Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

I have my first broody! We don't have a rooster so she was wasting her time until I captured her and hooked her up with some hatching eggs Her old nest was in a location that was completely inaccessible if you're much bigger than a hen (even to get the eggs out of there i had to reach really far and use tongs) so to give her fertile eggs, I definitely needed to move her. The only way I was able to get her to accept her new nest was to get a dog kennel (one for medium-large size dogs, so its not tiny like a cat one) and place it so that the door of it was facing the entrance into her old nest. So. in her kennel she remains. I've got some straw in there, and food and water. last night I dragged the crate up to the front yard in a relatively quiet area of the yard, next to the house. Anything I should/shouldn't do to keep her comfortable and not provoke her to feel like abandoning the eggs? Encouraging her to leave her crate daily to get a few minutes exercise/scratch around the yard? bring her treats once in awhile? as long as the weather is cool enough, drape a sheet over the door to help her feel more secure? I'm new at this, and don't really know what "good broody manners" are. 

Ooohh.. what about food? Should she have layer feed or chick starter? She's not going to be laying for a few weeks, and the chicks will need chick starter when they hatch. So do I start giving her the chick starter now, or at hatching time?

You can put chick feed with her for the chicks for later and now. I usually make them come out once a day, but if she's prone to abandoning her eggs I wouldn't mess with her. Just make sure she has access to water & food. And cleanup her poop quickly.

 

[stonykill]

Between the ducks and the broodies you've got your hands full. Lol! Hoping she takes the bait, er eggs

Penelope is a broody raising her lil ones, so she gets a pass! They were love bites

I'm pretty sure they will. I know these girls. They are crazy!

 

[nickie]

Well, I had my very first broody hatch! Day 20 it pipped around noon, zipped and out around 7. I'm so proud of her and her little baby. I'm not sure if the second egg will hatch although I will give it until she abandons it. I can't believe how well she stuck to it, I only gave her 2 eggs since I thought she would give up... 4 days in the mid 90's outside and she sat like a champ. Wow.

 

[chickenguysmom]

I apologize if this was covered somewhere in the 1st 1044 pages of this thread. I have 3 broodies out of 5 chickens. Two are banties and one is a silkie/cochin mix sitting on 6 BCM eggs total. The two banties are sharing 3 of the eggs in one nestbox and the silkie/cochin has 3 eggs to herself in the other nest box.

My question relates to "lockdown" and movement/jostling of the eggs on days 19 or 20. On the incubator threads it says not to move the eggs after day 18 because the chick is getting in position for hatching. Obviously, with a broody hen you don't lockdown. But under my two banties that are sharing 3 eggs between them, they do move around in the nest box and the eggs do get rolled while the banties move. Will this affect the eggs or prevent them from hatching? This is a first time hatching for both banties. The silkie/cochin who has hatched chicks before and is about 7 yrs old seems to be more still. Today is day 19 and I am worried about all that movement.

Also, what do the two nestmates do if chicks hatch? WIll they fight for the babies or co-raise them?

 

[stonykill]

I apologize if this was covered somewhere in the 1st 1044 pages of this thread. I have 3 broodies out of 5 chickens. Two are banties and one is a silkie/cochin mix sitting on 6 BCM eggs total. The two banties are sharing 3 of the eggs in one nestbox and the silkie/cochin has 3 eggs to herself in the other nest box.

My question relates to "lockdown" and movement/jostling of the eggs on days 19 or 20. On the incubator threads it says not to move the eggs after day 18 because the chick is getting in position for hatching. Obviously, with a broody hen you don't lockdown. But under my two banties that are sharing 3 eggs between them, they do move around in the nest box and the eggs do get rolled while the banties move. Will this affect the eggs or prevent them from hatching? This is a first time hatching for both banties. The silkie/cochin who has hatched chicks before and is about 7 yrs old seems to be more still. Today is day 19 and I am worried about all that movement.

Also, what do the two nestmates do if chicks hatch? WIll they fight for the babies or co-raise them?

the movement is fine. Chickens break all of the rules and hatch just fine. Besides I had 4 eggs hatch while the turner was on in the incubator once! So I label that a myth. My experience is they co raise the chicks.

 

[chickenguysmom]

Thank you so much.

Looking forward to the hatch on 5/31 or 6/1. Hopefully, the eggs we got were fertile. I would be so bummed if 3 chickens sat on duds. They look so pitiful. I took them water and some oats mixed with scrambled egg tonight. They wolfed it down.

Is it true that so close to hatch, they will not get off the eggs? Up till today, they would get off the eggs when we got home and opened the pen door so they could free-range with the other chickens. Today, though, they just stayed on post. Good little chicken moms!

 

[lilstar]

broody manners

. They don't really have any.

. They scream, yell, run around angry, and poop the biggest stinkiest poop you will ever smell

. But we love them anyway!

lol! I meant MY manners around the broody! I want to keep her comfy and happy and not stress her out. Oh, hey, what about during hatching? When its about time to expect chicks, is it okay to use one hand to lift up some feathers and try to get a peek?

 

[msmechanic58]

lol! I meant MY manners around the broody! I want to keep her comfy and happy and not stress her out. Oh, hey, what about during hatching? When its about time to expect chicks, is it okay to use one hand to lift up some feathers and try to get a peek?

lol! I meant MY manners around the broody! I want to keep her comfy and happy and not stress her out. Oh, hey, what about during hatching? When its about time to expect chicks, is it okay to use one hand to lift up some feathers and try to get a peek?

If you don't mind being bit!

 

[JoshU]

If you don't mind being bit!

LOL!

 

[lilstar]

If you don't mind being bit!

haha, as long as its not the broody hen equivalent of the big "opening the bator during lockdown" no no! See, anyone else's hen, I'd be scared to death of getting my hand near it when its broody and guarding its eggs/chicks. But for whatever reason, MY hens' beaks don't intimidate me in the slightest. So I guess you could say I don't mind getting bit!