Broody hen????

[BaileyMChicks]

I vote for the chicken wire for the divider, it will let the light and air through.  Have you considered moving Super ***** and her chicks in with the rest of the flock?

Lol I like how u used Frazzle's 'nickname'
And yes I have thought about moving them but I'm afraid my other 26 hens would hurt the chicks. They all have pecking problems anyways(the older hens) and I think it would be best to wait until they(the chicks) are older and have most to all their feathers....

That's my makeshift cardboard separator thingy I made. So far so good.

I was also afraid that the eggs weren't going to b any good cuz at first she wouldn't sit, so in the morning I moved her back in the coop, marked the eggs, and put them under her for the day. Then I made a new nest box(the other one was a bucket and she hated it) and put her in there. Then before I put the divider up again(I had it up when u first put her in there) frazzle kept chasing her off it and digging around in the nest and pushing out the eggs. So they got cool quite often. I just candled them a few hours ago( today is day 3 or 4) and the one banty egg wasn't fertile to begin with(i think???) and I thought one had a blood ring but I'm not sure. I will candle again on Friday or Saturday and toss out any infertile or bad ones. And I'm not sure if I can do the chicken wire, because my parents would have to buy some, and if the cardboard is working y waste money right?

 

[Den in Penn]

Cheeper solutions are always appreciated. I asked about moving the mom and chicks in with the flock because that is what I do. The mother protects and guides them around the coop. Of course ever flock has a little different personality. But once my flock got used to the chicks running around, I never worried about even day olds in with them. Everyone ultimately managers their flock based on what they are comfortable with.

 

[BaileyMChicks]

Ok, it's day four for summer and the 6 eggs she's sitting on. I found out the banty egg I was hatching out for myself(I'm giving the others away to someone) wasn't even fertilized in the first place. So I just went into the coop and found that my hen petunia(I think that's how to spell that; she's actually my sisters hen) had laid an egg today( she's a cochin banty, the mother of spring actually, and she only lays 3 eggs a week) and I was wondering if it was possible to replace the old non-fertilized banty egg with petunias even though the eggs are 4 days apart?

 

[Den in Penn]

Four days is stretching the limit of time a hen will stay on the nest to wait for any late hatching chicks. Most will leave the nest after two days. I would not give you good odds of her finishing that egg.

 

[BaileyMChicks]

Four days is stretching the limit of time a hen will stay on the nest to wait for any late hatching chicks.  Most will leave the nest after two days.  I would not give you good odds of her finishing that egg.

So it would be best to just not have her hatch that one then.... My sister was looking forward to having another chick. We just hatched out 5 and there was supposed to be six(3 for each of us) but one died at around day 10-12 of incubation. So she let me have 3 chicks and she took 2.
I might have one of my other broodys( I have 3 more right now, not including frazzle and summer......I think it's contagious) sit on an egg or 2 in a little while( I hope I still have some broody hens by then...) and let my sister have 1 of the chicks. And btw we r both old enough to know how to care for chickens just so nobody is worried that my sis was a 3 yo who would squish it or loose it in the house of leave it to die.... And even if I had a younger sis I would watch her to make sure she was careful with it.... Anyways enough ranting thanks for letting me know. I was thinking she wouldn't wait that long but I wasn't sure. The last(and first lol) clutch I just had my broody hatch had 4 eggs from one day and 2 from another and they all hatched within a 24 hour period if the first one...so I was thinking and hoping maybe the little guy will be a bit early and start to get inpatient when it hears the others and wanna bust outta that shell.... Idk it was a thought... And I could always wait.... I just would prefer not waiting......I'm a very impatient person.....lol

 

[Den in Penn]

Yes hold off on giving the egg to a already sitting broody, That is called staggered hatches, they never work well. The hen will either sit to long waiting for them all to hatch and the first hatch wander off without mom and run into trouble. Or the mom leaves the late eggs too soon, and they don't make it. You can hold an egg for ten days before it viability begins to decline. So you can hold a few eggs you want them to hatch that long till you get enough to put under the broody at one time. Twins huh. I was thinking she was a little older and had you doing all the heavy lifting while "learning".

 

[Free Feather]

Broodiness is definitely contagious, at least around here.

 

[BaileyMChicks]

Plz help me the cardboard got knocked over again and one of the eggs is cracked with a hole in it what should u do!!!!!

 

[BaileyMChicks]

My dad told me to throw it away but I think the chick is still alive what the **** should I do!!!!! Plz answer this it's super urgent plz!!!!

 

[BaileyMChicks]

I don't know what to do........