Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

I'm so sorry this has happened mgm, we always hope for healthy hatch even pray for them and then some times something still goes wrong, but there is hope if you want to try to help the little one, is it able to drink and eat? and heres a link that may help with the leg problems. let me know how it's going please. And no matter what you decide, you'll make the best decision I'm sure. : https://sites.google.com/a/larsencreek.com/chicken-orthopedics/leg-braces

 

[madgabmomma]

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Thanks for the information! I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, it's a very hard decision.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I know it is, I'll be thinking about you today.

 

[BittyBanty]

Today is day 18 by my calculations ( Could be day 19 or 20 since my hen was "stealth" broody.) Chili refuses to come off the nest and she is making funny soft noises "clu-coo". I'm going to go get brave an try to look. These are bantams so I guess it is possible hatch is starting. Here's to not getting my eyes pecked out.

 

[BarefootMom]

So this morning I when I went to go check on Miss Iris and the babes, I found her outside of the nest box. She had abandoned 3 unhatched eggs and had moved at least 2 eggs with her and her chicks. How do these birds do this?! She also left one chick in the nest box...it got down to 45 last night

It was cold and dead

The eggs were ice cold so I threw them out. When I cracked them it looked like 2 of them had stopped developing and the other one would have taken a lot longer to hatch... but she still has some eggs under her so *fingers crossed* that they hatch.

So now Iris has 2 black silkies and 1 barnyard mix that I know of. She didn't want me messing with her this morning...still haven't got a good picture yet.

I have other issues at this moment...one of our new mama does started making a nest this morning...(we just bought her 2 weeks ago with 2 week old kits...I think the previous owners had already bred her back!!) Crazy stuff going on around here!

 

[Miss Lydia]

BfM, these hens are amazing what they can do, and the little one that didn't make it out of the nest box might have had something wrong with it. They seem to know these things. But on a lighter note Congrats to you for the ones that have hatched and hopefully the ones that will.

BittyBanty let us know what you find..

 

[Whimsy]

Greetings,
Well 3 babies so far starting Monday early afternoon. One was last night and to be honest I didn't check this morning(too chilly to mess with Momma).

Question is how long do I allow her to keep sitting on nest or will she just get off herself. There are still eggs under her.

Mari

 

[Miss Lydia]

Has she been off to teach the chicks to eat? with one being hatched last night she probably won't leave the nest yet, unless she leaves it to make sure her other chicks get to eat. so better keep and eye on it. She will take them out on her own, but sometimes they will continue to sit which isn't a good thing if she has 3 day old chicks that need to eat. It's always better to make sure the eggs are going to hatch within 24 hours of each other to prevent these kinds of problems. 3 day old chicks will have to have food and water. If it's cold there she will problay wait till it warms up a bit then take them to the food bowl, plus she'll sit on them no matter where they are to give a warm up. Do you have another broody that will sit on the remaining eggs?
when my little frizzle first hatched out her 2 she continued to sit on the last 3 eggs, she hatched on Wed. and by Friday afternoon she had rolled the last 3 eggs out from under her on her own. so depends on the hen i guess.

 

[Whimsy]

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No I don't, all the eggs were set at the right time, so should I assume last nights were the last?

 

[Miss Lydia]

you might try to candle one and see if there is any sign of life. you should see the air sack and movement if they are viable. also you can hear peeping if they are beginning to pip