Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Ga Chicken Mom]

Hey Brahma Rooster, I put 10 eggs under my broody BO last night. This is my first time broody and first time ( fingers crossed ) hatching. I could sure use some encouragement cause I'm really nervous, the next 21 days are going to be very long.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Hey Brahma Rooster, I put 10 eggs under my broody BO last night. This is my first time broody and first time ( fingers crossed ) hatching. I could sure use some encouragement cause I'm really nervous, the next 21 days are going to be very long.

My first time too! My eggs should hatch around the 8th. This is the perfect thread for questions too. I had a few myself. Are you planning to candle the eggs?

 

[farmer boy]

day 14 first time hatch 8 eggs under her and one is iffy but i will wait and see what happens she is only a bantam so i hope she does well

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

they start that way. The legs darken up as they age. The bottoms of their feet are yellow from birth to death.

Were you given Sumatra? If they are Sumatra the bottoms of the feet will be yellow.

The bottoms of the feet are yellow! Even the all black ones with black feet. I checked another hen that came in to lay and as she was very interested in the chicks, so I picked her up and she has yellow soles too. They all have some copper coloration around the head and throat, so are they crossed with games? Should they have pea combs, including the roos? This is the calmest broody I've had so far, almost has me worried!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Oops, I lied, this broody is all black, no copper...I'm getting confused with all the hens this year, this is her first clutch, I've had her since she was an orphan chick. I'm going to try to post a pic.
Nope...still can't post a pic.

 

[stonykill]

The bottoms of the feet are yellow! Even the all black ones with black feet. I checked another hen that came in to lay and as she was very interested in the chicks, so I picked her up and she has yellow soles too. They all have some copper coloration around the head and throat, so are they crossed with games? Should they have pea combs, including the roos? This is the calmest broody I've had so far, almost has me worried!

yup, pea combs, yellow feet, and it in't that uncommon to see a little copper color on a few feathers now and then. Although the SOP which DOESN'T MEAN SQUAT TO ME

will say otherwise. But some of the original writings from the mid 1800's mentions it. Roo's have pea combs, sometimes it varies slightly, but yeah, SOP say's pea combs. You probably have a little game in them. I've heard it is a common cross, then bred back into Sumatra. GREAT broody's. A few of mine are mellow, some are LOONIE.

 

[jc12551]

I have another broody! A BA laying on an assortment of eggs. She is due to hatch about the time I am due with our third child. She is one of the lowest hens in the pecking order (maybe the lowest) so I am surprised she has kept the nest all week.

My dom. hen abandoned her babies this morning. They are almost six weeks old and I thought she would stay with them a bit longer. They are hanging around with the turkey/BA co-parenting pair and their four chicks. I am worried that they are too small to be on their own!

 

[Glasshen]

Jc, they look small, but they must have passed the chicken proficiency test that mama gave them. Now they need to learn to be self reliant in their group...

 

[CarolJ]

Just curious - What's the most eggs you've put under a broody hen? I put 11 under one hen - and 8 under the other one. How many more could they have handled?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

My buff brahma took 12 D'Anver eggs. They didn't hatch; shipped I high temps and the ice pack wasn't enough to save them apparently. But she took them and they were all warm when I removed them, minus the crushed bad one she had kicked out of the nest.