First time broody mama--1 week until hatch!

[TahomaChickens]

Ok, I'm a pretty new chicken rancher--only had my original girls since last November. And our bantam Cochin went broody, so we went ahead and got her some eggs to hatch. She's 2 weeks in on that, so I've got one more week to prepare. I've read some articles, and feel generally prepared, but don't know what I don't know.

So wanted to ask you all for your expert advice!

What are the must-do things?

What are the things you wished you'd known before you did it the first time?

 

[Perris]

What are the must-do things?

What are the things you wished you'd known before you did it the first time?

Must do: be patient. Don't interfere with the hatch. The broody will bring them out and show you them when they're ready.

Advice with benefit of hindsight: don't risk the health of the healthy chicks for the sake of a sickly one. If the broody abandons or rejects an egg or a chick, trust her judgement; don't force her and the other chicks to accept it.

 

[lavendermarie]

This may be pretty much common knowledge, but bantam eggs tend to hatch earlier! All mine hatched on the 18th day. It was pretty shocking, lol.

 

[Saveria]

Where is her nest? We put chicks under an orpington and we had to move her from the elevated nesting box to a flat enclosure with a nesting box on the ground because she wasn't bringing them to food or water for a while. Maybe your will do that fine since her chicks are hatching under her, but you might want to have an idea of where you will put her if she isn't doing it on her own, or if she needs to be secluded from the rest of the flock.

 

[K0k0shka]

Not all broodies know what they're doing. Keep an eye on her and don't trust her 100%. I know a lot of people like to emphasize that a broody (or nature) knows best, but chickens are very far removed from nature at this point - especially the pure breeds, that have had selection pressure on them for other things, and have lost the reliability of instinct. A lot of breeds are propagated artificially - via incubators, or broodies of different breeds - and would go extinct if left to "nature".

I'm dealing with a very disappointing broody right now that's missing a lot of the instincts, though she's trying, poor thing. She's learning, but she needs a lot of help. Make sure she's tucking the eggs under herself, isn't pecking the chicks really hard after they hatch, keeps them under herself after they hatch, takes them out of the nest after a couple of days, shows them food and water, etc. Watch what she does in tricky situations and what decisions she makes, and show her the way if she makes a wrong decision. For example, mine wasn't taking the chicks out of the nest. 3 days after hatch, they started hopping out on their own. One chick stayed in the nest and she stayed with that one chick, leaving the rest unattended on the floor, cold and lost and calling for her. The nest is low and they have a ramp, so they could theoretically get back up if she showed them, but she didn't. I don't know how long they were like that, stranded and cold - I had to go and pull her out of the nest, and put the last chick on the floor so they could all be together. Staying in the nest with that one chick was a bad decision. What she should have done was come out and call the last chick, which would've followed her down the ramp and to the floor, so the whole family could be together. Also, usually once they leave the nest, they don't return - the hen settles on the floor with the chicks at night. My hen went back into the nest in the evening though, and just sat there. The chicks were left at the bottom of the ramp, cheeping in distress. She wasn't calling them over or anything, or showing them how to use the ramp. She just sat in the nest and waited. I had to lift them up and put them under her. I'm just going to block the nest for tonight.

By comparison, I have a better broody that used the same nest and the same ramp last year, but she never left the brood split like that. For the ramp, she'd stand halfway down and call the chicks, then move some and call them again, and show them gradually. Then once they were down, she didn't return to the nest, they slept on the floor from then on, and she always had all of them together. For both hens, it was their first time. Some just know better than others. Hope yours has all her instincts, but keep an eye on her just in case!

 

[TahomaChickens]

This may be pretty much common knowledge, but bantam eggs tend to hatch earlier! All mine hatched on the 18th day. It was pretty shocking, lol.

I didn't know that! But, the eggs aren't bantam--we bought them for the bantam to hatch since she so clearly wanted to be a mama. Figured it was worth a shot! Worst case, we're out like $6-10.

 

[TahomaChickens]

Not all broodies know what they're doing. Keep an eye on her and don't trust her 100%. I know a lot of people like to emphasize that a broody (or nature) knows best, but chickens are very far removed from nature at this point - especially the pure breeds, that have had selection pressure on them for other things, and have lost the reliability of instinct. A lot of breeds are propagated artificially - via incubators, or broodies of different breeds - and would go extinct if left to "nature".

I'm dealing with a very disappointing broody right now that's missing a lot of the instincts, though she's trying, poor thing. She's learning, but she needs a lot of help. Make sure she's tucking the eggs under herself, isn't pecking the chicks really hard after they hatch, keeps them under herself after they hatch, takes them out of the nest after a couple of days, shows them food and water, etc. Watch what she does in tricky situations and what decisions she makes, and show her the way if she makes a wrong decision. For example, mine wasn't taking the chicks out of the nest. 3 days after hatch, they started hopping out on their own. One chick stayed in the nest and she stayed with that one chick, leaving the rest unattended on the floor, cold and lost and calling for her. The nest is low and they have a ramp, so they could theoretically get back up if she showed them, but she didn't. I don't know how long they were like that, stranded and cold - I had to go and pull her out of the nest, and put the last chick on the floor so they could all be together. Staying in the nest with that one chick was a bad decision. What she should have done was come out and call the last chick, which would've followed her down the ramp and to the floor, so the whole family could be together. Also, usually once they leave the nest, they don't return - the hen settles on the floor with the chicks at night. My hen went back into the nest in the evening though, and just sat there. The chicks were left at the bottom of the ramp, cheeping in distress. She wasn't calling them over or anything, or showing them how to use the ramp. She just sat in the nest and waited. I had to lift them up and put them under her. I'm just going to block the nest for tonight.

By comparison, I have a better broody that used the same nest and the same ramp last year, but she never left the brood split like that. For the ramp, she'd stand halfway down and call the chicks, then move some and call them again, and show them gradually. Then once they were down, she didn't return to the nest, they slept on the floor from then on, and she always had all of them together. For both hens, it was their first time. Some just know better than others. Hope yours has all her instincts, but keep an eye on her just in case!

Thank you so much for this advice! I was definitely expecting her to know it all (and didn't really have any idea of signals of what NOT knowing it would be!), so this helps a lot!

 

[TahomaChickens]

Where is her nest? We put chicks under an orpington and we had to move her from the elevated nesting box to a flat enclosure with a nesting box on the ground because she wasn't bringing them to food or water for a while. Maybe your will do that fine since her chicks are hatching under her, but you might want to have an idea of where you will put her if she isn't doing it on her own, or if she needs to be secluded from the rest of the flock.

She's currently in an elevated nest, but I'm planning to move her and the eggs down to a lower location mid-week, I think.

 

[lavendermarie]

I didn't know that! But, the eggs aren't bantam--we bought them for the bantam to hatch since she so clearly wanted to be a mama. Figured it was worth a shot! Worst case, we're out like $6-10.

Definitely worth a shot! I wish you the best of luck with your hatch!!

 

[Saveria]

She's currently in an elevated nest, but I'm planning to move her and the eggs down to a lower location mid-week, I think.

In case she doesn't take to the new spot, you can let the eggs fully hatch (about 2-3 days?) and then move her past 9pm at night to the new spot. Then, she will wake up and just have her chicks, and is less likely to make a fuss. Your hen might be fine being moved (all about the temperament, I think), but doing it at night with a red light is a good idea if you can.