Broody Hen Thread!

[happyfrenchman]

Well.... a total loss. Two chicks dead, two eggs cracked and one in the incubator that if it hatches will be more trouble than it is worth. However, The hen still seems to want to set. I have built a more suitable brooder box. Should I let her try it again? Does she need a break? She seems to want to sit and is sitting in another nest box with no eggs. If it is advisable, this time, I will give her the eggs all at once so they should be synchronized. And the new brooder box is on the floor with a door so I can lock her in until she sets. And when the chicks hatch they can walk out to food and water and get back to Mama. .

 

[SD Bird Lady]

@happyfrenchman I would wait and see if the age hatches and then maybe you can graft the chick to her. However it sounds like she isn't he most reliable mother so I would be reluctant to let her try to rear anymore chicks. Good luck

 

[sonderah]

HOME!!!! So happy!!! Got in late last night so I had to wait til this morning to go see everyone. All my birdies are SOOOO much bigger! I have a brooder full, and a grow out pen full, and 2 mommies raising babies! The ones who a broody hatched after I left are absolutely GORGEOUS! They r from my newest rooster and my white Silkie and have sooo much color!

 

[abserbean]

Just an update on my recent hatch (1 week old today). I lost one of the babies within 24 hours, seemed healthy then went down hill fast. At three days old, another started getting sick. I noticed bloody poo, so started corid for cocci. Baby did not make it through the night, went from a healthy, normal chick to dead in about six hours. The next day another started showing similar symptoms, not wanting to eat, a little lethargic. I did more research, and found out cocci has a five day incubation period, so couldn't be what was killing my chicks. After talking to some wonderful people here on BYC, I determined that it must be a bacterial yolk sac infection, very deadly and hard to treat. Of course, this was in the evening and feed stores were closed. I had antibiotics on hand (for a root canal that I just had), and after some research found out that they could be used for birds. (cephalexin) I made a very diluted drench with water and the capsule (baby was only 2 ozs) and was successfully able to save the third chicks life. I say all of this only to help anyone else out who may be losing chicks. I have only hatched one other time, and all the chicks were healthy and hardy. Apparently this can happen in any situation, dirty eggs, clean eggs, incubator, broody, etc. The next time I hatch any eggs, I will have baytril on hand to add to the water in case anyone shows any symptoms. I didn't know this before, and it cost me the lives of two of my chicks. I am thankful that with some assistance from BYC members I was able to save the other chick, but of course sad that I lost the other two babies. It is totally my fault that I didn't know about this, and I don't want to go into another hatch without all the info needed. The three left are doing great, super cute (of course) and running around with mom.

 

[fisherlady]

Just an update on my recent hatch (1 week old today). I lost one of the babies within 24 hours, seemed healthy then went down hill fast. At three days old, another started getting sick. I noticed bloody poo, so started corid for cocci. Baby did not make it through the night, went from a healthy, normal chick to dead in about six hours. The next day another started showing similar symptoms, not wanting to eat, a little lethargic. I did more research, and found out cocci has a five day incubation period, so couldn't be what was killing my chicks. After talking to some wonderful people here on BYC, I determined that it must be a bacterial yolk sac infection, very deadly and hard to treat. Of course, this was in the evening and feed stores were closed. I had antibiotics on hand (for a root canal that I just had), and after some research found out that they could be used for birds. (cephalexin) I made a very diluted drench with water and the capsule (baby was only 2 ozs) and was successfully able to save the third chicks life. I say all of this only to help anyone else out who may be losing chicks. I have only hatched one other time, and all the chicks were healthy and hardy. Apparently this can happen in any situation, dirty eggs, clean eggs, incubator, broody, etc. The next time I hatch any eggs, I will have baytril on hand to add to the water in case anyone shows any symptoms. I didn't know this before, and it cost me the lives of two of my chicks. I am thankful that with some assistance from BYC members I was able to save the other chick, but of course sad that I lost the other two babies. It is totally my fault that I didn't know about this, and I don't want to go into another hatch without all the info needed. The three left are doing great, super cute (of course) and running around with mom.

aserbean, I am sorry you lost the first two, and glad you saved the third... but you have one thing wrong in my book.... YOU DID NOTHING WRONG! There is no way for us to know everything which could go wrong! People can be on broody #30 and still have something unexpected happen, or a strange illness occur that they had never seen before... there are just too many variables and so many risks out there... it isn't feasible to be prepared for every one of them. You can only do exactly what you did, treat to the best of your ability, research and ask for help and consider it a (hard) lesson learned so you will be better able to be prepared the next time, or be able to help out someone else who is facing it for the first time.
I am a strong believer in researching something before you do it so you can be better prepared, but you just can't cover it all. BYC is an awesome research source, and nearly every question which could be asked probably has been at some point... but there will always be something new or strange pop up. Even in this thread I often suggest new folks take the time to go back 3 or 4 months worth of thread and start reading, most questions are asked and answered there, but new or unique situations do happen, and when they are shared we can all learn from them.
Again... I am really sorry you lost the first 2... but glad you will have 3 little ones to enjoy watching!

 

[abserbean]

Thanks fisherlady! I appreciate the encouragement. I know you can't know everything, but I did try to do quite a bit of research before hatching. When we started with rabbits, they were a bit of an impulse purchase, and I promised myself and my hubby that I would go into these backyard farming endeavors more prepared. Not that anything bad happened with our rabbits, but I didn't do research and ended up with mixed breeds by trusting a breeder. Great for pets, no so much for my kid's 4H projects. Long story short, we now have five rabbits, two pet quality and three pedigreed show rabbits. Anyways, you live and learn. I'm not beating myself up about it, just wanted to let anyone else that may be having problems with chick deaths know what was going on with us. Any loss of a pet (which is what our chickens are) is tough, but I know we have been very lucky so far in the two years we have had chickens for these to be our first losses. And I'm always learning! So thankful for the knowledgeable folks here on BYC to help shorten the learning curve, or we probably would have lost all of the chicks.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Quote:
Thank you SD Bird Lady. I think alot of my problem was logistical. I think the eggs were not synchronized and I think the nest she was in was a problem as well. In any case, the egg still has not hatched and she is no longer sitting on the empty nest so.... being as she was the only hen I had as a possible, I would probably give it another try. All it would cost me is a couple of omelets. I am thinking these chickens are not counting days. Just going by feel, so it is probably possible to get a broody established on any old eggs, and then put in eggs (all at once) that you want to hatch. Is this correct? My new box is a drop front screen door attached to a crate, that sits on the floor of the coop. With a nest area defined by 2 x4s. An idea I saw on this site. She sat really well. She was rock solid on that nest for three weeks. I think a first go is always a chancy business with birds. My pigeons routinely fail at their first hatch, but then they get it down and routinely hatch both their eggs and bring them to fledging. I felt so sorry for her. She was all puffed up like a turkey, looking for her chicks. If the one does hatch I will definitely give it to her.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Sounds like a good set up. And they are not picky, a hen will try to hatch most anything so you can always switch out the eggs for "desirable" eggs. Hope next time is better.

 

[ChickyChickens]

WOW...Sparkles rocks as a broody!!! Congrats on such a great hatch....enjoy your babies

Yes I will definitely! I cant wait till they big! Hopefully she will always remain a great broody!

 

[Back2Roots]

I'm told that the chick stage is pretty short-lived and they'll be teenagers before you know it!

I have a "first-time-chicken-keeper-and-broody-mama-owner" question:
If I were to sell a broody hen's the chicks before they were at the age where she decides that they can take care of themselves, would she go back to being broody, or would she rejoin the flock and start laying again? This is hypothetical, because I would like them to be feathered out before I sell them, but another chicken keeper told me that it's much easier to rehome day-old to week-old chicks than if you wait until they're older.