My broody hatched silkie eggs!!

[carolynb]

I am so excited!! Like clockwork, my silkie eggs hatched on day 21 under my broody cochin bantam. And I mean right on day 21...we set the eggs under her at 5:30pm and 21 days later they hatched around the same time!! I was amazed.

The upside...a broody hen is way less stressful than trying to incubate eggs!!! The downside...I hardly get to see my/her little babies because it's cold outside and they stay under her. We moved her into the coop, in a box separated from the other chickens, after the chicks hatched. Do they need any additional heat source other than their mommy? Will they get out from under her and eat/drink? Daytime temps are in the low 40's and nighttime temps are between 25-35. We did take them out from under her to show them the food and water, but the went right back under.

 

[Southernbelle]

That's wonderful!

No they don't need additional heat, Mama is everything they need. She'll show them the food. She'll peck at the food, pick pieces up and put them back down, all the while making a unique clucking sound calling the babies over and showing them the food. The babies will come over and eat it. Same with the water. As long as you make food and water available, Mama'll do the rest.

I LOVE hatching with broodies! They keep a perfect temp and humidity, do all the turning and you don't need to worry about power outages or temp spikes and she takes care of them after they hatch, integrates them into the flock for you and they're all so happy together! The down side is that it's hard to play with the chicks and they tend to be a bit wild, but they settle down after a while. Take some pictures, when you get a chance!

 

[chickenlover54]

pics!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[carolynb]

Thanks, Southernbelle!!! It is so much better than trying to regulate temp & humidity in the incubators

I heard her making that clucking sound you referenced. How adorable...she's such a good mommy!! She was so determined to hatch...we had to let her! I am totally addicted to chicks....

I'll take pics next time we go out to check. I'm pretty sure the are the cutest chicks ever...hahahahaha

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

How many chicks does she have? No additional heat is needed. If the chicks get cold, they run back to Momma and she'll hunker down so they can get under.

I too had a determined broody 28 wk old Barred Rock that I finally gave in after two long months of her sitting on her nest. Four possible fertile eggs placed under her and all took. 4 wks old now and my little Momma is doing great with her pullet black sex link, pullet brown leghorn, and two brown leghorn roos.

I kept her in with the other 7 sweet hens so I didn't have to worry about putting them together later. Momma does a great job letting the others know not to mess with her chicks.

Good luck with your little ones.

 

[carolynb]

Thanks Sweet Cheeks!! She has 4 chicks, I also put 4 (shipped) eggs under her and all took

She was 27 weeks old when we put the eggs under her and was broody for about 3 weeks before that. She's the smallest of our 3 Black Cochins and was getting SO tiny staying on the nest. We figured we had to do something before she killed herself by staying in the nesting box. Any pics of your babies??

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I only have pics from the day they were all hatched. I'll get out there and get updated pics if they'll stand still long enough. They are really active chicks.

 

[carolynb]

Here are some pics of the babies and Momma!!!

Such a good Momma!!

The black chick:

The blue chicks??

Aren't they beautiful??

 

[Maureen&chickens]

Gorgeous!!!

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

They are adorable little fluffs.

Does your little Momma let you pick up the chicks? My Barred Rock Momma is great. She lets me do anything I want with the chicks.

I have a black cochin that just started laying a couple wks ago at age 7 months. She's very sweet EXCEPT when I reach in the coop to grab the egg she layed. She has one wicked peck. I can only imagine she would be the same with her babies if she hatched any.