Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Flowerbh]

Hey guys! I have a couple questions, one is how long do the mom's take care of the babies? I heard about 6wks? And also it's ok for the mom's to eat chick starter right?

I have four and I took some pics of them the other day
Here's Lily

I'm impressed how white your Silkie is....mine is suppose to be white but she stays Buff colored because she loves "bathing" in our North Ga red clay!

 

[Jharper]

I live in GA, too!

 

[fisherlady]

Good morning.
Being a newbie here, I'm not certain if I'm supposed to (or encouraged to) post any updates. Especially not the very next day... but I'm just so dang excited!
This morning, there were three little fluffball babies under her, and two new "pips" (little holes?). I'm still figuring out the right words for things, sorry. lol.
Anyway, the move last night went off without a hitch! Yay! She seems to be really happy in her new digs. I had seen someone else mention feeding their mama a little scratch while she was sitting, I think that lady said she does it every day? So... After I disturbed her to satisfy my curiosity about the baby-count... I offered her a small palmful of scratch. Boy, she was eager to have it! But 2 of her little ones started peeping a lot and worked their way out from under her breast. She stopped eating, tucked them right back in, and looked at me like, "See what you did?" LOL
I'm loving this!!! Here's this morning's not-so-hot phone pics.

Love your set up! Very nice area for mama hen to get started with the babie... Congrats on the little ones!

UGH! I kicked them both off their respective nests and they keep returning to this corner spot. Shirley Jones on the left, Vanilla Ice on the right. Both are attempting to hatch ping pong balls.

Don't ya just love how they refuse to cooperate with us??? About enough to drive you crazy sometimes! But you have to admit... they are darned cute sitting there!

I did not think that any of my breeds would brood., so my new larger coop is still under construction, with chicks ordered, to arrive on 5/23. However, I now have two broody Speckled Sussex hens in a 8 by 9 A-frame coop that does not allow me to isolate the broody. Total Chaos so far. These are not the dominate hens and they get bumped from nest box to nest box or they just change boxes on their own. I don't know, I think they get bumped. A couple of questions. I tried to set some eggs under the broody, via the back door to the nest box, at night and she started to peck my hand, didnot draw blood, but I have to admit I did not like it. I know she is defending her nest which is good, but is this common? Do most people put up with this and carry on? I wish she was as aggressive with the other hens at defending her nest as she was with me.

Does anyone use portable nest boxes, so if you wanted to move a broody you could just move the whole box, with her inside, to an isolation area? You would still have to set the eggs, of course.

Thanks,

mark

Portable boxes are great for broodies... they can be placed within the coop or moved to where ever you need. Many folks use the covered cat litter boxes, some also use dog or cat crates. The nice thing about the crates is that you can close or open the door as needed. Crate styles are personal preference. I like the open wire style so the hen isn't too isolated from the flock, though if you have a nervous hen you may need to throw a sheet over part of it to give her more privacy.

 

[myby]

Coyotesmommy, what happened with your hen hatching?

 

[chickeneer45]

At what age can i start handling my baby chicks. Everyone says the sooner the better but i feel like one day old is much too soon...

 

[Jharper]

At what age can i start handling my baby chicks. Everyone says the sooner the better but i feel like one day old is much too soon...

That's fine but don't hold them to much or you could kill them.

 

[fisherlady]

That's fine but don't hold them to much or you could kill them.

How do you kill them by holding them?

 

[chickeneer45]

Good question now i am scared to handle my chicks

 

[Fentress]

Thanks.

Mark

 

[Bikerschick]

Good question now i am scared to handle my chicks

yep, me too now.