Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Johnn]

I know but if she has been a faithful broody maybe you should give her a chance. It's gotta be hard on them to sit and nothing hatch. good idea about giving her an egg while it's hatching. is she still sitting on her eggs?

yer she is, but im scared incase she dosen't know what it is and kills it, also her nest box is quite small so i dont want her to step on it and i can't move her because she is stubborn and wants no nest but her own. She will have to bring it up and protect it with the rest of the flock tho so i hope they accept the chick

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
No. Naima is one of my original girls of unknown origin. One of the chicks (the blue with the fabulous feathered shanks) is out of a Davis pullet and my clean legged Blue Copper male. One of the chicks is Naima's own and the other is from her sister's egg.

Sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble with your broody. My first Barred Rock broody had trouble too. Started with 10 eggs. She had 2 left by hatch date and only 1 hatched.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just kidding - I'm so happy for you! Hey, maybe we can do a conference call - have your broodies call mine, and let them know what they're doing wrong!

aauuuuhhhh, poor thing, I think of all the times I been peeking at this thread, and mine seemed to be doing nuthin..I'd be happy to have them call and chat for awhile....actually, I think it's the roos, the girls feathers are looking real good now, no tatters, they are taking a break from them!, a spa vacation! Their own luxury suite with room service and guess who is the hostess...

 

[jc12551]

How mesmerizing is it to sit and watch the broody wth chicks...it's where I have my coffee. I do feel lucky to have a good broody hen, it looks like one of the chicks will look like her. Today they are doing alot better at hopping through the weeds and diving to get the good treats mama digs up....she likes them to be very competetive I think. I never thought I'd get such chick raising gals...every time I contemplate getting an incubator, I just stop and think, I could never do such a good job,...no need to mess with it now.

Despite the 100+ degree heat I keep finding excuses to go outside and watch my free ranging broody with her four chicks. There is one that is always straying away and it is cute to watch mamma go nuts when he won't come back. I say he b/c he has a large, broken white head spot and lots of white barring in his feathers. The dad is a cuckoo Maran and the mom is probably either a dom. or a Maran. The hen raising them is a dom. and she could have been the only one using the hidden nest, I don't know. He has a BO, a BA, and two EE's in his haram, but I don't think they are possible moms because they never lay in that shed.

Then she's probably got them hidden somewhere with her. Both my EE and Silkie momma pullets tried to stay under the coop with their new babies at night. I forced them to come out and go into the coop. She's probably doing what comes naturally. Hope they can stay safe. She will do her best to protect them.

Well, she was out first thing this morning taking them to the outside-the-coop water and feed station. I have a Cuckoo Maran rooster with a haram of hens that lives outside the coop/run and she is from that group. She is keeping the chicks in the weeds and under bushes right now. She tried to eat me alive while I was hanging out diaper laundry this morning. Silly hen, no way I am touching her!

I used to worry myself crazy over these free rangers, but I haven't lost any to dogs or predators yet. I have lost many of my coop/run chickens to dogs and predators.

The turkey who hatched two chicks and took in two rejected chicks wanted to go outside the special coop today. As soon as she got out the BA hen who rejected two of the babies tried to steal the chicks. The poultry version of a girl fight ensued and the turkey won. I come back from town a few hours later and the turkey and the hen are co-parenting! I almost sweated to death watching them leading the chicks around (the hen brings up the rear, always), showing them water, food, etc. Then they both got in the nest box with the four chicks and took a nap. Strange!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Despite the 100+ degree heat I keep finding excuses to go outside and watch my free ranging broody with her four chicks.  There is one that is always straying away and it is cute to watch mamma go nuts when he won't come back.  I say he b/c he has a large, broken white head spot and lots of white barring in his feathers.  The dad is a cuckoo Maran and the mom is probably either a dom. or a Maran.  The hen raising them is a dom. and she could have been the only one using the hidden nest, I don't know.   He has a BO, a BA, and two EE's in his haram, but I don't think they are possible moms because they never lay in that shed. 

Well, she was out first thing this morning taking them to the outside-the-coop water and feed station.  I have a Cuckoo Maran rooster with a haram of hens that lives outside the coop/run and she is from that group.  She is keeping the chicks in the weeds and under bushes right now.  She tried to eat me alive while I was hanging out diaper laundry this morning.  Silly hen, no way I am touching her!

I used to worry myself crazy ov3er these free rangers, but I haven't lost any to dogs or predators yet.  I have lost many of my coop/run chickens to dogs and predators.

The turkey who hatched two chicks and took in two rejected chicks wanted to go outside the special coop today.  As soon as she got out the BA hen who rejected two of the babies tried to steal the chicks.  The poultry version of a girl fight ensued and the turkey won.  I come back from town a few hours later and the turkey and the hen are co-parenting!  I almost sweated to death watching them leading the chicks around (the hen brings up the rear, always), showing them water, food, etc.  Then they both got in the nest box with the four chicks and took a nap.  Strange!

There you go! She had it covered.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Despite the 100+ degree heat I keep finding excuses to go outside and watch my free ranging broody with her four chicks. There is one that is always straying away and it is cute to watch mamma go nuts when he won't come back. I say he b/c he has a large, broken white head spot and lots of white barring in his feathers. The dad is a cuckoo Maran and the mom is probably either a dom. or a Maran. The hen raising them is a dom. and she could have been the only one using the hidden nest, I don't know. He has a BO, a BA, and two EE's in his haram, but I don't think they are possible moms because they never lay in that shed.

Well, she was out first thing this morning taking them to the outside-the-coop water and feed station. I have a Cuckoo Maran rooster with a haram of hens that lives outside the coop/run and she is from that group. She is keeping the chicks in the weeds and under bushes right now. She tried to eat me alive while I was hanging out diaper laundry this morning. Silly hen, no way I am touching her!

I used to worry myself crazy over these free rangers, but I haven't lost any to dogs or predators yet. I have lost many of my coop/run chickens to dogs and predators.

The turkey who hatched two chicks and took in two rejected chicks wanted to go outside the special coop today. As soon as she got out the BA hen who rejected two of the babies tried to steal the chicks. The poultry version of a girl fight ensued and the turkey won. I come back from town a few hours later and the turkey and the hen are co-parenting! I almost sweated to death watching them leading the chicks around (the hen brings up the rear, always), showing them water, food, etc. Then they both got in the nest box with the four chicks and took a nap. Strange!

I'm so glad they have made a truce. and you made me laugh out loud when you said I almost sweated to death watching them lead the chicks around, I was doing the same thing today myself.

 

[jc12551]

I'm so glad they have made a truce. and you made me laugh out loud when you said I almost sweated to death watching them lead the chicks around, I was doing the same thing today myself.

When I grew up rarely did it get above 85 degrees and the humidity wasn't that bad (one of the perks of life at 4000+ feet). I didn't have a/c until I moved to Greensboro after college. It was "only" 100 degrees today, down from the 106 yesterday, but I don't think that 6 degrees made much of a difference. It has cooled down now, but the mosquitoes are out in full force. I want to go out and see if the BA and the turkey are in the nest box together.

 

[Miss Lydia]

When I grew up rarely did it get above 85 degrees and the humidity wasn't that bad (one of the perks of life at 4000+ feet). I didn't have a/c until I moved to Greensboro after college. It was "only" 100 degrees today, down from the 106 yesterday, but I don't think that 6 degrees made much of a difference. It has cooled down now, but the mosquitoes are out in full force. I want to go out and see if the BA and the turkey are in the nest box together.

I hope they continue to get along for the chicks sake. It was 86 yesterday in Burnsville, which is very hot for this time of year we had mid 90's over the weekend. Never have i know it to be like this here in the mountains. We've been here since 1977. But I am not freaking out and wringing my hands saying as some oh my gosh Global Warming. Good grief climate change is a frequent as rain storms. So we just do the best we can and wait for it to pass, actually 86 felt pretty darn good after 90's LOL Hope everyones chickens are making it okay in the heat.

 

[stonykill]

Yesterday Mama took her lil ones clear across the yard. Easily 100 feet from their shed. That must be like you or I walking 3 miles with those tiny legs

. Thats quite the adventure for chicks on their 2nd day off the nest. The oldest one can only be 4 days old.

 

[Wynette]

Lovin' the stories - wrangler, thanks for your best wishes, and you're right - it's definitely a nice time off from the males when they are broody.

My Giant hen is now down to 4 eggs out of 10.