Here's the deal, I was crossing one of my American Brood Cocks with a Brown Red Old English Pullet and was using one of my hens that went broody early for the hatching. This was early March and the temperatures here in PA have been extremely unseasonably cold. The hen I was using was a young first time sitter, but I figured I would risk it. Well this hen obviously didn't have much of a clue, as she would wander off for extended periods of time to eat, drink, or dust bath, leaving the eggs unattended in 20 degree temps for long periods. The eggs would actually get cold to the touch before she got back on them. She was constantly being chased off the nest by other more dominant hens who wanted to lay their eggs in her box and last week she actually sat on the wrong batch of eggs in another box, letting the ones I put under her go ice cold.
I figured it was over but at the same time had an older hen start to set that is a proven hatcher and just an awesome mother, so I moved the eggs over to her to see what would happen. Sure enough I went out today and so far she has hatched 3 out of 6. I am completely blown away, these eggs went hot to cold so many times it was crazy and were constantly getting jostled around by other hens. It's amazing how hard it can be to hatch out chicks in the "perfect" conditions of our climate controlled incubators, but hens can do everything wrong and still have success. Just thought I would share.
I figured it was over but at the same time had an older hen start to set that is a proven hatcher and just an awesome mother, so I moved the eggs over to her to see what would happen. Sure enough I went out today and so far she has hatched 3 out of 6. I am completely blown away, these eggs went hot to cold so many times it was crazy and were constantly getting jostled around by other hens. It's amazing how hard it can be to hatch out chicks in the "perfect" conditions of our climate controlled incubators, but hens can do everything wrong and still have success. Just thought I would share.
