Broody Hen Thread!

[Puddin Fluff]

So excited for you microchick.

Today is my day 7. Can't wait to candle tonight.

I have had a mystery I am trying to solve. I set 11 eggs with my broody, expecting some that would not develop. I found one crushed and removed it. She is sharing the nest with other layers for now so not surprised at that, however, that put me at 10 eggs. This week as I check and remove new eggs, my numbers have decreased. She is now only sitting on 7 eggs. 3 have disappeared somewhere.

Too cold for snakes, no shell fragments left, I am at a total loss. The eggs are well marked and I am the only one collecting. Set up a game cam last night but all eggs accounted for this morning.

Mystery?

 

[microchick]

2 miracle leap year babies were just hatched in my little incubator! Both of my abandoned, jostled, chilled, eggs hatched out what at this time appears to be two healthy little chicks, one Buff O and the other probably a Welsummer/Buff cross. Even the one I was almost positive was dead just hatched out. Guess it was only taking a nap with it's nose stuck in the air chamber. I can only hope to get lucky enough to have at least one full Welsummer chick.

My cheap little incubator that I bought for just such an occasion did it's job but I can sure understand why everyone shells out the money for a good unit. One is probably going to be on my 'get list' now. At least a small Brinsea something or other that I don't have to ride herd on in order to keep the temp stable.

Now to get these two little ones dried out, in a brooder till tonight and back with their momma. At least next time a hen goes broody on us she will have her own 'nursery' ready for her so the other hens can't donate to her cause! My sincere thanks to everyone for their wisdom and advice. I have really appreciated having more experienced shoulders to lean on. Both DH and I were up during the night checking on them. I think we each got 5-6 hours sleep but it was worth it.

Do you guys thing these two little ones will have any problems with their older bros and sissies them being 4 days older than the earliest hatched.

 

[fisherlady]

2 miracle leap year babies were just hatched in my little incubator! Both of my abandoned, jostled, chilled, eggs hatched out what at this time appears to be two healthy little chicks, one Buff O and the other probably a Welsummer/Buff cross. Even the one I was almost positive was dead just hatched out. Guess it was only taking a nap with it's nose stuck in the air chamber. I can only hope to get lucky enough to have at least one full Welsummer chick.

My cheap little incubator that I bought for just such an occasion did it's job but I can sure understand why everyone shells out the money for a good unit. One is probably going to be on my 'get list' now. At least a small Brinsea something or other that I don't have to ride herd on in order to keep the temp stable.

Now to get these two little ones dried out, in a brooder till tonight and back with their momma. At least next time a hen goes broody on us she will have her own 'nursery' ready for her so the other hens can't donate to her cause! My sincere thanks to everyone for their wisdom and advice. I have really appreciated having more experienced shoulders to lean on. Both DH and I were up during the night checking on them. I think we each got 5-6 hours sleep but it was worth it.

Do you guys thing these two little ones will have any problems with their older bros and sissies them being 4 days older than the earliest hatched.

Make sure they are good and stable on their feet and I would give them some vitamins or nutridrench before moving them out, the biggest risk is mama hen moving from one area to another to scratch or get water and these two being to weak to keep up and ending up chilled and in trouble. Keep mama in a smaller area for the first couple of days to reduce that chance and frequent checks will be needed the first couple of days.

Edit to add 2 things....the leap year calendars were changed twice in the last couple thousands of years to get it right... the Julian and Gregorian calendar. Wouldn't it be cool if your two leap chicks had names based on them? Julian or Julie...Gregory or Georgia... and Gregory means 'watchful, alert'....so how awesome is that for a rooster!?!
And second....I grafted a day old from one broody to another who had a single which was 5 days old, it worked out great after the first couple of days of artificially restricted activity to get it mobile enough to keep up. Just watch for picking/bullying and make sure it is getting good nutrition.

 

[microchick]

I have rooster booster vitamins and probiotic on hand or should I get a package of chick saver for them? Or, would Poly Vi Sol infant vitamins work better for them?

The youngest chicks are about a day older than these two, maybe a little older, say 30 hours or so. The first chicks hatched Friday night and only 2 of the 5 hatched on time. The 3 that were due to hatch Fri. hatched Saturday through the day and #6 hatched over night on Sat/Sun. I think the on again off again cold weather was probably responsible for that.

Mom and the first 6 chicks are in a small coop by themselves. The coop is about 3X6 and around 3 feet tall. They have two nesting boxes to choose from.

 

[fisherlady]

I have rooster booster vitamins and probiotic on hand or should I get a package of chick saver for them? Or, would Poly Vi Sol infant vitamins work better for them?

The youngest chicks are about a day older than these two, maybe a little older, say 30 hours or so. The first chicks hatched Friday night and only 2 of the 5 hatched on time. The 3 that were due to hatch Fri. hatched Saturday through the day and #6 hatched over night on Sat/Sun. I think the on again off again cold weather was probably responsible for that.

Mom and the first 6 chicks are in a small coop by themselves. The coop is about 3X6 and around 3 feet tall. They have two nesting boxes to choose from.

I did edit to add an additional comment above....same time as you were posting....

Chicks should do fine, we recently had an extended hatch I attributed to cold temps also, with almost two days between and no problems, I've grafted chicks as much as 4-5 days apart but it takes an attentive and caring hen and a bit of people time, but is well worth it when it can be done. With having two it will be better for them.

I have used both chick saver and nutridrench with good results, have heard good about the infant vitamins but haven't used them myself, I think you need a specific version of the infant vitamins. Check which type before you get them...

 

[microchick]

So excited for you microchick.

Today is my day 7. Can't wait to candle tonight.

I have had a mystery I am trying to solve. I set 11 eggs with my broody, expecting some that would not develop. I found one crushed and removed it. She is sharing the nest with other layers for now so not surprised at that, however, that put me at 10 eggs. This week as I check and remove new eggs, my numbers have decreased. She is now only sitting on 7 eggs. 3 have disappeared somewhere.

Too cold for snakes, no shell fragments left, I am at a total loss. The eggs are well marked and I am the only one collecting. Set up a game cam last night but all eggs accounted for this morning.

Mystery?

Thanks Puddin Fluff. It's been a busy morning here with our last two abandoned eggs hatching.

You do have a mystery there. Hopefully your game camera will help solve it for you. I was thinking maybe a predator such as a raccoon but I don't think one would stop with eggs when there is a hen sitting there. You don't have another broody somewhere that could be stealing eggs from your sitting hen? I've heard of it being done.

Hope you find out what is going on and can stop the problem.

 

[fisherlady]

Did some editing on last two posts...

 

[PD-Riverman]

I have had a mystery I am trying to solve. I set 11 eggs with my broody, . She is now only sitting on 7 eggs. 3 have disappeared somewhere.

Too cold for snakes, no shell fragments left, I am at a total loss.

Mystery?

This is another reason I move all my broodies to private hatching pens---60+ hens in the last year or so alone---100's and 100's of eggs under them---never have a egg to go missing, rarely have a broke one. My hatching pens are wrapped with 1/2" hardware cloth---Nothing bigger than 1/2" can get into it(unless it digs under ground which has not happened). Works good for Me and them! I encourage everyone to get set-up so you do not have all these problems!! Good Luck in your Future Hatches!!

 

[fisherlady]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/321979/poly-vi-sol-without-iron


Found this for the poly-vi-sol..... it is supposed to be the type without iron.

Looks like something to add to my shopping list on my next trip to town.

 

[microchick]

Yep, that's the stuff. I have to go into town tomorrow. I'll stop and pick up a bottle and dose everyone just to be safe and give them a good start. 7 and Rocky are cheeping and drying out. All of our dogs and cats hate us as they have been banned to the upstairs or out in the back yard for the day! Life is hard.

PD-Riverman I have to agree with you and thanks for sharing your wisdom. Our nursery coop has a floor made from 2.5X8 inch solid white oak boards and the walls are metal. It also has the advantage of being inside our barn and built off the floor by about 4 inches. I'm not saying if something wanted to get through it couldn't but for the most part I think that could be said about any coop that isn't built out of solid steel. It would have to be pretty darned determined.

From now on, at the first sign of broodiness the hen will be sequestered in the nursery coop for the duration and the eggs she gets strictly controlled so we are not dealing with any staggered hatches.

I'm grateful that you pointed that out to me and gave me a chance to get a little cheap 'bator in time to handle the problem that I created. It handled term eggs but I sure wouldn't want to try to hatch with it.

Thanks again for your help.