Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[karlamaria]

the chicks are 13 weeks tomorrow!, the mother is still with them, look at her lieng in the box the chicks poo in!!!! she sleeps in there whilst the chicks perch on the side!!!!, i know you can only see one chick but does it look like it is doing well growing??

That's there nest box? That's a lot of poo on there legs . You could say there knee deep in it lol

 

[bobbieschicks]

This is so sweet, all your babies are so adorable! Love big papa what a good looking bird!
Well it happened, my other broody got chicks! She was not good at sitting, seems every time I looked eggs were tossed qside and cold. Some times she was out wide for hours leaving the eggs to get cold. Today I was all set to throw them out , yep had a bowl and was going to ather them up since she was due to hatch on Sunday and with the eggs being so cold non stop I just did not think they were going to hatch, well they did, 3 so ar, 4 still under her at 6:30 tonight. She hatched out 3 through out the day, I'm pretty sure there is going to be more tomorrow. How adorable . So got one broody with her six 9 day olds , the other broody with ? Looks like a crowded coop for a while until they go to there new homes lol.

hahaha! That's why I don't give up on them too early - even if I think there's no way they'll hatch anything. Glad she got her babies.

 

[bobbieschicks]

That's there nest box? That's a lot of poo on there legs . You could say there knee deep in it lol

I think that's mud on their legs rather then poo - right? Yes the chicks look fine and look like they are growing well. Some hens don't want to quit being mommas. Smokey likes to keep her chicks near her this time - the babies are now 8 weeks old and she still occassionally mothers them. But they spend more time away from her than near her.

 

[Johnn]

I think that's mud on their legs rather then poo - right? Yes the chicks look fine and look like they are growing well. Some hens don't want to quit being mommas. Smokey likes to keep her chicks near her this time - the babies are now 8 weeks old and she still occassionally mothers them. But they spend more time away from her than near her.

Yes its mud!!!, i wouldn't ever be that much poo!, we have had really bad weather and it is like a lake of mud to get to the shed so i made a ramp going over it but they sometimes just like walking through the bog!!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

My theory on mud: while it might not always be pretty, at least we know the birds have been outdoors!

Well today I put outside Pekin Mom with her 3.5 week old. Been doing visitations with the flock all week. Mom has been very ornery with me penning her up so I figured that today is the day. My Khaki Campbell Mom left her babies (not quite 2 weeks old) AGAIN! So I forced her back and sent the babies closer to her. Last I checked all was well.

 

[karlamaria]

Around here, mud means freezing feet and death when it hits zero. My pen is roofed off and slanted , plasticed it all up so no snow rain or anything can et in. Rain this summer never entered my pen, they spent the summer out roaming but when it rains they head for the covered pen. Today it was 42 degree' and at one pont got cold enough to snow. Some places got a few inches, some got several.

 

[emmapal]

We have 7 chicks out of 9 eggs (7 fertilized) and 3 feed store leghorn chicks tossed in. 2 died, and 1 didn't hatch (our fault, I put the eggs in over too many days, and the nest is slightly off the ground making it too easy for day-olds to fall out and get cold). There is 1 gray one, and 6 yellow fuzzies. This is the tractor my husband built, and a close up of them getting a drink. The design is on the Sketchup gallery at http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=ca48f408d6ee834d72b34000f367cf8

We'd like a smaller version of this for future hatchings since we just kick out our older birds every morning, and it's hard getting out at the right time to let them back in at night. We've lost 1 hen already by not getting out before dark!

Hope to get another brood under her to try again asap before it starts getting chilly here, but we need to figure out a better housing situation. Suggestions welcome!
Mama and babies free ranged for the first time yesterday for a few minutes while we moved the tractor to fresh grass. They are almost 2 weeks old here.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Caught Smokey lingering in the nest box today - she's been laying again for about a week now. I noticed she dropped a pingpong ball from under her wing - must have stolen it from the other nest box. PLEASE don't tell me she wants to go broody again!

 

[Johnn]

13 weeks still with mama, she is still doing the broody cluck and the orp chick is trying to copy her!

 

[Miss Lydia]

13 weeks still with mama, she is still doing the broody cluck and the orp chick is trying to copy her!

They are beautiful and healthy looking. Nothing wrong with them staying as a family. I think it's sweet.