Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

this young man was hanging near mama red and her lil ones

 

[lareynadenada]

I dont know how your get along! All my hens hate eachother and eachothers chicks! My OEGB bantam attacks the silkie hens whenever they look her way!

Mine were all raised together, I ordered them from Cackle as 1 day olds

 

[stonykill]

I dont know how your get along! All my hens hate eachother and eachothers chicks! My OEGB bantam attacks the silkie hens whenever they look her way!

mine all get along great together. Thankfully

.

 

[karlamaria]

My broody dark cornish was sitting on 12 eggs. Yesterday was hatch day and there are now 4 little babies and 5 unhatched eggs, i guess she ate the other 3? This morning i opened up the nest box (covered kitty litter box) and helped them out so they could forage a bit. I set up a ramp so they could get back in too. Just wondering if the other 5 eggs are quitters. Should i leave them? Or take them out?

eggs do not always hatch on time, you should never remove those chicks ! Mama needs to sit in that box a few more days. Pt food and water close by or use a giant dog carrier and then there is room for food and water. Mine hatched 3 days apart! Yep 3 the first day. One each day there after . Never remove the birds until time is over or candling shows no. Bird. My las t bird took 5 extra days to atch out the last egg. Your remove chicks and you take mom off potential chicks waiting to atch.

 

[bobbieschicks]

My broody dark cornish was sitting on 12 eggs. Yesterday was hatch day and there are now 4 little babies and 5 unhatched eggs, i guess she ate the other 3? This morning i opened up the nest box (covered kitty litter box) and helped them out so they could forage a bit. I set up a ramp so they could get back in too. Just wondering if the other 5 eggs are quitters. Should i leave them? Or take them out?

Momma will let you know when she's done sitting on them - she will get up and move away from them - that is when you can remove them. She won't stay on them too long. The other little ones need food and water so put tiny little feeder of chick starter or flock raiser out there for them and show them where the food is. Also put a tiny little waterer out there with rocks in it so they can't drown and show them where that is too. If you can't put food and water in with the babies then take them out once or twice a day and let them eat. Momma will get up and take the babies out on her own soon.

 

[bobbieschicks]

mine all get along great together. Thankfully

.

Most of mine get along as long as they remember who is in charge LOL.

However my two broodies - Smokey and Topsy only get along when they both have chicks and Smokey is in a kindly way. Otherwise Smokey attacks Topsy as soon as Topsy clucks. I think maybe Topsy tried to take Smokey's first clutch of chicks away and that set her off to hating Topsy. Or maybe it was because Topsy was the bottom of the pecking order when Smokey had her 1st clutch and Smokey wanted to regain her upper level placement.

Either way I find Smokey on Topsy's back all the time - she yanks back Topsy's topknot feathers and pecks at her. A real bully she is - but only to Topsy! If she didn't lay such beautiful blue eggs she would be stew.

 

[aoxa]

  the hen on the far left is named Daughter. She is one of Mama's offspring from last summer. This is her 2nd brood of the year. Yup, they are almost as big as her! 

That is a really cute picture! Must click to full size though, it is much easier to admire that way

ETA: Whoops. Sumatra aren't supposed to have single combs - so obviously I was wrong on the first assumption that all but one was a girl

 

[stonykill]

That is a really cute picture! Must click to full size though, it is much easier to admire that way

ETA: Whoops. Sumatra aren't supposed to have single combs - so obviously I was wrong on the first assumption that all but one was a girl

I'm not sure what your 1st assumption was, but there are 2 cockerels there. The one on the far right is also male. Just a tiny pea comb, but rooster tailfeathers.

 

[aoxa]

  I'm not sure what your 1st assumption was, but there are 2 cockerels there. The one on the far right is also male. Just a tiny pea comb, but rooster tailfeathers.

I assumed the third from the right was the only boy based on the comb, but now I see the second towards the far right. So you only got two boys? That's luck..

 

[stonykill]

I assumed the third from the right was the only boy based on the comb, but now I see the second towards the far right. So you only got two boys? That's luck..

I do lots of egg swapping. I know which hens produce a better pullet to roo ratio and try to use their eggs. Something new I tried this year and it worked well. Mama has a track record of producing roo heavy broods. So this summer I swapped eggs. Ate hers and gave her other hens eggs. Out of her 15 from the summer only 5 are roo's.