Ever had a winter broody?

[Lady of McCamley]

I have a orpington that went broody. I placed 2 eggs under her and they should have hatched on dec13. I live in Vermont where it is cold. we brought Mimsy ( the hen) inside the house. 1 egg has done nothing.the other egg has visable cracks in it. this is my first year have chickens and a broody. The one egg that is doing nothing was left alone couple of times. how long should we leave the eggs under Mimsy before we say they were failures? sorry for all the questions I am clueless. this was to have been my nieces but I now take care of them.

Have you candled them?

Your choices are to wait it out a couple more days or candle to see if anything has developed....or to pull them now and start again.

It's not unusual for hatches to go over the 21 days...some let them stay another 48 hours, others up to 28 days.

Candling will show you if there is anything developed. Just go out at night time with a bright flashlight, pick up the egg and set the egg on the flashlight letting the beam shine through the egg...you will be looking down at the egg as you hold it. If the egg has never developed, it will shine through like a translucent bulb (shine a flashlight through a kitchen egg first to see what I mean). If it has developed you will see either veins and a black blob or at this point of the game likely just a big black blob taking over most of the egg and some air space. You want dense black blob not lots of see through shell for a developing chick.

Good luck.
Lady of McCamley

 

[BelleFarm]

My silkie hen dispapeared for a week in October, and I was worried she had been taken by a predator. One morning when I woke up, I looked out my window and there she was in the yard looking for feed. I followed her and discovered her sitting on a nest of nine eggs, five silkie/Easter eggers and four pure silkies. All four silkies hatched, and two mutts did as well. She is the best mama and kept them warm through the cold November and December tempatures, the two mutts are almost as big as she is now, and yet still try to sleep underneath her wings with the silkie chicks. It's quite funny. Here are some pics of when they hatched

 

[texgardengal]

AWWW!!!! Cute babies!! Good job! Momma took great care of her chickies....

 

[BelleFarm]

AWWW!!!!    Cute babies!!  Good job!  Momma took great care of her chickies....

Thank you

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Hi Tamilee. i wish I had some good advice for you but I'm new to this too. I had a broody hen

that just hatched a third chickie out of 7 eggs. My two hens together layed the eggs but by the time I realized she was broody and finally got the eggs marked, after getting pecked a few times, we had 7 eggs. The first two hatched at about the same time. But, one didnt make it. I think mom sat on it.....Anyway, I was kind of in the same boat as you, waiting to see if I should throw the eggs out or continue to let her sit on them. Today a third hatched. This one seems to be doing ok so far. I do know she never left the eggs more than once a day, and only for a minute or two...just long enough to get a drink, a bite to eat and to poop. Then she was back on the nest. It was very cold here in Texas this month. I was really worried, having a broody hen in the coldest weather we have had in years... We had a week of ice on the ground (not normal for Texas) and temps in the 20's but she seemed to do fine with no help from me. Her coop is plywood with a thick layer of hay on the ground but is not heated.

She looks quite protective!

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

My silkie hen dispapeared for a week in October, and I was worried she had been taken by a predator. One morning when I woke up, I looked out my window and there she was in the yard looking for feed. I followed her and discovered her sitting on a nest of nine eggs, five silkie/Easter eggers and four pure silkies. All four silkies hatched, and two mutts did as well. She is the best mama and kept them warm through the cold November and December tempatures, the two mutts are almost as big as she is now, and yet still try to sleep underneath her wings with the silkie chicks. It's quite funny. Here are some pics of when they hatched

What a good Mama! That mutt in the front is precious!

 

[BelleFarm]

What a good Mama!  That mutt in the front is precious!

thank you it's a he - to many roosters but he's so sweet

 

[iliv4chicks]

broody is when the hen just wants to hatch babies, and sits on the nest in a trans like state.

 

[iliv4chicks]

my silkie cross hen, named mamma goose, just hatched 3 of her eggs on Monday! they are so tiny and adorable. I don't have pics yet to share, but I will soon! so excited to hear about all these chicks hatching!

 

[iliv4chicks]

so cute! that ''mutt'' looks just like one of my little ones!