I think my best chance might be with the Sussex. I am ambivalent at best, about ordering a game breed, I have selected Kraiekoppe, if I decide to do that. Thanks again.
- Jan 24, 2013
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Yes that
Yes that is what I meant thanks
Yes that is what I meant thanks
A Successful Hatch with a Brood Hen!!!
I've been lurking for three years now on BYC with little feedback to others. Being such a "newbie" I felt I had little to say, only questions to ask or answers to read.
But with a successful completion of my own broody hen project, I thought I should change that and report my personal experience in case it helps or inspires someone else....or at the least those inclined can rejoice in my success
as you experts read and smile at the little "newbie."
Below is a summary of my project and pictures of my success.
Rejoicing at my "little success."
Lady of McCamley
May 2012: I Got A Proven Brooder
Having commercial feed store hens (BO, RIR, BR, NHR), who were not cooperating by going into a sustained brood, I decided to purchase a hen that was known to go broody. After doing research (more lurking here) and spending time on the BYC "Swap Forum" I found a Blue Silkie in my area who was a proven "mommy" and pre-arranged a purchase at a local swap last spring (May 2012).
I watched her go into 2 faithful broods and 1 false start over that summer. Having already purchased that year's chick allotment, I did not place eggs under her then. However, I was careful to not discourage her in any way when she went broody and noted that she did well even though she always chose to settle into one of the nest boxes in the main house. She could ignore the other hens just fine...about as well as she ignored the nice small "broody" box and "house" we had built for her.
January 2013: Finding and Setting the Eggs
Early 2013 came, and I watched, and watched. Having seen her broody behaviors three times before now, I knew what I was looking for. The hardest part to this was finding fertile eggs to use at the right time as I can't have a rooster where I live. After calling around and looking online, I decided to put "mutt eggs" from a friend under her as I didn't want to spend much money for eggs that might never get hatched.
After about 3 days of watching, I knew she was in a serious brood. I had left her 2 Banty eggs under her, only removing the larger hens eggs, and she was determined.
I got 5 fertile eggs from my friend, a good number for her size and for a first attempt. Armed with more information from BYC, I kept the eggs at household temperature, out of drafts, did not wash them, and elevated the egg carton on different corners throughout the balance of the day and prepared to place them under the Banty that night. I also marked the eggs with a black marker so I could tell they were the fertile eggs from the unfertile eggs.
Being so new at this, and not wanting to disturb her early brood, I decided to put 2 eggs out the first night, and then set the last 3 the following night. That first night, I placed the first 2 fertile eggs alongside the 2 unfertile Banty eggs, and did not remove the Banty eggs. The next night, I removed the 2 Banty eggs, and the eggs from the other hens, and replaced them with last 3 fertile eggs so that she had 5 fertile eggs under her. She pulled all 5 under her with an evil glare at me....I knew she would set them.
Isolating my Brooding Hen
I was concerned that she would keep pulling infertile eggs into the fertile clutch, as the other hens still had access to that "favorite" box, so I knew I'd have to isolate her. That night I pulled the infertile eggs from her, then the next day I had time to set up a partition in the hen house so the other hens did not have any more access to the Banty in that nest box. I basically remodeled the hen house into a "split level" with the brooding quarters on the basement floor and the rest of the hens with access to the "upstairs: and forward portion.
Candeling
I actually waited 2 weeks before attempting to candle as I didn't want to disturb the Banty, which I learned was too long as I couldn't see much but dark egg and thought I wasn't succeeding. More research on BYC and this thread taught me what I was looking at, and I discovered 3 of the eggs were developing nicely but 2 were either infertile or had failed. I candled by going out at night with a bright flashlight, pulling out the eggs one at a time from under the hen, then looking right there by the coop. I candled at day 13 and then again at day 18. Next time I would try at day 5.
Hatching
When day 20 rolled around I could hardly wait to look but forced myself to let nature take its course. That evening, I took a careful peek by lifting up the Banty and could see one of the eggs cracked in half and a chick inside. I replaced Banty and left her completely alone.
At the end of Day 21, (Thursday) I could hear peeps so when I looked again, I found 3 little chicks, sweet, fluffy and spunky....and a very protective Banty.
Fostering
I had decided that if I got 3 or fewer chicks, I would purchase a couple of day old chicks to bring the hatch to 5...the goal number for new chicks this year. I called around and found newly hatched chicks at one of the feed stores. I purchased 2 two-day old Wyandottes to add to the clutch that night (Friday) so the chicks would be within hatching age of each other.
I had read in my research that it would be best to place the chicks with the hen at night, and that you can/should accustom new 'bator chicks to staying in the dark by keeping them in a warm place in a box with a little sweater so they learn to go under the sweater into the dark to get warm. I cut open an acrylic hot water bottle cover to create a "fake hen" and kept the birds warm with a baked potato under the sweater for the afternoon. I then placed them with the hen that night, who took them in immediately with no hesitation, other than another evil glare at me.
Unfortunately over the next 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) I was busy with activities and could not watch the chicks closely. The 2 foster chicks died that weekend (1 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday). I found them under the hen, warm but stiff, so they had not been rejected.
Monday I went back to the feed store to see if they would give replacements ...or to buy more chick feed and consider myself lucky with 3 healthy chicks. The feed store advisor thought the failure was due to too much stress for the chicks from hatching on Wednesday, traveling to store on Thursday from farm, then going to my house for the afternoon Friday, then going to the broody. They advised to skip the box and sweater and take the chicks immediately to the hen and place them in daylight as the Silki sounded like a very good mother who would foster well.
I tried that and it worked beautifully.
I now have 5 healthy, happy chicks being taken care of by a very loving and dutiful Silkie momma.
Photo below.
I've been lurking for three years now on BYC with little feedback to others. Being such a "newbie" I felt I had little to say, only questions to ask or answers to read.
But with a successful completion of my own broody hen project, I thought I should change that and report my personal experience in case it helps or inspires someone else....or at the least those inclined can rejoice in my success
Below is a summary of my project and pictures of my success.
Rejoicing at my "little success."
Lady of McCamley
May 2012: I Got A Proven Brooder
Having commercial feed store hens (BO, RIR, BR, NHR), who were not cooperating by going into a sustained brood, I decided to purchase a hen that was known to go broody. After doing research (more lurking here) and spending time on the BYC "Swap Forum" I found a Blue Silkie in my area who was a proven "mommy" and pre-arranged a purchase at a local swap last spring (May 2012).
I watched her go into 2 faithful broods and 1 false start over that summer. Having already purchased that year's chick allotment, I did not place eggs under her then. However, I was careful to not discourage her in any way when she went broody and noted that she did well even though she always chose to settle into one of the nest boxes in the main house. She could ignore the other hens just fine...about as well as she ignored the nice small "broody" box and "house" we had built for her.
January 2013: Finding and Setting the Eggs
Early 2013 came, and I watched, and watched. Having seen her broody behaviors three times before now, I knew what I was looking for. The hardest part to this was finding fertile eggs to use at the right time as I can't have a rooster where I live. After calling around and looking online, I decided to put "mutt eggs" from a friend under her as I didn't want to spend much money for eggs that might never get hatched.
After about 3 days of watching, I knew she was in a serious brood. I had left her 2 Banty eggs under her, only removing the larger hens eggs, and she was determined.
I got 5 fertile eggs from my friend, a good number for her size and for a first attempt. Armed with more information from BYC, I kept the eggs at household temperature, out of drafts, did not wash them, and elevated the egg carton on different corners throughout the balance of the day and prepared to place them under the Banty that night. I also marked the eggs with a black marker so I could tell they were the fertile eggs from the unfertile eggs.
Being so new at this, and not wanting to disturb her early brood, I decided to put 2 eggs out the first night, and then set the last 3 the following night. That first night, I placed the first 2 fertile eggs alongside the 2 unfertile Banty eggs, and did not remove the Banty eggs. The next night, I removed the 2 Banty eggs, and the eggs from the other hens, and replaced them with last 3 fertile eggs so that she had 5 fertile eggs under her. She pulled all 5 under her with an evil glare at me....I knew she would set them.
Isolating my Brooding Hen
I was concerned that she would keep pulling infertile eggs into the fertile clutch, as the other hens still had access to that "favorite" box, so I knew I'd have to isolate her. That night I pulled the infertile eggs from her, then the next day I had time to set up a partition in the hen house so the other hens did not have any more access to the Banty in that nest box. I basically remodeled the hen house into a "split level" with the brooding quarters on the basement floor and the rest of the hens with access to the "upstairs: and forward portion.
Candeling
I actually waited 2 weeks before attempting to candle as I didn't want to disturb the Banty, which I learned was too long as I couldn't see much but dark egg and thought I wasn't succeeding. More research on BYC and this thread taught me what I was looking at, and I discovered 3 of the eggs were developing nicely but 2 were either infertile or had failed. I candled by going out at night with a bright flashlight, pulling out the eggs one at a time from under the hen, then looking right there by the coop. I candled at day 13 and then again at day 18. Next time I would try at day 5.
Hatching
When day 20 rolled around I could hardly wait to look but forced myself to let nature take its course. That evening, I took a careful peek by lifting up the Banty and could see one of the eggs cracked in half and a chick inside. I replaced Banty and left her completely alone.
At the end of Day 21, (Thursday) I could hear peeps so when I looked again, I found 3 little chicks, sweet, fluffy and spunky....and a very protective Banty.
Fostering
I had decided that if I got 3 or fewer chicks, I would purchase a couple of day old chicks to bring the hatch to 5...the goal number for new chicks this year. I called around and found newly hatched chicks at one of the feed stores. I purchased 2 two-day old Wyandottes to add to the clutch that night (Friday) so the chicks would be within hatching age of each other.
I had read in my research that it would be best to place the chicks with the hen at night, and that you can/should accustom new 'bator chicks to staying in the dark by keeping them in a warm place in a box with a little sweater so they learn to go under the sweater into the dark to get warm. I cut open an acrylic hot water bottle cover to create a "fake hen" and kept the birds warm with a baked potato under the sweater for the afternoon. I then placed them with the hen that night, who took them in immediately with no hesitation, other than another evil glare at me.
Unfortunately over the next 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) I was busy with activities and could not watch the chicks closely. The 2 foster chicks died that weekend (1 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday). I found them under the hen, warm but stiff, so they had not been rejected.
Monday I went back to the feed store to see if they would give replacements ...or to buy more chick feed and consider myself lucky with 3 healthy chicks. The feed store advisor thought the failure was due to too much stress for the chicks from hatching on Wednesday, traveling to store on Thursday from farm, then going to my house for the afternoon Friday, then going to the broody. They advised to skip the box and sweater and take the chicks immediately to the hen and place them in daylight as the Silki sounded like a very good mother who would foster well.
I tried that and it worked beautifully.
I now have 5 healthy, happy chicks being taken care of by a very loving and dutiful Silkie momma.
Photo below.
Last edited:
Great post, Lady! I loved reading about your experience.
Oh dear! I have 4 left out of 6 eggs that I put under my broody on feb2nd. One buff Orp egg was knocked out of the nest yesterday and got quite cold but I put it in the incubator just incase and I'm sure I saw some movement this morning. The other was today and it was infertile.
Im not sure what to do with those 4 precious eggs that are still viable! Bluey the broody has gotten off her nest, given it up to other hens and sat on the wrong eggs three or four times now leaving her eggs. I have to check multiple times a day to make sure they're warm! I want to take them back from the stupid hen if she's not going to take care of her adopted babies! Should I? Would you? (First timer)
Im not sure what to do with those 4 precious eggs that are still viable! Bluey the broody has gotten off her nest, given it up to other hens and sat on the wrong eggs three or four times now leaving her eggs. I have to check multiple times a day to make sure they're warm! I want to take them back from the stupid hen if she's not going to take care of her adopted babies! Should I? Would you? (First timer)
If you have an incubator I'd definitely take them out! Sounds like you can't trust her!
I'm trying again with 10 more eggs in the public nest under my BA. Hopefully the other hens will stay out of there because I couldn't think of a way to make it so they couldn't....the nest isn't movable. She seems bound and determined to stay in that nest so at least that's a good thing!
I'm trying again with 10 more eggs in the public nest under my BA. Hopefully the other hens will stay out of there because I couldn't think of a way to make it so they couldn't....the nest isn't movable. She seems bound and determined to stay in that nest so at least that's a good thing!
be
Mine also wouldnot be moved while broody, but when I gave her the chicks she didn't mind moving to the rabbit hutch. I think you'll be fine with her sitting publicly until the chicks hatch. Make sure they can't fall out of the nest though, she won't leave it for 48 hours until everyone has had a chance to hatch.
Mine also wouldnot be moved while broody, but when I gave her the chicks she didn't mind moving to the rabbit hutch. I think you'll be fine with her sitting publicly until the chicks hatch. Make sure they can't fall out of the nest though, she won't leave it for 48 hours until everyone has had a chance to hatch.
Lady... Great post! Glad you took the time to share your experiences and I'm sure they will help others who are new to the broody hen experience.
Congrats on the happy Hen and healthy little ones!
The pics are so sweet!
Congrats on the happy Hen and healthy little ones!
The pics are so sweet!
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