First Time Chicken Hatcher!! Need Advice for Raising Chicks With Broody Hens

[TwoCrows]

Seriously though. I swear I won't make it till EasterView attachment 3688093

Hatching is very addicting, after the first one, you are never the same person!

Love that smiley.

 

[fluffycrow]

Hatching is very addicting, after the first one, you are never the same person!

Love that smiley.

This is sooo true!

 

[Debbie292d]

This is sooo true!

I'll third that!

Hubby said he knows for a fact I start going into a depression when there's not at least an egg in an incubator or a chick in the brooder.

 

[fluffycrow]

I'll third that!

Hubby said he knows for a fact I start going into a depression when there's not at least an egg in an incubator or a chick in the brooder.

I mean, it's only natural! It's so addicting!

 

[Vicker]

I had 2 pairs of hens to co-raise 2 separate clutches this spring. I made sure food and water were accessible to the chicks and let the free-ranging mothers do the rest. They were wild little suckers, but are getting better with time. If I wanted them more tame, I would have kept them enclosed in a space I could access for regular handling. Since they do free-range, I like them to be a little more flighty.

 

[Backcountrychickens]

exactly the same for me

 

[LaurenRitz]

I had a broody hatch successfully last summer. Temps were 100+ (38 C) and she nested in a metal shed, so the temp inside was probably in that 44 degree range. But she's one that breaks if I try to move her so I let it go. 4 eggs, 4 chicks. I made sure she had water and otherwise let her do her thing.