First time Broody BO Sitting on Nest of 14 Eggs - 1 Week to go!

[BoiseChik]

Mama hen, Beatrice, with two babies

 

[GitaBooks]

They're awesome!

 

[BoiseChik]

We adopted, i.e. went and bought two day old chicks from a breeder, a blue and lavender Orpington.

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[BoiseChik]

Here's a funny pic of mama hen trying to get into the box with the four chicks. I put them in the box for just a minute to move the nest, and she wasn't happy!

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[BoiseChik]

 

[BoiseChik]

So, both of those chicks hatched on day 20. Is that a bit early? One of the chicks has feathered legs and feet so I'm thinking it might be a Brahma/Americana. (The rooster is Americana) The other one is darker with dark legs.
I bought two 1 day old orpingtons and stuck them under the mama right before dark. She could hear their cheeping and was upset until I gave them to her. Then they all settled in nicely, so I'm pretty sure she thinks they're hers.
As far as those other 12 eggs go...I wonder if they are duds. I suppose I'll just leave them in the nest for a while and see...

 

[GitaBooks]

Those orpington chicks will grow up to be lovely!

If you have an incubator, you can take the remaining eggs so the mother can pay attention to her new babies and feeding and watering them. However, since the others hatched a little early (they look healthy, I wouldn't worry about it being too early) then letting her keep the eggs an extra day won't hurt.

 

[KayTee]

feels great, doesn't it? Fingers crossed for the rest of them.

 

[BoiseChik]

Yes, we are loving our new babies! The two born in the nest and the two we bought are all doing great! Mama hen seems very protective and attentive. I gave them the bowl of water and pebbles, which is working well and a bowl of chick mash, which they all love.
I am pretty sure the other 12 eggs are duds. At the end of day 21, there is no peeping in any of them, and I tried the float test again and there was no movement. The hen also moved her nest out of the box I'd given her and left most of the eggs behind. When I checked them, they felt cold. If we just end up with what we've got, it'll be just fine. I'd consider this first venture with a broody to be a success. It was so much fun and such a great learning experience.
We might get a few more day old chicks tomorrow to add to the group. I'll let you guys know how it goes. :-]

 

[KayTee]

I think you're probably right - the others are duds. If you are interested to know what happened, and you can bear to do it, take them somewhere well ventilated (I do mine directly over the compost heap) and break them open. You will be able to see if they were infertile, or if a chick had started to develop. If they were infertile then nothing would have made them hatch, but if you find several that had started to develop and then stopped then you know that there was a problem somewhere during the brooding process.

It needs a strong stomach to be able to open a dud egg - it's heartbreaking to find a partly developed chick - but at least it will give you a clue. If none of the others were fertile then everything that happened during the last 3 weeks was fine. If some are partly developed then you can compare the embryo with charts online to see how far along they got, and think back to see if there was anything that happened around the time that would have stopped them developing.

The more we question, the more we learn, the more we provide good care for our pets. It sounds like you are doing a great job - enjoy your little cheepers!