Broody Hen Thread!

[fisherlady]

We have chicks! The first one hatched last night and they have been busily hatching all day. This morning I was able to snap a picture of the little one peeping out from under momma who was busy trying to stuff another baby back under her. Tonight I have seen maybe 6 chicks but that could be higher or lower. So far the babies are all colors from yellow to white to black and brown mottled. I can hardly wait to see them all.

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[Selsley]

Thank you much. I didn't know not to move in the last few days. I hope she gets some chicks after so much effort. So dedicated. It is really impressive.

the chicks wull have moved into hatching position in the last couple of days, even the hen doesnt turn them

hatching is such a stressful time......... for us humans lol
i felt our eggs a few days before hatching when she left the nest, they felt like they were hard boiled they were so hot, didnt think we would get any.
we started with 6 and at some point i think one of the kids slipped a couple in, the original 6 hatched, one 4 days late but died from all the nest activity, we removed the last egg and it wasnt even formed

we hatched 4 araucana chipmunks a black araucana and a white EE from a buff orpington, theyre currently 7 weeks old, i still dont know what sex they are and trying to get them for a photo shoot is near impossible, only one allows me to pick it up. fun watching them grow though, mother hen took them outside for the 1st time at a week old, and theyve been out all day since 9 days old

 

[Selsley]

OK!, well its been less than a week since our broody hen started laying eggs,
and as of today, shes been sat in a nest box for the past 2-3 hrs. I hope shes not going broody again otherwise im going to have to extent the coop,

 

[Selsley]

OK!, well its been less than a week since our broody hen started laying eggs,
and as of today, shes been sat in a nest box for the past 2-3 hrs. I hope shes not going broody again otherwise im going to have to extent the coop,

false alarm,

read an interesting article today, that WASNT on the forum lol, although there was plenty of old threads asking the same question,
it was about chick pecking by the mother, out of 6 chicks she seems to peck the same 2 and is usually surrounded by araucana chipmunks when she does it, she also pecked over one on the perch to get to another. initially i thought she was trying to push them away now they are 7 weeks old but it was the same chick all the time, the other was sat in a nest box. i was wondering if it was a sex thing, was she pecking the 2 because they were hens or maybe because they were cocks, as of yet i still dont know their sex.

i think ive come to the conclusion its a colour thing, it is known hens will peck their young if they are coloured differently.
the 2 she pecks are an all black araucana, which is the youngest by a day, and an all white EE, she does not peck the 4 chipmunks.

 

[microchick]

Right now we have 8 beautiful little chicks.5 OEGB and 3 Buff Orpington. The babes are healthy and active which finally drew Lil'girl off the nest and the last 4 eggs that haven't hatched yet. I brought them in and put them in my cooler incubator (please Santa, bring me a Hovabator 1602N with automatic turner. I've been good this year!)

I just candled them and it looks as though the last three OEGB eggs may be internally pipped and the 1 Welly egg is an early quitter.

So temp in the bator is around 100. Humidity is up and I'm in egg watch mode to see if any of the three pip by tomorrow night.

Mom and babies will be moved to their nursery pen tomorrow. Pictures to follow.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

We have chicks! The first one hatched last night and they have been busily hatching all day. This morning I was able to snap a picture of the little one peeping out from under momma who was busy trying to stuff another baby back under her. Tonight I have seen maybe 6 chicks but that could be higher or lower. So far the babies are all colors from yellow to white to black and brown mottled. I can hardly wait to see them all.

CONGRATS ON THE HATCH!!!!!

 

[fisherlady]

Right now we have 8 beautiful little chicks.5 OEGB and 3 Buff Orpington. The babes are healthy and active which finally drew Lil'girl off the nest and the last 4 eggs that haven't hatched yet. I brought them in and put them in my cooler incubator (please Santa, bring me a Hovabator 1602N with automatic turner. I've been good this year!)

I just candled them and it looks as though the last three OEGB eggs may be internally pipped and the 1 Welly egg is an early quitter.

So temp in the bator is around 100. Humidity is up and I'm in egg watch mode to see if any of the three pip by tomorrow night.

Mom and babies will be moved to their nursery pen tomorrow. Pictures to follow.

Good luck with the incubator eggs, looking forward to pictures!

 

[fisherlady]

false alarm,

read an interesting article today, that WASNT on the forum lol, although there was plenty of old threads asking the same question,
it was about chick pecking by the mother, out of 6 chicks she seems to peck the same 2 and is usually surrounded by araucana chipmunks when she does it, she also pecked over one on the perch to get to another. initially i thought she was trying to push them away now they are 7 weeks old but it was the same chick all the time, the other was sat in a nest box. i was wondering if it was a sex thing, was she pecking the 2 because they were hens or maybe because they were cocks, as of yet i still dont know their sex.

i think ive come to the conclusion its a colour thing, it is known hens will peck their young if they are coloured differently.
the 2 she pecks are an all black araucana, which is the youngest by a day, and an all white EE, she does not peck the 4 chipmunks.

Color is a possibility, especially since the late one is different, it just made it stand out that much more. Would be interested to hear if they were both male or both female also.

 

[microchick]

Unfortunately, none of the 4 remaining eggs hatched. 1 was infertile and the other three had died within the last week of incubation.. I thought they had pipped internally but that wasn't the case. In 2 cases they had their beaks slightly turned towards the air cell and in the other the beak wasn't hardened although the egg tooth was present. Two things possibly happened to them. Either they succumbed to infection from mom pooping on them early on(although there there was no foul smell to them nor no sign of infection in the liquid) or they died from being rolled out of the nest and the temperature fluctuating. The exterior lining was quite dark so they had been dead for a few days at least.

The good news is that we have 8 beautiful little chicks that survived and hatched, in spite of new momma 1st time broody status. 5 are OEGB mixes 3 are Buff O. One of the 3 is a chick from an egg laid from my lone Buff O Welsummer cross hen so I officially have a second generation chick now in my flock. All three look to be sired by one of the Buff O cockerels that hatched with her.

I had hoped the little OEGB chicks would turn out to be Bantam so I could pass them on to a friend as a gift, unfortunately I don't think that is going to be the case as the chicks are only slightly smaller than my BO chicks instead of bantam sized. More in line with a standard sized OEGB instead of an OEGBam.

I knew it was going to be a gamble when I got the eggs. So while I lost the bet, I do have 5 adorable chicks to add to the flock.

I'm hoping to work on pictures. DH and I have the Fall Crud that is going around our area. Bad cough, painful sinuses, sore throat and generally feeling as though we have been ran over by a bus. Hope this isn't an indication of what the rest of winter is going to be like.

 

[fisherlady]

Unfortunately, none of the 4 remaining eggs hatched. 1 was infertile and the other three had died within the last week of incubation.. I thought they had pipped internally but that wasn't the case. In 2 cases they had their beaks slightly turned towards the air cell and in the other the beak wasn't hardened although the egg tooth was present.  Two things possibly happened to them. Either they succumbed to infection from mom pooping on them early on(although there there was no foul smell to them nor no sign of infection in the liquid) or they died from being rolled out of the nest and the temperature fluctuating. The exterior lining was quite dark so they had been dead for a few days at least.

The good news is that we have 8 beautiful little chicks that survived and hatched, in spite of new momma 1st time broody status. 5 are OEGB mixes 3 are Buff O. One of the 3 is a chick from an egg laid from my lone Buff O Welsummer cross hen so I officially have a second generation chick now in my flock. All three look to be sired by one of the Buff O cockerels that hatched with her.

I had hoped the little OEGB chicks would turn out to be Bantam so I could pass them on to a friend as a gift, unfortunately I don't think that is going to be the case as the chicks are only slightly smaller than my BO chicks instead of bantam sized. More in line with a standard sized OEGB instead of an OEGBam.

I knew it was going to be a gamble when I got the eggs. So while I lost the bet, I do have 5 adorable chicks to add to the flock.

I'm hoping to work on pictures. DH and I have the Fall Crud that is going around our area. Bad cough, painful sinuses, sore throat and generally feeling as though we have been ran over by a bus. Hope this isn't an indication of what the rest of winter is going to be like.

Sorry to hear the others didn't make it, we had a hatch yesterday and 3 out of the 4 Light Sussex didn't hatch either...she was a stellar broody so the fault lays with the genetics and/or teenagers in that pen messing up the nests before we collect eggs in the evening causing possibility for contamination, I believe. 1 quit early, 2 quit late and 1 just never internally pipped despite good development through till the last couple of days from what I could tell.
I will be removing the messy cockerels to a grow out area soon, since they are destined for the pot anyway.

She did hatch 3 Silver Pencil Rocks to keep the lone LS company though, so she will be happy with her crew. Will try to add a pic soon.