Broody pullet currently hatching

[Ponyiqandhens2]

My little spangled oeg bantam has been sitting on 9 eggs, some hers, some the mill fleur d'uccle,1 possible golden sebright, and a couple of Easter eggers..so far 5 fully hatched I think 2 more or hatching,but she is a very good mom, I am not going to interfere, she is a good mom or appears to be, soft eye,relaxed unless a threat gets near including humans and constantly speaking,tucking them back in..she is still rotating and moving the unmatched eggs..

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Are the chicks bantam as well? I'm not familiar with Sebright and fleur.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Hi! Are the chicks bantam as well? I'm not familiar with Sebright and fleur.

Yes, the Easter egger eggs are still under her, but they were a day or so behind,I allowed her to keep the 1st two Easter egger eggs that ended up in her nest and removed the rest until I isolated her..so they are bantams..

 

[SmiYa0126]

Ok, just be careful if there are too many chicks and they are "full" size the hen may become overwhelmed and abandon some of them or even kill them

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Ok, just be careful if there are too many chicks and they are "full" size the hen may become overwhelmed and abandon some of them or even kill them

Thank you..I will, currently only 5 have hatched and she is caring for them,if there are too many that hatch I will. I moved her nest to where she grew up. the room she spent her first 2 months in, it's quiet ,protected and safe. It also makes it easier to monitor but not interfere. I appreciate the heads up. I am used to monitoring foaling mares to make sure they accept and allow their newborns to nurse,I did not realize the chickens would behave that way as well..thanks again for the heads up

 

[Ridgerunner]

Broody hens will hatch bantam and full-sized fowl chicken, pheasant, turkey, and about any other poultry eggs and raise them, even if the eggs are mixed as long as they hatch at the same time. I had a hen hide a nest and hatch 18 chicks. She raised them all. I've given a hen incubator chicks in addition to what she hatched to get her up to 15 total. Again she raised them all. I would not be the lease bit concerned about the number or size of the chicks you are trying to hatch.

It sounds like you could have what we call a staggered hatch. That's where the chicks don't hatch close enough together so the hen has to decide if she takes the ones that have hatched off of the nest to find food and water and abandon the unhatched eggs. The majority of broodies will decide on the ones that have hatched, as they should. Since the chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch they can survive for over 72 hours without eating or drinking. Some broodies wait that long to take them off of the nest but many don't. Staggered hatches can be very stressful, I try hard to avoid them. If you have problems with a staggered hatch, that's on you and not the broody hen. Don't do it again.

I am used to monitoring foaling mares to make sure they accept and allow their newborns to nurse,I did not realize the chickens would behave that way as well.

In addition to the potential problems of a staggered hatch, some hens are like your mares, their instincts may not be quite right. I had a broody hen kill two of her chicks that she hatched but did fine with the other six. I have no idea why she killed those two. That's the only real problem I've seen myself but some people on this forum say they have seen things like a hen that would never take her chicks off of the nest, might peck at eggs that are hatching, kill all of the chicks, or do other things that are not right. I let my hens hatch with the flock and have never had another hen kill any of the broody's chicks. Some people I trust say they have seen that. These types of problems may be really rare but with living animals you cannot be sure what will happen.

The potential staggered hatch is the only red flag I see with yours. Sounds like it is going great otherwise. Good luck!

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Broody hens will hatch bantam and full-sized fowl chicken, pheasant, turkey, and about any other poultry eggs and raise them, even if the eggs are mixed as long as they hatch at the same time. I had a hen hide a nest and hatch 18 chicks. She raised them all. I've given a hen incubator chicks in addition to what she hatched to get her up to 15 total. Again she raised them all. I would not be the lease bit concerned about the number or size of the chicks you are trying to hatch.

It sounds like you could have what we call a staggered hatch. That's where the chicks don't hatch close enough together so the hen has to decide if she takes the ones that have hatched off of the nest to find food and water and abandon the unhatched eggs. The majority of broodies will decide on the ones that have hatched, as they should. Since the chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch they can survive for over 72 hours without eating or drinking. Some broodies wait that long to take them off of the nest but many don't. Staggered hatches can be very stressful, I try hard to avoid them. If you have problems with a staggered hatch, that's on you and not the broody hen. Don't do it again.


In addition to the potential problems of a staggered hatch, some hens are like your mares, their instincts may not be quite right. I had a broody hen kill two of her chicks that she hatched but did fine with the other six. I have no idea why she killed those two. That's the only real problem I've seen myself but some people on this forum say they have seen things like a hen that would never take her chicks off of the nest, might peck at eggs that are hatching, kill all of the chicks, or do other things that are not right. I let my hens hatch with the flock and have never had another hen kill any of the broody's chicks. Some people I trust say they have seen that. These types of problems may be really rare but with living animals you cannot be sure what will happen.

The potential staggered hatch is the only red flag I see with yours. Sounds like it is going great otherwise. Good luck!

Thank you for all the info I did start the incubator yesterday to get temp and humidity correct in case we had an issue. If need be I can move them rather than cause an issue not ideal,but..I thought I had pulled all the later ones..I havenot candles since day 12 ...

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Broody hens will hatch bantam and full-sized fowl chicken, pheasant, turkey, and about any other poultry eggs and raise them, even if the eggs are mixed as long as they hatch at the same time. I had a hen hide a nest and hatch 18 chicks. She raised them all. I've given a hen incubator chicks in addition to what she hatched to get her up to 15 total. Again she raised them all. I would not be the lease bit concerned about the number or size of the chicks you are trying to hatch.

It sounds like you could have what we call a staggered hatch. That's where the chicks don't hatch close enough together so the hen has to decide if she takes the ones that have hatched off of the nest to find food and water and abandon the unhatched eggs. The majority of broodies will decide on the ones that have hatched, as they should. Since the chicks absorb the yolk before they hatch they can survive for over 72 hours without eating or drinking. Some broodies wait that long to take them off of the nest but many don't. Staggered hatches can be very stressful, I try hard to avoid them. If you have problems with a staggered hatch, that's on you and not the broody hen. Don't do it again.


In addition to the potential problems of a staggered hatch, some hens are like your mares, their instincts may not be quite right. I had a broody hen kill two of her chicks that she hatched but did fine with the other six. I have no idea why she killed those two. That's the only real problem I've seen myself but some people on this forum say they have seen things like a hen that would never take her chicks off of the nest, might peck at eggs that are hatching, kill all of the chicks, or do other things that are not right. I let my hens hatch with the flock and have never had another hen kill any of the broody's chicks. Some people I trust say they have seen that. These types of problems may be really rare but with living animals you cannot be sure what will happen.

The potential staggered hatch is the only red flag I see with yours. Sounds like it is going great otherwise. Good luck!

She had moved the 5 off the nest to a new area. Two eggs were quitters and two appear to be day 18 or so,they are in the incubator.

 

[Ponyiqandhens2]

Well,one of the two hatched late last night/ early this morning, ii moved it after about 4 hours while she was still resting and watched for a few as the chick wasn't fully dry and fluffed, she tucked it in and 5 hours later it was eating and moving around and being dutifully watched over by cicely. She got them all back under her before I left them alone. The last egg is still viable so it's in the incubator still.