Novice needs help with getting hens to hatch chicks...

[airmom1c05]

The Mickster beat me to it! The link provided by Mickster is almost all you need to know. That being said, I followed the advice from that link, but none of my broody's eggs hatched.

I found an article from MSU regarding the storing of eggs for later incubation. The eggs should be stored at approximately 55 degrees F! Eggs that reach temps above 65 degrees F must be incubated immediately. Humidity is a factor as well! Relative humidity should be 75%. I know my kitchen was warmer and drier than appropriate. The article stated that most vegetable bins in the refrigerator were the ideal temp and humidity! WOW! I plan to place my thermometer/hygrometer in my crisper to see the exact temp an humidity and adjust accordingly next time. Same article said eggs stored over a week are less likely to hatch, although the maxium storage time for a chicken egg to possibly hatch is three weeks! The eggs should be turned daily while stored to prevent the yolk from sticking to the shell.

http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1150.htm

About 1/3 of the way down the above linked article is a section called Incubating and Hatching Chicks where the vegetable bin storage is mentioned.

http://msucares.com/pubs/infosheets/is1612.pdf

This link is similar but more specific to egg selection and care and handling of hatching eggs.

Happy reading!

 

[newchik]

OK... going to refill my coffee, and don't need reading glasses yet. I'll just pretend like I listened to that part! LOL!

Thanks...

 

[newchik]

WOW!!!
Thank you for that!

It is exactly what I needed. Now... to figure out how to arrange a broody box. It will have to be a little different than what he says, but can't be helped.

I had originally thought maybe I'd give each of the broody hens a few eggs to set on when they went broody, but the competition issue sounds like it might not be a good idea.

I definitely have broody hens, though. That squaaaaaak he described and their pecking is exactly what they're doing!

 

[newchik]

well, it was a failure!!!

i think I have the only chickens that don't sleep!

I built this fine broody box - it's about 2' x 4'. It's under the perch, and I used a nice big cardboard box for the nest area itself. Food and water in there, and sealed off by the face to my dog crate's door so I can open and close it. Granted, it's a mish-mosh, but my chickens aren't designer chickens.

So I go in at LATE dusk last night, all chickens perched and Marie (the hen) setting nicely on her plastic eggs in her nest box. I scoop up marie, the eggs AND the straw she is on all in one swoop and lay her in the cardboard box (on its end - she can get out). The thing is, she woke up and was NOT happy. She flipped out, banging on the door, trying to stick her head through the slats, knocking over food and water (though she did eat and drink some - I thought she was going to calm down), then she woke up the other chickens and they came down and started banging on her door trying to get her out. They finally gave up, but Marie wouldn't. I was afraid she'd hurt herself, so I let her out. She RAN to the nest box she was in, sat down, fluffed herself out (over no eggs mind you) and settled in.

I decided to wait until complete dark then. Two hours later, armed with a tiny little flashlight in my mouth, I repeat the process (otherwise I would have killed myself - it was DARK). Only thing is, they saw the flashlight and all woke up! Repeat the same process again, with the same results. She does NOT want to be on those eggs in the broody box! She wants to be in her nest box!

What do I do? Do I let her stay there? She's always in the same box, I haven't seen her move in about 5 days. If she didn't like the broody box now, will there be a better time? If I move her in the middle of the night with her eggs later - will that be better? Or should I wait until the day before hatching? *sigh* She wants to set on those eggs so badly, it's just that she's got the LOCATION fixed in her mind, instead of the EGGS!