Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

Thanks RTF...Still only one chick this morning and 3 eggs still under my lil girl.  Guess I'll let them set a couple days to be sure they are duds.  I did find the egg shell and it was my Americauna egg that hatched.  I am excited to see this chick develop and lay if its a hen

On another note, I went out this morning to feed and found my cockerel dead.  He was 5 months old and starting to look really pretty.  Don't know why he died.  He and my Australorp roo have never challenged each other, never even seen them bow up to each other.  He was submissive to my older roo.  No injuries seen on him at all and he was walking around fine yesterday. No idea why he died....

So happy to hear of the 1 chick hatching...keeping my fingers crossed for the last 3.

So sad about your young roo...always disheartening when that happens.
Lady of McCamley

 

[RTFchickens]

Same here! I'm happy for you it was your EE that hatched! Sorry about your roo though. It's so hard when a chicken dies. They are like my "other children" I really get attached!

 

[glebreton]

Got a second chick this afternoon. Didn't get a good look at her yet, momma is all over her. Yesterday's chick is doing well, drinking a lil bit and pecking around. But it doesn't stay out too long before it heads back under momma. I was starting to worry that momma bantam was sittin on duds and not getting lil chick to water, but I guess she knows better than me. Also have pipping on a third egg, looks like that one may appear tomorrow!

Is that common to have eggs from the same clutch hatch that far apart? One Saturday, one Sunday, and one Monday. I know that they were laid the same day...I pick eggs every day and I left one day's clutch for her to sit on.

Will try to get a pic tomorrow after work when they may be a little more mobile. Good night peeps!

 

[loveallanimals]

Can I join? I'm rather new to incubating. I have a broody hen who will barely eat. She has some eggs. How do I get her to eat?

 

[glebreton]

Can I join? I'm rather new to incubating. I have a broody hen who will barely eat. What do I do?

Welcome aboard! I am no expert here but I am learning that broody hens know quite a bit about raising chicks! If you have one that is broody, find a farmer or country store that has eggs for sale with hens exposed to roosters. Not all the eggs may be fertile, but some will. Your broody hen will take to them and handle everything for the most part. You can mail order fertile eggs too, but you may be able to find some near you. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[fisherlady]

Ours sat for 3 or 4 wks before we put her 'for real' eggs under her. So you should have plenty of time to order or find eggs. Just watch her body condition if it is a number of weeks
Like was already said, she is most likely getting out when you don't notice, but if you see that her body condition is deteriorating then do more to encourage eating, make sure it is close by and good quality feed, we began offering hand treats to our silkie after she had been sitting for a while to keep her condition up. We went with things like scrambled eggs, crushed peanuts and sunflower seeds (make sure they are the unsalted ones), meal worms and fish and yogurt.
Just offer her a variety to keep her interested but you can't force the issue.
Make sure her water is clean and close by, we also had Apple cider vinegar in the water.
If she really isn't getting up you will find poo in the nest that you may have to clean up to prevent contamination of the eggs.

Loveallanimals ...Here is a post of mine from a while back... and I have another one I will find shortly and add it

 

[loveallanimals]

Thanks I will try that.

 

[fisherlady]

Along with the meat and vegetables as JHarper suggested you can also provide cut up fish, scrambled eggs, peanuts and hulled sunflower seeds and meal worms. Basically anything with a decent protein content that is tempting if you are worried about her weight/health.
We just put a small amount of 2 or 3 items in a dish and set it close by each day. They pick at what they want. It usually isn't needed if they aren't broody for more than 3 or 4 wks but some hens just don't keep weight on as well as others.
They do get up to eat and drink through the day, we just rarely see them do it. I lifted our broody today to check the nest for broody poop and found the nest was clean, so she is obviously getting up when we aren't around to see it. They are pretty sneaky when on their eggs!

This was from a discussion on pages 108 and 109... if you do a 'search this thread' at the bottom of the page with with the term 'body condition' you will probably find more...

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Got a second chick this afternoon. Didn't get a good look at her yet, momma is all over her. Yesterday's chick is doing well, drinking a lil bit and pecking around. But it doesn't stay out too long before it heads back under momma. I was starting to worry that momma bantam was sittin on duds and not getting lil chick to water, but I guess she knows better than me. Also have pipping on a third egg, looks like that one may appear tomorrow!

Is that common to have eggs from the same clutch hatch that far apart? One Saturday, one Sunday, and one Monday. I know that they were laid the same day...I pick eggs every day and I left one day's clutch for her to sit on.

Will try to get a pic tomorrow after work when they may be a little more mobile. Good night peeps!

It is common for hatching to be staggered even when the eggs are set at the same time...generally all that are going to hatch will hatch within 48 hours of the first egg hatching (if all have been set at the same time and treated equally...remember this clutch did not receive ideal treatment so some eggs could be more delayed).

No need to worry about the first chick...the commercial industry takes advantage of the fact that a new baby chick doesn't need food or water for several days...the leftover yolk from the egg has been absorbed inside their bodies so that they don't need much sustenance for several days...that's why companies can ship day old chicks across the nation and not worry about them being in the mail for a couple of days...nor why a momma hen needs to worry about the normal stagger time of her chicks hatching. The first ones are content to stay tucked under her while the others hatch.

Obviously have food and water nearby in case a little one is running low on internal reserves, but mom will lead them to water and food, and they don't need a lot those first few days.

Congratulations on your little clutch

Lady of McCamley

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Can I join? I'm rather new to incubating. I have a broody hen who will barely eat. She has some eggs. How do I get her to eat?

Broodies eat...you just don't see them doing it...you would have to literally stand over her 24/7 to catch her doing it.

Most broodies get up only once a day to eat, drink, and leave a large poo. Some get up more, some seem to get up less...but they do get up (unless you have a very abnormal bird).

And not all broodies miss the nest with the poo even though they are up and eating, so don't worry if you see a big poo. The poo is evidence that she is eating and drinking.

Lady of McCamley

EDITED TO ADD: And WELCOME! to the Broody Thread...you are certainly welcome to join and jump in...the water's fine