Mystery Eggs - Broody Hatch-A-Long

[CluckNDoodle]

A BABY HAS ARRIVED and there’s a few more that have externally pipped, but I didn’t get a good look at anything because I didn’t want her to see the chick yet or mess with her too much.

Anyways, it kind of looks like a silkie cross? It didn’t have 5 toes, though.

Congrats!!

 

[cluckingheck]

There’s three babies now!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

There’s three babies now!View attachment 2732677View attachment 2732678View attachment 2732676View attachment 2732681View attachment 2732679

They're so cute!!!! I'm glad to hear she's proving to be a good momma!

 

[cluckingheck]

I had someone hitch a ride when I was on the floor checking Miss Prissy & her chicks

 

[cluckingheck]

They're so cute!!!! I'm glad to hear she's proving to be a good momma!

Yep! I was worried she was going to attack the chicks as soon as they hatched or something. The oldest chick has stuck its head out from under her and she will look at it and cluck at it. This is my first flock, so every hen I’ve had go broody are first timers. Miss Prissy make the third one and so far they’ve all been good moms.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Yep! I was worried she was going to attack the chicks as soon as they hatched or something. The oldest chick has stuck its head out from under her and she will look at it and cluck at it. This is my first flock, so every hen I’ve had go broody are first timers. Miss Prissy make the third one and so far they’ve all been good moms.

That's great news! I've had both good and bad broodies so I'm hyper conscious of newbies but once they hatch and you can see the interaction between hen and chick you're usually good to go! I'm glad they've all been good momma's!

 

[cluckingheck]

That's great news! I've had both good and bad broodies so I'm hyper conscious of newbies but once they hatch and you can see the interaction between hen and chick you're usually good to go! I'm glad they've all been good momma's!

My golden laced wyandotte, Delilah, was my second broody and I think she was kind of iffy. I want to give her a second chance because she hadn’t been sitting very long when I gave her some chicks I had in the incubator. I don’t think they really bonded, you know? The timing was a little wonky, the chicks were already 3 days old, Delilah was only 6 days into sitting, & I had to keep them in their own brooder with her for a week for her to realize she had to take care of them. She was protective of them and called them when she found food, but there was still a disconnect, I think. Delilah did end up abandoning them when they were 5 weeks old. I don’t know if it had something to do with me bringing my rooster back into the flock a few days beforehand ( all of the roosters had been separated from the hens for a few months ), but I think all of those circumstances might have had an influence. If she ever goes broody again, I might give her eggs to hatch and see how she does the second time.

But other than that, they have been good. My first hen — a production barred rock — that went broody did so in November, but she still did pretty good despite choosing a bad time to do so. She actually didn’t wean them until they were 12+ weeks old.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

My golden laced wyandotte, Delilah, was my second broody and I think she was kind of iffy. I want to give her a second chance because she hadn’t been sitting very long when I gave her some chicks I had in the incubator. I don’t think they really bonded, you know? The timing was a little wonky, the chicks were already 3 days old, Delilah was only 6 days into sitting, & I had to keep them in their own brooder with her for a week for her to realize she had to take care of them. She was protective of them and called them when she found food, but there was still a disconnect, I think. Delilah did end up abandoning them when they were 5 weeks old. I don’t know if it had something to do with me bringing my rooster back into the flock a few days beforehand ( all of the roosters had been separated from the hens for a few months ), but I think all of those circumstances might have had an influence. If she ever goes broody again, I might give her eggs to hatch and see how she does the second time.

But other than that, they have been good. My first hen — a production barred rock — that went broody did so in November, but she still did pretty good despite choosing a bad time to do so. She actually didn’t wean them until they were 12+ weeks old.

I've had broody hens that didn't seem to raise their chicks as long. Some broody hens are big sweeties and other have tough love, lol. 5 weeks is early but not unheard of. I think raising them for 6-8 weeks is most common but I've seen a window anywhere from 5-10 weeks. Some hens will chase them off when they're done raising them and others seem to just allow them to keep following them around until they mature and leave to play pecking order on their own anyway.

 

[cluckingheck]

 

[cluckingheck]

Miss Prissy accidentally crushed some of the shell on the egg of a chick that was in the middle of hatching. There’s some blood, but it doesn’t look like a lot. I kept my incubator running, so I moved it there. The chick is still alive