Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[perchie.girl]

No they are NN. They are from a project to darken the color of the skin to protect them from sunburn, (not my project, but a University's) they also potentially carry the scaleless gene. I haven't checked their legs yet, but if they are carriers they could have completely naked offspring.

Excellent....

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Ugggg. How do you stand the waiting!!? I feel like time is crawling...

 

[featherz]

Argh! What do you do with a bad broody who insists on staying broody? My little 6 month old has been broody for 5 weeks now. I tried giving her chicks, no dice. Tried giving her eggs - today they were pipped and one hour later one pipped egg was missing so I can only assume that she or another hen ate it

(another hen DID lay an egg in her nest so it's possible). I removed the other pipped egg and it's in my bator now. There's no sign of the missing egg and no blood, which is odd.

I am going to try one more time to give her chicks when they hatch (last time she did not hurt the chicks, just did not acknowledge them). If she doesn't take them this time, will she eventually stop being broody before she withers away? She does get up and do her business each day and her comb is still a good color.

 

[Glasshen]

It sounds like you are doing all you can. She is very young, perhaps she doesn't see the whole picture.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Argh! What do you do with a bad broody who insists on staying broody? My little 6 month old has been broody for 5 weeks now. I tried giving her chicks, no dice. Tried giving her eggs - today they were pipped and one hour later one pipped egg was missing so I can only assume that she or another hen ate it

(another hen DID lay an egg in her nest so it's possible). I removed the other pipped egg and it's in my bator now. There's no sign of the missing egg and no blood, which is odd.

I am going to try one more time to give her chicks when they hatch (last time she did not hurt the chicks, just did not acknowledge them). If she doesn't take them this time, will she eventually stop being broody before she withers away? She does get up and do her business each day and her comb is still a good color.

She'll eventually give up you just have to keep her nest box and all others free of eggs. I've had to do it with several of mine this year. Sounds like she just wants to brood with out having the actual product of brooding . These girls.

 

[bobbieschicks]

So how do i keep her from taking over the others nest witch is what she does sometimes i go out to the pen and i have four hens sitting on top of each other try to set same nest in very funny and have never seen this before when she was hatching this week her and my black mixed hen were setting on same clutch of eggs and had been whole set

You put them in their own caged areas

 

[aaggjg]

Okay so I went down to the coop this morning to check on Caesar and she had moved to the floor of the coop.... She tried to do that yesterday with chick #1 but I saw that there was a pip in an egg ..... so somehow I managed to get her to go back and sit on the eggs. This morning Popcorn was sitting on Caesars nest so I could not see if anymore chicks were hatched.....

Well Caesar finally got up and there were 4 babies under her!!!

When Popcorn finished laying her egg I went to look at the nest and well there was an egg with a pip.... Caesar had no interest in that egg at all.... she wouldn't come back to the nest and I had to leave for work.... so I pushed the egg towards her new nest on the coop floor .... It rolled in the hole she made when she got up to show chicks food..... so I am hoping that that little one hatches ..... The nest of course is full of extra eggs ...... those sneaky hens!!! So I guess I can candle and see if any of them are growing and then maybe throw them in the incubator. Problem is I won't be home until 11:30pm from work ....... This was so much easier this time!!!! Probably because I was out of town for 10 days of the brooding ... and working 12 hour days after that... So I had no time to worry about the broody hen.... Boy are the chicks TINY next to the mama hen!!!! I'll try to get pictures tomorrow morning.....

 

[Pele]

grats Kassaundra! They're super cute!!!

Ok, I have a bone to pick with everyone here in the Broody Hen thread. You didn't warn me about how effective these hens are!

I hedged my bets by buying twice the amount of eggs that I needed (I wanted 4 turkeys). After my miserable failures with artificial incubation, I figured it was totally reasonable.

Turkey number 7 is now pipping, and 6 just finished hatching. Ack! Buried in babies!

This has to be the most fluffy and adorable problem that I've ever had.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

grats Kassaundra!  They're super cute!!!

Ok, I have a bone to pick with everyone here in the Broody Hen thread.  You didn't warn me about how effective these hens are!  I hedged my bets by buying twice the amount of eggs that I needed (I wanted 4 turkeys).  After my miserable failures with artificial incubation, I figured it was totally reasonable.

Turkey number 7 is now pipping, and 6 just finished hatching.  Ack!  Buried in babies!

This has to be the most fluffy and adorable problem that I've ever had.

 

[Miss Lydia]

grats Kassaundra! They're super cute!!!

Ok, I have a bone to pick with everyone here in the Broody Hen thread. You didn't warn me about how effective these hens are!

I hedged my bets by buying twice the amount of eggs that I needed (I wanted 4 turkeys). After my miserable failures with artificial incubation, I figured it was totally reasonable.

Turkey number 7 is now pipping, and 6 just finished hatching. Ack! Buried in babies!

This has to be the most fluffy and adorable problem that I've ever had.

Can't wait to see pics of them all together with mama. Congrats!!