Ok so I am doing my final candling. The first egg is very full and dark. Could see movement and a large air sack. I have decided to bring her into garage as the winds are very cold and fierce as well as 20-30 temps. She is being very calm and sweet with me and I am very confident she is happy being inside out of the cold. She was sitting faithfully on the nest but shivering and I just can’t stand seeing that. I plan to put her in a large cage in garage and keep a heat lamp on but not actually on her. Should have some babies within a few days. Not gonna bother her or them just check for peeping sounds a couple times a day. Can’t stand the waiting but have to force myself to let her handle it. Thanks for all your advice and I hope to report back with good news.
Ok so I am doing my final candling. The first egg is very full and dark. Could see movement and a large air sack. I have decided to bring her into garage as the winds are very cold and fierce as well as 20-30 temps. She is being very calm and sweet with me and I am very confident she is happy being inside out of the cold. She was sitting faithfully on the nest but shivering and I just can’t stand seeing that. I plan to put her in a large cage in garage and keep a heat lamp on but not actually on her. Should have some babies within a few days. Not gonna bother her or them just check for peeping sounds a couple times a day. Can’t stand the waiting but have to force myself to let her handle it. Thanks for all your advice and I hope to report back with good news.
As of last night she was eating by herself!! I followed the advice of @song of joy and tried making clucking sounds at the food.... and she just looked at me as if I had four heads. So I found a video of a hen showing chicks treats on YouTube- the first time it didn’t work. A couple hours later it worked almost immediately! I pecked at the food with my finger and played that sound as she learned how to eat. It was super cool.
As of this morning, she is drinking by herself too! She is a lot more vibrant today, and her wound looks like it is healing nicely. She’s the sweetest thing ever! I may have to mother hen her for a while
Anyway I’m soooo ecstatic she’s doing as well as she is, because just like what @WVduckchick said, I think we found her just in time. If she had been out there alone much longer I don’t think she would have made it so I’m super grateful we could save her.
Mama and the other chicks are still doing extremely well too. She’s being such a good mom with them I don’t understand why she would have attacked this chick! And even after letting it sleep under her!
So I found one last egg that wasn’t developed. Missed it last time I guess. So I’m down to 9 awesome eggs. They are all very full and have a good quarter of the egg as an air pocket. All had movement and I was very careful to only slightly move them to check they were still alive. She sat quietly as I checked each one and would pull each back underneath. She wouldn’t eat or drink today though. Wouldn’t budge from nest. I didn’t try to make her of course but she wanted to stay put and I’m hoping that may mean she knows they need her warmth for hatching soon. Getting garage set up for her and babies until they are ready to rejoin flock. Her husband has been crowing almost none stop since I brought her in from their camper house. Guess he’s worried about where she went. He’s so attached to her it’s crazy. So I guess once I put her in garage she will be on “lockdown” like everyone calls it with their incubators. Won't be easy but gotta let her be. Since they are silkie and sizzle cross the eggs are small and I am guessing the air pocket being roughly a quarter to a third of the egg they are almost done right? Should of snapped a pic but wanted to get done as quick as I could. Is that how you tell how close they are since the rest of the egg is basically a black mass? I don’t have an exact date she started sitting so I’m going off of rough date and egg developement. Let me know if there another way to gauge how close to hatching they are. Thanks all. Sorry I ramble too much sometimes.
@stephcraig78 - Sounds like they're close, probably within a day or two. By day 18 or 19, the air cell should look like it's taking up 1/4 to 1/3 of the egg. I've noticed that my broody hens tend to stick tight to the nest beginning around day 18, and the chicks usually hatch on day 20.
Nine eggs is a good number at this stage. If I recall correctly, she had started with 17. I suspect the others died (failed to develop properly) because the hen was not able to keep them covered adequately, and they cooled as she rotated them during incubation. I wouldn't be surprised though if all of the remaining eggs hatch.
As you mentioned earlier, this is a fantastic learning experience for kids. I see hatchable toy eggs advertised on TV and just shake my head thinking about how many kids are missing out on the wonder of seeing baby chicks develop and seeing a mother hen take care of her chicks.
Hi! So mama and all of the chicks are still doing very well (including the one we have inside)!
As I said, we have mama and the chicks in a big brooder in the garage, under a heat lamp probably at about 70 degrees. So I’m curious to know what you all think we should do.
We think the mama hen might not like being stuck in the brooder until spring (although she is still doing very well with it). Being as it’s going into winter, should we leave her and them in the brooder until it warms up again? Or maybe just take her out and let her in with the big chickens for a couple hours each day? Or should we move them all to the barn once the chicks are feathered more? It seems like moving them all from 70 degrees to winter temps might be a bit of a drastic change. Curious to hear your opinions and experiences with broody hens and chicks in the winter temps!
Hi! So mama and all of the chicks are still doing very well (including the one we have inside)!
As I said, we have mama and the chicks in a big brooder in the garage, under a heat lamp probably at about 70 degrees. So I’m curious to know what you all think we should do.
We think the mama hen might not like being stuck in the brooder until spring (although she is still doing very well with it). Being as it’s going into winter, should we leave her and them in the brooder until it warms up again? Or maybe just take her out and let her in with the big chickens for a couple hours each day? Or should we move them all to the barn once the chicks are feathered more? It seems like moving them all from 70 degrees to winter temps might be a bit of a drastic change. Curious to hear your opinions and experiences with broody hens and chicks in the winter temps!
Hmmm. I think I would reduce the heat gradually, over the next week, getting them used to it, but the quicker the better. Just not one big drastic change all at once. I'd maybe keep them in the garage for the 2nd, maybe 3rd week, with no extra heat, then hopefully by the 4th week, they should be able to go out.
Honestly, as long as they have protection from the wind and other chickens, momma should handle it all, but the drastic changes make me nervous too.
Let momma and the chicks dictate what you do. But the warmer you keep them, the less she will cover them, so they need to learn that its warm and cozy and safe under momma, that's where they need to be.
I had a serama hatch babies last winter, zero degrees outside. I brought them in for the first week (no supplemental heat), back outside the second week with just a 60watt bulb, in a pre-fab coop I use for babies I hatch. They went with the rest of the flock at 5 weeks.
Inside December 17, 2016
Outside December 23, 2016
Well still nothing. Not so much as a pin hole. I check on them morning and before bed. Also been giving her food and water as she hasn’t budged off the nest in two full days. I carefully reach under her and feel the eggs. Try not to move them but run my fingers all around on each egg to check for start of hatching. I’m so anxious I can’t stand it. How long do you all wait before doing something to further test them for live chicks? I mean I don’t think they would all just suddenly die ya know but it’s so hard to just wait!! I know I’m being terribly impatient. If you got any tips or suggestions please help calm my mind. Or just tell me to shut up and wait!
Well still nothing. Not so much as a pin hole. I check on them morning and before bed. Also been giving her food and water as she hasn’t budged off the nest in two full days. I carefully reach under her and feel the eggs. Try not to move them but run my fingers all around on each egg to check for start of hatching. I’m so anxious I can’t stand it. How long do you all wait before doing something to further test them for live chicks? I mean I don’t think they would all just suddenly die ya know but it’s so hard to just wait!! I know I’m being terribly impatient. If you got any tips or suggestions please help calm my mind. Or just tell me to shut up and wait!
Keep in mind that the combination of a large initial clutch size and cold weather may delay the hatch. If I recall correctly, @Arya28 's clutch hatched on Days 24/25, so you may have a few more days to wait. I know . . . the waiting is agonizing!
I don't recommend pulling eggs for candling after day 18, as the chick is positioned for hatching and the dip in the air cell should remain facing up (as that's where the pip should occur, just above the dip in the air cell). Some eggs will automatically roll back into the correct position when you move them, but some will not which means the pip will be on the bottom. I've had chicks struggle to hatch in the incubator when the pip occurred on the down-facing part of the egg. I do pull and candle any eggs that haven't hatched within 3 days of the anticipated hatch date.
