Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[jtbrown]

Ok I hated to leave for work. 8/10 have hatched. Should I offer food in w the mammas or now let then get up. 2 days ago I put chick starter w kefir and made a paste and all 4 Broodies ate a golf ball size chunk of food. Thy gobbled after some grumbling at me. My seeb right is frighteningly skinny poor girl the others seem to be hanging in.

I put a ramp up so they could get out of nest w chicks. Question - will mamas lead them back up to nest or will they pick a corner in coop?

I moved them last week all 4 into an 8x12 coop w 17 6 week olds. When one of the Broodies gets off nest the 6 week olds run in fear, so I think they will all be fine in there. My plan is to integrate my 12 guineas in a this whole group in a month and then shortly after introduce everyone to whole flock. That way my 17 will be point of lay nearly and the babies will be 6 weeks.

 

[Tripp16]

that's because they are Professionals

Scratch that, shes back on the nest screeching!

She is a pro, espescially since she doesnt give me ANY hints on going broody....

 

[stonykill]

Scratch that, shes back on the nest screeching!

She is a pro, espescially since she doesnt give me ANY hints on going broody....

 

[Johnn]

Johnn just put some dirt or sand with sevin mixed in or DE mixed in forget about the ashes out of the wood stove.

can i use compost out of a bag if i can get it to dry out? also could i not just use the powder i have now?

 

[Miss Lydia]

can i use compost out of a bag if i can get it to dry out? also could i not just use the powder i have now?

What do you mean by compost? when your girls dust bathe what do they use? whatever it is get some of it and put it in with your broodys, When i think of compost I visualize mine outback with kitchen scraps in it. if you use the powder you have now just mix it about 1/4 powder to whatever else your going to use.

 

[Johnn]

compost is like soil that you buy in bags and you can also make it your self by putting scraps into something

 

[Johnn]

the soil my girls use is in the woods and its really wet at the minute because we have alot of rain this week

 

[Miss Lydia]

Ok I hated to leave for work. 8/10 have hatched. Should I offer food in w the mammas or now let then get up. 2 days ago I put chick starter w kefir and made a paste and all 4 Broodies ate a golf ball size chunk of food. Thy gobbled after some grumbling at me. My seeb right is frighteningly skinny poor girl the others seem to be hanging in.
I put a ramp up so they could get out of nest w chicks. Question - will mamas lead them back up to nest or will they pick a corner in coop?
I moved them last week all 4 into an 8x12 coop w 17 6 week olds. When one of the Broodies gets off nest the 6 week olds run in fear, so I think they will all be fine in there. My plan is to integrate my 12 guineas in a this whole group in a month and then shortly after introduce everyone to whole flock. That way my 17 will be point of lay nearly and the babies will be 6 weeks.

Chicks won't need to eat for a couple days, mama hen will make sure they get food and water so put some close by. She may not be in a big hurry to bring them out. It took about 5 days before my last 2 mama brought their chicks outside they were very happy to scratch around inside their lil compartment with food and water close by. My mamas took their chicks inside the big coop first night they brought them outside, of course since then we have had to put one mama and chicks back into hatch coop because of fighting between mamas.

They most likely will be pretty mean to your 6 week old chicks, they won't want anybody close to their chicks. Mine are even attacking the ducks and ducklings if they even get in the vicinity.

 

[Johnn]

or my other option is just leaving the broody coop open for her to go in and out then close it at say 19/20 because no one lays in that shed that is above her in the pecking order and no one has layed a egg on her nest before

 

[jtbrown]

Well I can move the 6 week olds temporarily to a 4x8 hallway but it would be tight but only for a few weeks. We are going out of town for 4 days. I maymove the
So my chicken sitters don't have to worry about them. Still beats the brooder and what if electric goes out and all other things. Thanks for heads up this is all new!