Broody Hen Thread!

[Sambi89]

Caught my BO off the nest for a minute. She's in "full turkey" as my DH likes to say, all puffed up he says she's so big she looks like a turkey. Right after taking these pictures she hurried home back to the nest!

 

[Kendrain]

25 eggs would be too many for all but the largest hens.... and doubtful then, unless they are small eggs.  A hen should fully cover all eggs of her clutch at once, any which stick out around the edges are prone to chilling and may develop slower or not at all.  A hen will try rotating them around so they get some warm time but often it ends up reducing the hatch rate overall because even more get chilled.   For best results it is suggested that you place a reasonable number to start (say 12-15 for a large hen) and then once she settles on them you can add more a couple at a time until you notice they are no longer completely covered, stop there and remove one or two so she isn't overcrowded.

You can keep the rest in an incubator and if you candle the broody hen's eggs about day 10 or so you can pull the ones which didn't develop (if any) and replace them with ones from the incubator.

yes I figured if she stayed serious I would try and pull out some of them at night. But she wasn't serious yet. It might have been to many and crowded her out. She's up and around with everyone today. So maybe in a few days I will give her like 6. Marked eggs then I can tell which ones I want in there.

 

[n3kms]

I started musical chickens today. Cleaned out the big coop and put in fresh pine shavings. Put the dog crate in the corner. Let Anastasia and babies out of their little coop then I had to catch them. Anastasia was easy, babies were not. Put the babies in the dog crate then had to chase Anastasia back toward the coop till she realized she heard her babies in there. Took a break in the house for about an hour and a half and then went out to check on them. I was quite surprised to find she had taken them out to the run in the drizzling rain. I stood and watched. A couple of barred rocks were quite interested in the babies. One got too close and Anastasia ran her off. Rooster called the girls to a dandelion and all the chicks came running. Looked like it scared him to death. Now I have to get the dish pan under my new broody, Elsa, tonight. Then in a couple of days I'll move her to the broody coop and candle her eggs . If they are developing she can keep them but she had several hours of being on the wrong nest the other day so if they are not I'll give her some new ones.

 

[aart]

I started musical chickens today. Cleaned out the big coop and put in fresh pine shavings. Put the dog crate in the corner. Let Anastasia and babies out of their little coop then I had to catch them. Anastasia was easy, babies were not. Put the babies in the dog crate then had to chase Anastasia back toward the coop till she realized she heard her babies in there. Took a break in the house for about an hour and a half and then went out to check on them. I was quite surprised to find she had taken them out to the run in the drizzling rain. I stood and watched. A couple of barred rocks were quite interested in the babies. One got too close and Anastasia ran her off. Rooster called the girls to a dandelion and all the chicks came running. Looked like it scared him to death. Now I have to get the dish pan under my new broody, Elsa, tonight. Then in a couple of days I'll move her to the broody coop and candle her eggs . If they are developing she can keep them but she had several hours of being on the wrong nest the other day so if they are not I'll give her some new ones.

<thumbsup>!!

 

[n3kms]

They're just so sweet I had to share.

 

[blkjak]

Set a broody silkie today on 4 duck eggs. 28 days from now we will see what we get.

 

[Carpenter Coop]

My first time too.
Have a Wyandotte sitting on three BCM eggs, they are do in 6-7 days and I need to move them to a different coop. Solitary, and safe. And so the chicks won't fall out of the nest they' are in. Can I move them?

 

[fisherlady]

yes I figured if she stayed serious I would try and pull out some of them at night. But she wasn't serious yet. It might have been to many and crowded her out. She's up and around with everyone today. So maybe in a few days I will give her like 6. Marked eggs then I can tell which ones I want in there.

That sounds like a good idea, just put a circle around the middle and then they are easy to see in the nest without bothering them much. Hopefully she will be back in a nest for you soon.

 

[BelovedChickens]

anywhone what

 

[Jaybeetee]

I orderd 6 chicks in the mail and they were supposed to come today, BUT THEY ARE COMING TOMORROW WHILE IM AT WORK