I’ve had laying hens and an occasional rooster on and off for the last six or seven years... But recently we got an extraordinarily broody hen and decided to let her sit on her small batch of three eggs. We currently do have a rooster. He mounts most of the hens every morning so I figured that most of the eggs are going to be fertile and since she was so incredibly committed to staying on them, I thought I would try a round of natural chicken hatching. WHAT was I thinking?!
After doing a little bit of research and finding out they need 21 days, I started paying attention at 19-20 days. But the first chick hatched and died without me finding him or her. He was found buried under the straw with cracked egg stuck to him. The next day I looked and began to see little holes of a beak poking through! I was so excited I tried to check every two or three hours and the next time there was a slightly larger hole and I could see movement in the shell. Then I started freaking out realizing that I was going to need a heat lamp and a separate cage, so I could move the broody hen with her chicks away from all of the rest of the flock.
So I headed off to a local feed store where I was able to find what was essentially a dog kennel that would fit snugly in a little shed. I stuffed straw around two sides and cardboard on the third... so I felt that she would be plenty warm. (Sometimes too warm !?!)
By the time I gotten all of this set up I headed back to the nest and found only one egg and the second chick missing.
after moving the hen and her one remaining egg into her new digs (which she protested and would not take to staying on the last egg after being moved...) I went back and found the second check deceased and fairly smooshed. The little guy looked intact he had a big puffy but like I think newborn chickens are supposed to have but he did not look damaged or packed or bleeding. He just looked wet, and dead.
Since I didn’t watch the whole thing I have no idea if the chick just died on its own after hatching itself? or if the hen, being an unexperienced mother, perhaps thought it was the right thing to do to keep sitting on it?
The third egg never hatched, and after two more days I figured out it was not fertile and did not have a baby chick in it.
So, - - -> Is it common for baby chicks to die immediately after being born when left with their mama hen? If I try this again should I remove the eggs as soon as there’s a sign that the baby chick is cracking through? If I remove the chick, and keep it under a heat lamp for a couple of days until it’s sturdy, will I be able to re-introduce the broody hen... or does it need to stay separate and just be attended to as if it was hatched from an incubator?
other details:
- it’s summer here in New Mexico and daytime temperatures can get up to about 97° right now. Nighttime temperatures are not below 74°. especially inside the coop. Even though it’s almost fall, it’s unusually warm.
- The broody hen appeared to be taking excellent care of her eggs.. she was constantly turning them and sitting back down on them and very protective. Never left them at all. In fact I began bringing food in to her thinking that she was going to starve herself.
-There was only one other hen in the coop who tried to lay eggs on top of her (a red). I eventually set up an alternate place to encourage them to lay with some straw, and at least one of the hens would lay there... but the others quit laying altogether.
-The broody hen is a Buff Orpington but the rooster is a “Silver Birchen Maran” (Green Fire import line) that I got from small local breeder as a rescue (free) when I purchased 2 “Crested Cream Legbar” pullets from her in January 2019.
- - -> Is it a problem if the rooster is not the same breed as the hen? Or any of the hens? He’s a different breed than any of the females. Would that causes the chicks to completely mature but then die upon being hatched?
It doesn’t seem right... But that would be the case?. ( It Certainly doesn’t matter with cats and dogs! if the mama and the papa are different breeds of the same animal.... But does it matter with Chickens?
After doing a little bit of research and finding out they need 21 days, I started paying attention at 19-20 days. But the first chick hatched and died without me finding him or her. He was found buried under the straw with cracked egg stuck to him. The next day I looked and began to see little holes of a beak poking through! I was so excited I tried to check every two or three hours and the next time there was a slightly larger hole and I could see movement in the shell. Then I started freaking out realizing that I was going to need a heat lamp and a separate cage, so I could move the broody hen with her chicks away from all of the rest of the flock.
So I headed off to a local feed store where I was able to find what was essentially a dog kennel that would fit snugly in a little shed. I stuffed straw around two sides and cardboard on the third... so I felt that she would be plenty warm. (Sometimes too warm !?!)
By the time I gotten all of this set up I headed back to the nest and found only one egg and the second chick missing.
after moving the hen and her one remaining egg into her new digs (which she protested and would not take to staying on the last egg after being moved...) I went back and found the second check deceased and fairly smooshed. The little guy looked intact he had a big puffy but like I think newborn chickens are supposed to have but he did not look damaged or packed or bleeding. He just looked wet, and dead.Since I didn’t watch the whole thing I have no idea if the chick just died on its own after hatching itself? or if the hen, being an unexperienced mother, perhaps thought it was the right thing to do to keep sitting on it?
The third egg never hatched, and after two more days I figured out it was not fertile and did not have a baby chick in it.
So, - - -> Is it common for baby chicks to die immediately after being born when left with their mama hen? If I try this again should I remove the eggs as soon as there’s a sign that the baby chick is cracking through? If I remove the chick, and keep it under a heat lamp for a couple of days until it’s sturdy, will I be able to re-introduce the broody hen... or does it need to stay separate and just be attended to as if it was hatched from an incubator?
other details:
- it’s summer here in New Mexico and daytime temperatures can get up to about 97° right now. Nighttime temperatures are not below 74°. especially inside the coop. Even though it’s almost fall, it’s unusually warm.
- The broody hen appeared to be taking excellent care of her eggs.. she was constantly turning them and sitting back down on them and very protective. Never left them at all. In fact I began bringing food in to her thinking that she was going to starve herself.
-There was only one other hen in the coop who tried to lay eggs on top of her (a red). I eventually set up an alternate place to encourage them to lay with some straw, and at least one of the hens would lay there... but the others quit laying altogether.
-The broody hen is a Buff Orpington but the rooster is a “Silver Birchen Maran” (Green Fire import line) that I got from small local breeder as a rescue (free) when I purchased 2 “Crested Cream Legbar” pullets from her in January 2019.
- - -> Is it a problem if the rooster is not the same breed as the hen? Or any of the hens? He’s a different breed than any of the females. Would that causes the chicks to completely mature but then die upon being hatched?
It doesn’t seem right... But that would be the case?. ( It Certainly doesn’t matter with cats and dogs! if the mama and the papa are different breeds of the same animal.... But does it matter with Chickens?
Last edited:
