First-time broody, first-time broody owner

[chickengoggles]

SIX out and about this afternoon ❤

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thanks! I think she was a great brooder to start, but getting chased 2 - 3 days in a row (maybe more when I wasn't there?) when coming out to eat/stretch her legs taught her that staying on the nest was her best option.

I'll leave her be for the rest of the time - she ate and drank well this morning, so I won't worry that she dies on the nest.

Thanks for the wisdom and advice - this is exciting for us! She's our best hen, and her egg was developing nicely at day 10, as were the eggs of our other 6 very good heritage breed hens. Our silly cockerel has been excellent in every other way than chasing his first broody around, so I hope to have some lovely offspring.

Here is our papa and mama:

View attachment 1810970 View attachment 1810977

Where is the "LOVE" button??!! Like is not enough for this preciousness.

 

[JadeFarms]

Thanks! I think she was a great brooder to start, but getting chased 2 - 3 days in a row (maybe more when I wasn't there?) when coming out to eat/stretch her legs taught her that staying on the nest was her best option.

I'll leave her be for the rest of the time - she ate and drank well this morning, so I won't worry that she dies on the nest.

Thanks for the wisdom and advice - this is exciting for us! She's our best hen, and her egg was developing nicely at day 10, as were the eggs of our other 6 very good heritage breed hens. Our silly cockerel has been excellent in every other way than chasing his first broody around, so I hope to have some lovely offspring.

Here is our papa and mama:

View attachment 1810970 View attachment 1810977[/QUOTE
They are stunning! i can’t wait to see babies! Please post as soon as they hatch!

 

[chickengoggles]

Six tiny fluff butts.

 

[Aunt Angus]

 

[ColtHandorf]

Hens eating chicks is NOT the norm. Often aberrant behavior is caused by human interference making the hen nervous.

I know that I had a Rhode Island Red hen that incubated and hatched her own chicks all on her own without any assistance from me. I'm very hands off when they go broody unless it's to move them to a more secure location. Anyway I walked outside and could hear distressed peeping from well over a hundred feet away. My breeding pens were in a row and the first thing I noticed was the Salmon Faverolle hen with her two week old clutch racing up and down the wire rubbing the feathers off her breast trying to get to the crying chicks next door. The closer I got the more I realized something was really wrong/off. The three hens and rooster were just walking around the pen a little keyed up and before I could even get the gate open the broody would occasionally race across the pen to deal a blow to a chick's skull, or to pick them up and violently shake them before throwing them back down. She'd scalped all of them and killed all but two and those were covered in fire ants. I tried to save them, but they ended up dying. I never let her set again. I know that wasn't caused by human interference. I think that all just amounted to bad genes which I suppose you could say is caused by human interference as we override nature. A hen like that would never pass on her genes in the wild, but by artificially incubating and hatching her eggs, we perpetuate the genes that lead to the behavior.

 

[rwilliams296]

I know that I had a Rhode Island Red hen that incubated and hatched her own chicks all on her own without any assistance from me. I'm very hands off when they go broody unless it's to move them to a more secure location. Anyway I walked outside and could hear distressed peeping from well over a hundred feet away. My breeding pens were in a row and the first thing I noticed was the Salmon Faverolle hen with her two week old clutch racing up and down the wire rubbing the feathers off her breast trying to get to the crying chicks next door. The closer I got the more I realized something was really wrong/off. The three hens and rooster were just walking around the pen a little keyed up and before I could even get the gate open the broody would occasionally race across the pen to deal a blow to a chick's skull, or to pick them up and violently shake them before throwing them back down. She'd scalped all of them and killed all but two and those were covered in fire ants. I tried to save them, but they ended up dying. I never let her set again. I know that wasn't caused by human interference. I think that all just amounted to bad genes which I suppose you could say is caused by human interference as we override nature. A hen like that would never pass on her genes in the wild, but by artificially incubating and hatching her eggs, we perpetuate the genes that lead to the behavior.

I know that I had a Rhode Island Red hen that incubated and hatched her own chicks all on her own without any assistance from me. I'm very hands off when they go broody unless it's to move them to a more secure location. Anyway I walked outside and could hear distressed peeping from well over a hundred feet away. My breeding pens were in a row and the first thing I noticed was the Salmon Faverolle hen with her two week old clutch racing up and down the wire rubbing the feathers off her breast trying to get to the crying chicks next door. The closer I got the more I realized something was really wrong/off. The three hens and rooster were just walking around the pen a little keyed up and before I could even get the gate open the broody would occasionally race across the pen to deal a blow to a chick's skull, or to pick them up and violently shake them before throwing them back down. She'd scalped all of them and killed all but two and those were covered in fire ants. I tried to save them, but they ended up dying. I never let her set again. I know that wasn't caused by human interference. I think that all just amounted to bad genes which I suppose you could say is caused by human interference as we override nature. A hen like that would never pass on her genes in the wild, but by artificially incubating and hatching her eggs, we perpetuate the genes that lead to the behavior.

I know that I had a Rhode Island Red hen that incubated and hatched her own chicks all on her own without any assistance from me. I'm very hands off when they go broody unless it's to move them to a more secure location. Anyway I walked outside and could hear distressed peeping from well over a hundred feet away. My breeding pens were in a row and the first thing I noticed was the Salmon Faverolle hen with her two week old clutch racing up and down the wire rubbing the feathers off her breast trying to get to the crying chicks next door. The closer I got the more I realized something was really wrong/off. The three hens and rooster were just walking around the pen a little keyed up and before I could even get the gate open the broody would occasionally race across the pen to deal a blow to a chick's skull, or to pick them up and violently shake them before throwing them back down. She'd scalped all of them and killed all but two and those were covered in fire ants. I tried to save them, but they ended up dying. I never let her set again. I know that wasn't caused by human interference. I think that all just amounted to bad genes which I suppose you could say is caused by human interference as we override nature. A hen like that would never pass on her genes in the wild, but by artificially incubating and hatching her eggs, we perpetuate the genes that lead to the behavior.

 

[rwilliams296]

I have a 2 year old Domingue that just went through her 3rd brood. Her first 2 broods resulted in all roosters. I know, darn my luck! They have been re-homed. Her third and most recent clutch started out with 9 eggs..long story but she ended up hatching 2 chicks and is sadly now nurturing only one... crow or hawk? I put 10 eggs in an incubator mid March.. 4 of them hatched and are thriving...3 hens and one rooster. In a nutshell, incubating and hatching your own eggs is the way to go. Mother hens are fierce and protective but can't fight off predators especially if their backs are turned. Incubated eggs turn out so much larger at hatch.. don't knock it until you try it..LOL..Good Luck all!

 

[chickengoggles]

Update time! So she isn't just a great broody, but an amazing mama, too. She catches bugs and gives them to the chicks, smashes mealworms into bite size pieces, and hunkers down when babies hop up for a ride (mostly). And the babies are sweet, too!

 

[rwilliams296]

My Dominique hen ended up only hatching 2 of her 7 eggs. She started with 9 but I eventually culled her down to 6 ( cracked, light in weight, etc ) and then she abandoned the rest after 2 hatched. She did the same with her last hatch in July of last year. I'm sure she got too darned hot! She had her 2 chicks out in the yard at 3 days old. I was so afraid that a big crow or hawk would get them while out in the yard. Turns out they ended up as a late night supper for this big rat snake that probably slithered into the coop while it was open for the day and lay in wait. I was at my wits end trying to figure out what had happened to the 2 chicks after I knew for sure that they were with their mom when all went in to roost the night before. Pretty sure he consumed the 2 chicks while everyone was sleeping. Spotted him later that evening trying to hide under some hay...I know rat snakes are beneficial but can't have them making a meal of my new chicks.