Broody Hen Thread!

[Fizzgig]

What absolutely precious ladies!

They are very sweet with each other. The austrolorp growls when I come over but otherwise they are both pretty quiet. I always make sure my broodies are used to having a person touching and being close while they are on the eggs so I can touch and handle the fluffy butts when they hatch.

Also to the person trying to figure out how to make a walkway for chicks, cover whatever it is in fake grass, gives them something to give a grip on and the babies can climb quite steeply then.

 

[the poppster]

I have a white cochin and a White silkie, that are buddies...they share their nest box every day...you look in and it's hard to tell where the fluff ends and the fuzz begins...one big white ball of feathers....the Cochi went broody and they both sat on the eggs..the Silkie would go in and out....the Cochin stuck tight to the nest...it came time to attach the broody box to the nest box...and I would let the Silkie out...she would come back and settle in the closest nest box...so I'd put her back in with her buddy....when the chicks hatched it was a tangle of chicks and feathers...I had to gently pick up each hen and let the chicks slip out of the fluff...looked in there on moving day...and God I wish I'd had a camera!! It looked like a big white feather ball with 6 heads of various sizes...what fun!!!

 

[flufssilkies]

Awww. That's so sweet! I had two Dark Cornish girls go broody at the same time, and since I didn't have extra space I put them both in the same coop with a partition between them. They hissed and growled the entire time and when they both hatched on the same day one girl kicked her chicks out of the nest and the other girl took them in. Weird.

I had two hens sitting in the same coop about a week apart the mom with the older chicks would not take care of her chicks when the other mom hatched hers

 

[chicksurreal]

I had two hens sitting in the same coop about a week apart the mom with the older chicks would not take care of her chicks when the other mom hatched hers

Interesting. I think I'll try to make sure they have their own space from now on. I've had up to four girls be broody at once and it gets tough to find separate space for all of them with the set up I have now, but I am going to fix that.

 

[the poppster]

I had a Jersey Giant hatch out 4 eggs...she wasn't much of a mom..she did very little training of her chicks...and after about 2 weeks she started to passage the fence...completely ignoring the chicks...if you give them a treat, she would grab it and run...the chicks wandered about aimlessly...the EE hen in the adjacent pen was mom extraordinaire.

 

[Scatterknit]

Thank you all for the help on the ramp!! I need to do this soon! Look what we have!! Mamas getting along fine. Maybe hatching a few more.

I'm hooked on Broodies now!!!!

 

[GitaBooks]

Adorable chicks!

That's awesome that its going so well!

 

[Angel16]

Hello!
I have a question, My Cochin hen just hatched out her very first chick (

she is my first hen that's ever hatched a chick ) I was wondering It hatched last night and its eyes are open now but should I be feeding it by hand or just let it find its own way? I have feed and water out but it just stays with the hen.... Ive never done this before so I kind of have not much clue as to whats normal
Thank you

 

[GitaBooks]

Hello!
I have a question, My Cochin hen just hatched out her very first chick (

she is my first hen that's ever hatched a chick ) I was wondering It hatched last night and its eyes are open now but should I be feeding it by hand or just let it find its own way? I have feed and water out but it just stays with the hen.... Ive never done this before so I kind of have not much clue as to whats normal
Thank you

Congrats on the chick!!

The momma will show it food and water as long as she can get to them. The baby will follow her wherever she goes and should do well.

Feel free to ask any other questions.

 

[kherokee]

My little serama has been sitting on a Sumatra/Silkie egg for about 21-23 days (I can't remember the exact date I put the egg under her, around July 7th-9th). I've been having concerns because this is such an odd mix and my Serama is a brand new broody - this is her first egg. I've seen a lot of growth to the point where the egg is black with a huge air cell! I also think it moved the other day, and I may candle it again today. I've been trying to keep it untouched but I have yet to see any pips, peeps, or zipping. I'm just concerned that this chick may have had a late death, or is a late hatcher? Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!