Broody Hen Thread!

[MelissaZeno]

Today my son found our first baby that hatched under out Chantecler!!! I can't wait for the rest to hatch!

 

[The Kibble Goddess]

Scarlet, my little broody bantam, has been so faithful setting her eggs. Yesterday I noticed her talking to her eggs. One hatched, and since he was doing so well and peeping out from under her wing, I went ahead and got excited about seeing more chicks this morning. How depressing to find that the next 3 chicks that had hatched had never dried off and were dead. One damp chick was still alive, though very cold. I got him inside and warm and dry. He was not standing on his own, but was peeping loudly. I snuck him under Scarlett, but she left the nest taking the other chick with her and made a new nest next to the old one. Tried again, same results. She had buried the still breathing chick under the straw. He was peeping so i dug him out, cleaned him off and have him tucked away in the bra-incubator while i type this up. I'll get the brooder out when i'm done here. Every once in a while he peeps, but he's not trying to get up on his own.

A couple of questions:

• What can i do to up his chances of survival, besides popping him in the brooder?
• This is the second of two hatchings where the chicks hatched but didn't dry off and survive. Any ideas why? The only thing I can think of is that the nests are 12" x 12" and that may be too small or too deep for Mom to give the hatchlings the room they need?
• What goes on under a hen during hatching anyway? Does she raise up to give the babies room to get out of the shell?

Please don't anyone tell me I should put him down. I like to give all my animals every chance i can. I know he may not be able to survive on his own, but if he dies, at least he'll have been warm, dry and loved.

 

[weezyfno]

I have a small game bantam that's laid a dozen eggs and today she didn't come out of the nest box until noon. She usually is out in the run, eating and scratching when I wake up. At first I thought she was going broody but she eventually came out.

Will she end up staying in the nest these next few days to hatch the eggs?

 

[MelissaZeno]

I got a second chick hatched today it was black with some white on it. They are so cute when they are this small and so calm.

 

[The Kibble Goddess]

Update: The weak chick passed away tonight, but he was warm, dry and loved. Further research on the high number of deaths just after hatching lead me to Suzy Sunshine's article on Mushy Chick Syndrome, Somehow in my several years of chicken keeping I had never come across this. Guess you just have to know which is the right question to ask. Will have to revamp my brooding system as i have another girl going broody.

 

[S5apiotrowski]

I feel terrible! Ms Broody and family - 7 chicks were doing great. We moved them into a safe place - but in closing up the coop, a door was left open. All 7 chicks victims overnight. Now Ms Broody is out and about looking for her chicks - nowhere to be found. We also lost an adult hen in another coop that was fully secured. Its a very sad morning.

 

[SIMZ]

I feel terrible! Ms Broody and family - 7 chicks were doing great. We moved them into a safe place - but in closing up the coop, a door was left open. All 7 chicks victims overnight. Now Ms Broody is out and about looking for her chicks - nowhere to be found. We also lost an adult hen in another coop that was fully secured. Its a very sad morning.

I'm so sorry! How heartbreaking.

 

[MelissaZeno]

We just found an egg under my broody hen and she had stepped on it. The chick had peeped and had its beak out. it is still breathing but it hasn't absorbed all of the yolk. Is there any way to save this chick? The entire shell was broken and I helped it out of the sack but I don't know what to do now, Should I put it back under the hen?

 

[the poppster]

I am going through my first broody experience and have been really lucky, as I was able to keep her with the flock, she had an 80%+ hatch rate, and she has been a great and doting mama. There's nothing like listening to the singing of contented free-ranging chicks and watching a hen pass along her foraging tips.

Now she's about ready to rejoin the flock, and I realized I may have not thought things out that well...

Can someone explain a little about what flock life is like after the broody rejoins the other girls on the roost? Do the pullets ever start hanging out with the layers, or are they more likely to remain separate, at least until they start laying? Does she generally leave the chicks to hang out by themselves? I guess I thought the flock would be one unit, and I am thinking now that this was wrong. I had been planning to sell or give away most of the youngsters once they are weaned, to stay within my landlord's wishes re my flock size. But if that would throw the pullet/s into social isolation, I'll have to rethink my plans...

Scarlet, my little broody bantam, has been so faithful setting her eggs.  Yesterday I noticed her talking to her eggs.  One hatched, and since he was doing so well and peeping out from under her wing, I went ahead and got excited about seeing more chicks this morning.  How depressing to find that the next 3 chicks that had hatched had never dried off and were dead.  One damp chick was still alive, though very cold.  I got him inside and warm and dry.  He was not standing on his own, but was peeping loudly.  I snuck him under Scarlett, but she left the nest taking the other chick with her and made a new nest next to the old one.  Tried again, same results.  She had buried the still breathing chick under the straw.  He was peeping so i dug him out, cleaned him off and have him tucked away in the bra-incubator while i type this up.  I'll get the brooder out when i'm done here.  Every once in a while he peeps, but he's not trying to get up on his own.

A couple of questions:

• What can i do to up his chances of survival, besides popping him in the brooder?
• This is the second of two hatchings where the chicks hatched but didn't dry off and survive.  Any ideas why?  The only thing I can think of is that the nests are 12" x 12" and that may be too small or too deep for Mom to give the hatchlings the room they need?
• What goes on under a hen during hatching anyway?  Does she raise up to give the babies room to get out of the shell?

Please don't anyone tell me I should put him down.  I like to give all my animals every chance i can.  I know he may not be able to survive on his own, but if he dies, at least he'll have been warm, dry and loved.

Sorry to hear about your babies...when a few of my hens went broody in the hen house I built a removable nest extension that can be attached to the front of the nest the broody has chosen it's made of hardware cloth on a frame...it has enough room for a bit of food and a cage waterer...wood chips over a wire floor..she can get up and eat and take a sip of water...but no one else can add eggs and she can't abandon or change nest boxes...it works well if the hen is seriously broody..and when it's hatch time it discourages her from leaving the nest with the first chicks and abandoning the rest of the eggs. When they have all hatched I move them to a broody chicken tank/tractor...they are safe from most predators....except for a black bear....with food and water...I move it every couple days to a fresh area that has regrown after the flock was on it...gradually exposing the chicks to the environment they will live in...the mom can't abandon the chicks and I always know where they are...and can keep an eye on them...so far I only lost the first hatch...my fault...one inch chicken wire does not stop weasels...replaced it with hardware cloth...the chicks stay in it with mom till they can't fit thru 2x4 welded wire. Sorry this has gotten so long...didn't intend it to...if anyone is interested in the movable nest extension or my broody tank...let me know and I will try to put some pics up for you.

 

[laurabelle]

Couple of questions.

Can a Silver Pheonix rooster cross with a RIR or a Barred Rock?

I had a hen that was broody, for some dumb reason all my chickens lay in the same box so I was leaving things alone. I went to check about 3 days ago and most of the eggs had been broken. I gathered the remaining and made a home made incubator until i could go by one yesterday.

Can I wash off the eggs that were in the nasty nest?

How do I tell what is still alive and what has failed?

HELP