Havin chicks the natural way?

[Mrs.Puff]

I'm pretty new to the chick hatching, but I have a banty who went broody, and she hatched out 6 chicks just fine, no heat lamps or anything. I don't have electricity, so I can't put eggs in a bator or have lamps. Once I knew she was really broody, I put her in a small dog kennel, and sat it on the floor of the coop. I had to actually pull her out of the kennel to eat/drink/poo, which she always did (which is very convenient if you're concerned about other hens getting on her nest), and she'd go back in when she was done. A few days before the eggs were supposed to hatch, we put her in a broody pen by herself, up in our shed. The kennel fit right down into the pen. When the eggs hatched, she came out of the kennel, and we took it out. Now the pen is out in the yard, and we only pull it back into the shed if rain/high wind threatens. The other hens can come around the pen and look at the chicks, but they are mainly only interested in their feed pan. My main trouble is keeping the beagle away. I'm getting mixed reports about wether or not to let mom and chicks back into the coop. Some say No Way, others say Let Mom Decide. Anyone have an opinion they want to share?

And by the way, my banties set on standard eggs when they want to lay an egg, and they don't seem to mind. I think they enjoy sitting on anything. Turkey eggs might be too big for a standard though. Try a big old fake egg.

 

[Chicken Cluck]

the mom hen will be fine

 

[domromer]

How many eggs should I get?

I'd like to end up with 6 new chicks.


What's the usual hatch ratio? Should I get 6 eggs or more?

One more question...How long will it takes the eggs to hatch?

 

[eggsgalore]

You don't need a heat lamp when they have their mother, in fact you might be setting your hen on fire

!
My early chicks hatched April 3 in Oregon and it was nasty, rainy and cold but she took them out and all of them have survived the 4 weeks of cold weather.
If you provide shelter and a roomy house she'll make the right decisions to raise them without a heat lamp.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

The number of eggs you get should be proportional to how big your hen is. I had 7 banty eggs under my mille fleur, and 6 hatched. One egg died, about halfway through. Big hens may be able to cover lots of eggs though. You might want to get a few more eggs than chicks you want to end up with, especially if you are anti-rooster, since a few are bound to be males. Then you'll have enough hens.
Your eggs will hatch in 19-21 days. Is your broody on eggs right now? Fake eggs? You better hurry up and get the eggs you want her to hatch under her, or she might leave them a couple days before they're ready to hatch, thinking that they won't hatch out. Once the hen decides her eggs aren't going to hatch in the 21 or so days, she often leaves them. you see...she might already be calculating days til hatch, if a hen can count, that is.

 

[Love my Critters!]

My hens hatch their own eggs out all the time. I don't even put a heat lamp out, momma keeps them plenty warm. If she kept those eggs at 100 degrees for incubating then that is plenty warm enough for the peeps. All of my chickens live together. There is one coop with 4 nesting boxes, mine are Silkies so they don't roost, they sleep snuggled together. The free range during the day in an area about 3/4 of an acre. My momma hens always protect their babies and nobody bothers them. Even the rooster helps guard them. Chickens know what they are doing if there is enough room, they can reproduce on their own.

 

[Love my Critters!]

Just wanted to add that I put a little feeder with chick starter in it for the peeps, but mom has them free ranging and full all day long. They grow and thrive just great. Nature takes care of itself.

 

[chickenannie]

I just have to comment on how nuts we've gotten when we don't trust a hen momma to keep her own chicks warm! You'd think nothing would've survived in this world without us and our invention of electricity (I include myself in the clueless factor). Thank God we're all raising chickens again and re-learning how great nature works when we just let it alone. (although I cage my momma and chicks to keep the cats from getting them). Sorry just had to rant...

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Thanks for the info! I guess we all think that chicks are more fragile than they really are. I let my banty chicks out to roam w/ the big hens yesterday for the first time, and the big hens really didn't like them underfoot. They got all antsy and ran off. Unfortunately, my durn beagle REALLY wants to play with a chick, so I have to keep them at least semi-enclosed (the dog has figured out how to get under the fence). Plus, my red stars are debeaked (ugh) and they don't know how to range much, so when I open the broody pen they just go in there and eat all the babies' expensive chow.

 

[domromer]

So I went and got eggs for my hen today. I ended up getting a total of 6 eggs. Two Jeresey Giants, two welsummers and two cuckoo marans. She's busy sitting on them now. She never wants to leave her nest though. I want to kick her off so she'll go outside and eat and drink. How long can she be off the eggs?