Broody Hen Thread!

[Amandalea]

Ok, this one chick has a hole in its shell, with it's beak sticking out. It's widened the hole a bit, but it's been like this for an hour and a half. It peeps and everything. Should I help it out or leave it?

Leave it!!!! it will come out on it's own, it may take a while, but if you help it it will die.

 

[chickenoverlord]

Ok, hanks everyone! I guess ill know in the morning how the little guy is doing.

 

[ronikins]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys! She's doing awesome with her New babies. She's very protective of them

now my mille fleur is broody with 12 eggs and another BO isbroody with 9...

i completely understand about wanting to help the babies when they're hatching. it takes a lot of will to just walk away.

 

[chickenoverlord]

I'm still kinda worried about it... The hole is a bit bigger, but it still can't get out. It appears to have given up.

 

[WillowChick]

It can take 12 hours from pip to zip. Go have some tea and reàd a book! LOL!

 

[lmharris]

We have a broody hen that we found setting on 4 eggs in the nest boxes. Should we try to move her into a brooding box or just leave her be? We have had issues in the past with chickens moved even very late at night refusing the eggs altogether after being moved, but we really don't want to loose any more hens to broodiness. Currently we have 2 roosters, 11 laying age hens, 10 12 week old chicks, 3 9 week old chicks. When the last chick was hatched we had 2 hens on 2 nests and only managed to hatch 1 chick. During their nesting period we really saw a drop in egg production and we really don't want to go back there. Advise us please!

 

[kukupecpec]

My red star's babies are hatching!!!

OMG that is the cutest thing! You have a second mom photo bomb LOL

We have a broody hen that we found setting on 4 eggs in the nest boxes. Should we try to move her into a brooding box or just leave her be? We have had issues in the past with chickens moved even very late at night refusing the eggs altogether after being moved, but we really don't want to loose any more hens to broodiness. Currently we have 2 roosters, 11 laying age hens, 10 12 week old chicks, 3 9 week old chicks. When the last chick was hatched we had 2 hens on 2 nests and only managed to hatch 1 chick. During their nesting period we really saw a drop in egg production and we really don't want to go back there. Advise us please!

My chickens have been kinda split. I had one momma who I moved multiple times and she would NOT leave her eggs. I had another that if I even went near her, she would abandon the eggs and go broody again in a week or so on a new batch.

 

[ChickSter99]

Okay...I'm having a hard time of letting myself put any other eggs under a broody. I have another hen that is broody and some eggs in the bator due to hatch next week. Is it to late to slip these under her? The last time I slipped one the other eggs she killed 2 chicks and I just did get to the 3rd in time. From everything I read, it seems that I waited to late to give her the eggs. Since they are due to hatch the last,week of July, is it too late now or should I try again?

 

[Shellz]

Someone, somewhere here said that if eggs have 10 days left to incubate, that's the absolute minimum.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Okay...I'm having a hard time of letting myself put any other eggs under a broody. I have another hen that is broody and some eggs in the bator due to hatch next week. Is it to late to slip these under her? The last time I slipped one the other eggs she killed 2 chicks and I just did get to the 3rd in time. From everything I read, it seems that I waited to late to give her the eggs. Since they are due to hatch the last,week of July, is it too late now or should I try again?

Just like the bator, after day 17 you shouldn't be messing with lifting up the broody since it can interfere with humidity and temp levels.

That said, I've put eggs that were due to hatch under a broody and she hatched & raised them just fine. My Smokey was hatching her three eggs and she had two chicks, but her nemesis Topsy only had one chick to hatch. So I shifted Smokey's extra egg to Topsy and it hatched that day. There was no issue with either broody or chick.

I've also put eggs from the bator that were day 14 and another time day 17 under broodies, without problems.