Broody Hen Thread!

[MesMama]

Oh no What happened? Why did you have to cull him? ((hugs)) How neat though that his mama is sitting on eggs he fertilized

 

[suliah]

In a david spade voice....


"ooh, doing his mommy????"""

--From tommy boy

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

@Blooie - SO sorry to hear about Scout.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I am TRYING to be good here---Grandma D (who hatched for me last fall) has gone broody again. She thought about it last week, but never really committed - but apparently reconsidered as of three days ago and is full blown broody. I was telling DH that I was going to borrow his dog's crate to break a broody over the weekend and he says............"Why? I thought you still wanted more birds?" So, apparently, I have implied consent to obtain some hatching eggs or day-olds.
I hadn't been planning to make any flock changes until next spring when I am going to order big and phase a lot of my older hens (probably 12 of the original 15, and maybe a few of the younger birds too depending on how they end up producing) out at the end of the summer when they molt and the new pullets start to lay....but this is awfully tempting, especially since I didn't find the Speckled Sussex I wanted when I bought this year's chicks back in March. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to put a few under her and just move up my plans to phase out a few of the big girls by a bit...........darn that husband of mine for making me second guess myself

 

[K-12 Chickens]

This is the first time one of my hens, Little Mama (Porcelain Booted Bantam), hatched an egg! (I originally set two eggs under her, but one turned out to be infertile) The chick she hatched is a white Silkie (non-bearded) hen X Mille Fleur d'Uccle rooster cross. I'm really surprised at the coloring of the chick, as neither of its parents had any dark markings or yellowish-gray coloring as chicks (it did inherit a beard from the d'Uccle and five toes from the Silkie, but I'm not sure which contributed to its feathered legs).

 

[crazychicken5]

thank you, they have started to hatch, and i'm so excited. also yes, this is her first time hatching eggs, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[Pennychickens1]

I have a broody silkies hen how many big eggs do you think she could hatch out for me?

 

[SIMZ]

Of course, the hen took those tiny chicks into the big coop and is all ready for bed. This is a BIG first here, but I'm going to go with it....even though I'll probably be out there before dawn checking on them.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Of course, the hen took those tiny chicks into the big coop and is all ready for bed. This is a BIG first here, but I'm going to go with it....even though I'll probably be out there before dawn checking on them.

- it'll be okay (and there is nothing wrong at all with getting up before dawn to go see chickens, even without chicks to worry about

)

 

[MesMama]

Of course, the hen took those tiny chicks into the big coop and is all ready for bed. This is a BIG first here, but I'm going to go with it....even though I'll probably be out there before dawn checking on them. 

Like when you bring a baby home for the first time, constantly checking to see if they're breathing That would be me so I totally understand! How cool that she took them in there though! Nature, baby! Does she have them in a little nest on the floor? Can't remember your setup?