Hatching and raising chicks

[Farm Frenzy 11]

Hey everyone I am new to this website and I would love to know a bit more about my flock. I have a hen that has been sitting on 13 eggs, but 4 have disappeared. I have a rooster. Today is day 19 for some of the eggs, I am not sure if their is a chicken in them all not but would love to learn how to tell.
Thanks

 

[Chickens :)]

Hello and welcome to BYC! If you have a broody hen with eggs you should definitely have her iscolated from the other hen because they can crack or hurt the eggs and kill any embryo that is developing inside. You said that it was day 19/21 meaning that it is probably too late to candle the eggs because they can’t be disturbed for the last 3 days of incubation. If you were to candle the eggs at this stage they will most likely be almost fully black except for the air sac when you put light under them if they are fertile. If there is any other eggs under her that have more than three days before they hatch you will be able to candle them and tell whether or not they are fertile. If not it will be a great surprise on day 21! Make sure that you have an area for the broody hen and her chicks ready for when they hatch. Also make sure you have chick starter feed and a shallow dish of water with stones in it to stop the chicks from drowning. The mother hen should show them how to drink and eat so don’t worry about that! The mother hen will do all the work for you so don’t interfere too much. Also one big thing don’t help a chick hatch. It will take quite some time and they may look very exhausted but the chicks know what they are doing.

I hope this helps you and good luck with your hatching.

 

[Farm Frenzy 11]

Hello and welcome to BYC! If you have a broody hen with eggs you should definitely have her iscolated from the other hen because they can crack or hurt the eggs and kill any embryo that is developing inside. You said that it was day 19/21 meaning that it is probably too late to candle the eggs because they can’t be disturbed for the last 3 days of incubation. If you were to candle the eggs at this stage they will most likely be almost fully black except for the air sac when you put light under them if they are fertile. If there is any other eggs under her that have more than three days before they hatch you will be able to candle them and tell whether or not they are fertile. If not it will be a great surprise on day 21! Make sure that you have an area for the broody hen and her chicks ready for when they hatch. Also make sure you have chick starter feed and a shallow dish of water with stones in it to stop the chicks from drowning. The mother hen should show them how to drink and eat so don’t worry about that! The mother hen will do all the work for you so don’t interfere too much. Also one big thing don’t help a chick hatch. It will take quite some time and they may look very exhausted but the chicks know what they are doing.

I hope this helps you and good luck with your hatching.

 

[Farm Frenzy 11]

Thank u so much Chickens that helped me so much, just one more thing. I have kept the broody hen in with my others so do I still seperate them when the chicks hatch If so how and when.
Thanks again

 

[L1sa]

They will need to be separated as the other chickens can attack chicks and in a worst case, kill them. I would wait until the majority of the eggs have hatched and this is where it gets tricky if you have a staggered hatch. If some of the eggs arrived in the nest later and are later developing, broody muma will have to make a choice between taking care of her live chicks or staying to hatch the remaining eggs. But I would still move her and her chicks and all the remaining eggs to her secluded nest box probably late evening. Being very careful with the eggs, trying not to jostle them about. Muma may still sit and hatch the remainders or she may well abandon the last ones.

Good luck and please update us with pics

 

[Shadrach]

Hey everyone I am new to this website and I would love to know a bit more about my flock. I have a hen that has been sitting on 13 eggs, but 4 have disappeared. I have a rooster. Today is day 19 for some of the eggs, I am not sure if their is a chicken in them all not but would love to learn how to tell.
Thanks

Hello Farm Frenzy 11. Welcome to BYC.
You don't say if you free range, or have a coop and run (?)
I'll assume your broody hen has chosen to sit in the flock coop in a nest boxer(?)
You say you have a rooster. How many hens do you have?
Where in the pecking order is the broody hen?
If one of the hens here decides to sit on eggs in a nest box in the coop I don't interfere.
I don't separate her from the others in any way.
I have never had another hen or rooster attack the chicks when they hatch.
Hens have been managing to hatch chicks for centuries without human interference.
If your hen can't protect her chicks in the coop then she won't be able to anywhere else.
What you do need is sufficient room for the hen and her chicks once they've hatched so the mum can move the chicks away form any unwanted attention.
At most you are going to get 9 chicks. 4 or 5 of those will be roosters. You need to be prepared for this.
If your broody hen is low in the pecking order it will be more difficult than it would be if she was a senior hen.
My advice is not to move the hen and under no circumstances move the eggs!

 

[Farm Frenzy 11]

Hello Farm Frenzy 11. Welcome to BYC.
You don't say if you free range, or have a coop and run (?)
I'll assume your broody hen has chosen to sit in the flock coop in a nest boxer(?)
You say you have a rooster. How many hens do you have?
Where in the pecking order is the broody hen?
If one of the hens here decides to sit on eggs in a nest box in the coop I don't interfere.
I don't separate her from the others in any way.
I have never had another hen or rooster attack the chicks when they hatch.
Hens have been managing to hatch chicks for centuries without human interference.
If your hen can't protect her chicks in the coop then she won't be able to anywhere else.
What you do need is sufficient room for the hen and her chicks once they've hatched so the mum can move the chicks away form any unwanted attention.
At most you are going to get 9 chicks. 4 or 5 of those will be roosters. You need to be prepared for this.
If your broody hen is low in the pecking order it will be more difficult than it would be if she was a senior hen.
My advice is not to move the hen and under no circumstances move the eggs!

I have a coop and run aswell and sometimes they get to free range. I have 8 hens and 4 Muscovy ducks in my flock. Is been 21/21 days so far and I still haven’t got any chicks yet. Is this normal?.

 

[Farm Frenzy 11]

They will need to be separated as the other chickens can attack chicks and in a worst case, kill them. I would wait until the majority of the eggs have hatched and this is where it gets tricky if you have a staggered hatch. If some of the eggs arrived in the nest later and are later developing, broody muma will have to make a choice between taking care of her live chicks or staying to hatch the remaining eggs. But I would still move her and her chicks and all the remaining eggs to her secluded nest box probably late evening. Being very careful with the eggs, trying not to jostle them about. Muma may still sit and hatch the remainders or she may well abandon the last ones.

Good luck and please update us with pics

Ok thank you I will seperate them once they hatch. Sure will keep u up to date with them ( if I even get any)

 

[L1sa]

Is been 21/21 days so far and I still haven’t got any chicks yet. Is this normal?.

Yes, normal, it depends when you officially start counting from. Like I put eggs under my broody at 8pm on a Thursday so 21 days from that will be at the earliest 8pm Thursday, so I'm not expecting anything until at least Friday morning. However I will still be checking earlier just in case . Sometimes they hatch out on the 22nd 23rd 24th day, have even heard of later than that. I guess, like humans the baby will come when it's good and ready, my son was 6 weeks prem, my daughter 4 days late. Temperature can play a part too, if mumma has been off the nest for long periods when it's pretty chilly hatching can be delayed.

Good luck, hope it all goes to plan.

 

[Kat2141]

I didn't separate our hens from the others, but I only had 4 girls and 2 of them were on eggs. When they hatched, they all stayed together. Their "coop" is a 10x10 horse stall that was modified, so lots of room. I think it depends a lot on your particular setup.