I'm not cut out for this hatching business.

[Ruby Rogue]

Aaaaarrrrrrgh!

I once had 3 broody hens fighting over a box and now I have to deal with and fuss over these poor little eggs that don't stand a chance!

Whyyyyyyy didn't I just wait another month until I was ready for chicks rather than deciding it was a good idea to 'try to hatch my own' in the meantime?

I haven't slept more than 4 hours at a time for 3 weeks! If these day 22 eggs don't produce I will never ever EVER try again.

All I wanted was my broodies to hatch their own. : ( I was never cut out for this incubation business.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Do you have an incubator?????

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Maybe if you had separated the broodies so they couldn't fight over eggs it would have gone much better. I usually put broody hens in their own small apartments.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

..... I have been incubating them and trying to produce the right hatching conditions for them, but I don't have an 'incubator', no.

Do you have an incubator?????

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Maybe if you had separated the broodies so they couldn't fight over eggs it would have gone much better. I usually put broody hens in their own small apartments.

It was a beginners mistake...I didn't research at all until recently, but yes I know I should have had a separate area for the broodies. Luckily no lives were lost, unlike now, I have these day 22 eggs that just won't DO anything. I haven't even seen a wiggle today!

Please respond to my previous post if you have advice, this is only a rant. Thank you.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

How are you keeping them warm (99.5-100.5F)?
I've been through a lot when Multiples tried to brood at the same time. One pair of hens continually stole each other's eggs.
I once had 8 pullets go broody at once in a community nest. It was pretty disastrous. I think they had about 25 eggs and one hatched.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

How are you keeping them warm (99.5-100.5)?
I've been through a lot when Multiples tried to brood at the same time. One pair of hens continually stole each other's eggs.
I once had 8 pullets go broody at once in a community nest. It was pretty disastrous. I think they had about 25 eggs and one hatched.

A brooder lamp is my heat source...5 thermometers that match but only one is right! Another beginners mistake! So I'm guessing (based on the thermometer that I believe is correct, that I calibrated with my meat thermometer) that the temp in the 'incubator' is anywhere between 97.3-102.5 degrees depending on where you measure it...as well I should mention, it's probably a 'still air' even though I have a fan (beginners mistake?) The fan is positioned at the top drawing the heat down towards the cooler area.

I just want some action.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

How are you keeping them warm (99.5-100.5)?
I've been through a lot when Multiples tried to brood at the same time. One pair of hens continually stole each other's eggs.
I once had 8 pullets go broody at once in a community nest. It was pretty disastrous. I think they had about 25 eggs and one hatched.

I get it! I had 3 broodies in one 1X1 box and I tried to decide which one was allowed to be broody! It didn't work! I separated her into a kennel and I must've made the wrong decision because the next time I checked she had the whole lot of eggs upturned and she said 'no way, I want out of here!'.....so frustrating! And then they ALL quit laying altogether..

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Don't beat yourself up. It is learning by trial and error. Some of us have had more errors than others. I know that when you move a broody, the nest must be as similar as possible to the one you pulled her out of. I once moved a setting Ameraucana to her new apartment. The original nest had an excelsior nest pad. The new one was nice and clean with a new plastic nest pad and her eggs in it. She would have none of it. I replaced the plastic with an excelsior, put the eggs back and she went right in and completed the hatch.
Since then I've noticed I get fewer setters in buildings with plastic nest pads. None, in fact. I frequently get setting hens in excelsior nests or even on shavings. I guess they think the plastic won't be comfortable for the chicks.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Thank you for the reassurance. Plastic may have been an issue in my case as well. I have a new coop designed and I'll keep in mind to not use anything plastic and I'll do some more research before I try again with a broody.