NY chicken lover!!!!

[featherz]

I think I've got a broody hen on my hands. I have some eggs that are due to hatch next week. Should I let her have a few? Honestly, I would like to open up some room in the incubator to put Isabel's eggs in. In the mean time, I am testing her dedication by putting a couple of wooden eggs under her.

I do this often with good success however if she is JUST now starting to be broody and it's only a week or so to the egg hatching, she may not accept them. I have one hen that will accept anything at day 1, but my others seem to need at least two weeks sitting before they will take chicks. If she's just now broody, I'd opt for caution - you could hatch the chicks and put one under her at night to see if she'll accept it, but be ready to snatch it back if she's not ready.

 

[Henicillin]

Henicillin,
I saw you have rouens. How are they noise wise and how do they hold up to winters around here? I was thinking about getting a few eggs to hatch out.

Noise-wise they're pretty quiet unless they hear me in the house, and then they'll start up a bit of a racket to get my attention. The hen ducks can be pretty loud when they want to be, but they've chilled out since they started laying. It's mostly like a lot of duck muttering now. It's their first year, so I haven't gone through a winter with them yet. However, according to everything I've read they do fine, since they're pretty large and they're hardy. I love the goofy things and highly recommend them.

 

[Adoravachick]

I do this often with good success however if she is JUST now starting to be broody and it's only a week or so to the egg hatching, she may not accept them. I have one hen that will accept anything at day 1, but my others seem to need at least two weeks sitting before they will take chicks. If she's just now broody, I'd opt for caution - you could hatch the chicks and put one under her at night to see if she'll accept it, but be ready to snatch it back if she's not ready.

Thanks for the advice, I would hate to risk her hurting or possibly killing a chick. I had some hatching eggs that I was going to take on Sunday for the tailgate, maybe I will let her try to hatch those instead.

 

[Cass]

Thanks for the advice, I would hate to risk her hurting or possibly killing a chick. I had some hatching eggs that I was going to take on Sunday for the tailgate, maybe I will let her try to hatch those instead.

Once you have a broody incubate, turn and raise the chicks you'll sell your incubator and pray to the fertility goddesses for Broody hens.....Of course you can't unplug a broody when you are done hatching....so it's a mixed blessing.

 

[Lapeerian]

Once you have a broody incubate, turn and raise the chicks you'll sell your incubator and pray to the fertility goddesses for Broody hens.....Of course you can't unplug a broody when you are done hatching....so it's a mixed blessing.

I've seen someone on craigslist advertise 3 different incubators, getting out of the small hobby farm business. I believe my grandma still has the incubator that my grandpa used to hatch a few chicks when I was little too, 25+ years ago. I wouldn't know where to begin. Hubby hopes that Luna the blue orp girl goes broody next spring. Then we will get some eggs to hatch from other breeds we want to try.
Get home, all the chickers run over to the fence to see Treat Lady and Treat Girl. They got a handful of car-seat Cheerios. Went in the house, got changed into barn clothes, back out to gather eggs. Just as I walked out, someone laid a shell-less egg outside where they just got done picking up the cheerios. I didn't get to see who laid it, but the one EE was starting to clean up. As soon as everyone else saw she was eating, it was gone. It was only yolk and white, no shell at all. I had 4 brown and 2 blue eggs, so it wasn't the EE. Yesterday was a shell-less laid in the box, yolk dried all over one of the other eggs and the golf ball. I wish they would get this figured out, I'm tired of finding eggs with soft shells, balloon shells or no shells at all.
Fixed fence today too. Couldn't figure out why the one horse was leaning over the rope fence, it should be hot. Figured maybe with the drought it didn't have enough grounding. He stretched it lots, will need to do major tighten and trim excess this fall. Found the fence charger was unplugged. Hubby and I don't remember unplugging near the barn, so maybe the Amish kids did to round up one of their stray chickens in my pasture. And then mare got a complete de-burdock-ing. Maybe the chickens should take over her paddock. Which got me thinking: Do burdocks stick to feathers? At least they would groom themselves, unlike the horse.

 

[featherz]

Once you have a broody incubate, turn and raise the chicks you'll sell your incubator and pray to the fertility goddesses for Broody hens.....Of course you can't unplug a broody when you are done hatching....so it's a mixed blessing.

I actually prefer the incubator, then place chicks under the hens. Then I get to handle, protect, and candle the eggs. Can stick them under hens at lockdown and let them finish too.. =)

 

[stonykill]

I actually prefer the incubator, then place chicks under the hens. Then I get to handle, protect, and candle the eggs. Can stick them under hens at lockdown and let them finish too.. =)

not me. I'll take a broody doing it all over incubation any day.

 

[Pyxis]

Well, my broody's definitely better at this than I am. Just got my first pip from my silkie/showgirl eggs, and it's in an egg that I had set under my broody to start and locked down inside to finish. I set it 7 hours after the ones that I had in the incubator the whole time. She's got me beat.

 

[Adoravachick]

I do have a question about lockdown. I have 2 sets of eggs, BBS (5) and Lavender (4) silkie eggs, I set them within 2 days of eachother. The air sacs are nicely formed on all of them. Can I safely lock down the Lavenders at day 16 along with the BBS egg at day 18?

 

[rancher hicks]

I think I've got a broody hen on my hands. I have some eggs that are due to hatch next week. Should I let her have a few? Honestly, I would like to open up some room in the incubator to put Isabel's eggs in. In the mean time, I am testing her dedication by putting a couple of wooden eggs under her.

I had a BR hen on three eggs . I marked them since others come and lay more. Well day before yesterday two were gone. I shrugged as this has happened before. Then yesterday the third was gone.

I do admit they were in the corner of the coop on the floor but I have found eggs on the floor before with no trouble, such a eaten eggs. I can't vouch for fertility, so I don't know what the deal is.

I've had this happen with other hens in nest boxes, so I wonder if she knows an egg is not viable and eats it.

All the birds in this coop have a run and there was no entrance from outside. She's back in the corner on a wooden egg now. I have no intention of giving her any eggs. Nor a SLW hen in the coop who also appears to be broody.

I have two nest boxes for 9 hens but they chose to lay on the floor.

I will be making boxes like I saw at Tabs and Travis'. When funds allow.

Anyone have this happen with broody hens?