Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Jharper]

rainy here all day in Ohio, but we are grain farmers, so we LOVE the rain, especially after the drought last year. : )

Great!

 

[Johnn]

Tell me about it! My backyard is a swamp. The ducks love it, but the chickens are mad and I've only gotten five eggs in the past three days. Are you in New England too?

No, just England. But it has been horrible here too!

 

[Johnn]

 

[emmapal]

After spending months unable to get my game hen mix to go broody again, I had 4 OTHER hens go broody a week ago, like it is some sort of competition, and coming up with housing and feeding for all them was a challenge.

Two I got moved into a broody pen by partitioning it in half, and luckily they both stayed broody in the morning.

Another one can fly out of the pen and nested under an old wood pile, away from the protection of my dog: I saw a raccoon in the yard one night, several broken egg shells from another loose flyer, and had to move her. I put her into a large pet carrier, but by morning she was freaking out and had broken many of her eggs. There was blood, so she thankfully slept in the coop at night and obviously spent a little time with the rooster each day. She is not sitting anymore, so I split her remaining eggs between the other 3 girls.

The 4th one nested in our coop, but my egg eater (who we had "cured" by leaving ceramic eggs in the nest), found all the goodies and was eating one every day. I put most of the broken broody's eggs under her since she didn't have many to start and lost several, but she spent a day after being moved to a dog kennel in limbo and not really sitting. She is sitting again, but seems uncommitted, and many of the eggs are not tucked well under her, so we probably lost several of them in her transition.

My husband is building a little goat shed to use once the chicks hatch since no one has enough space once they hatch, so we can put in some partitions for the three mamas and let the goats use it after they are in the flock full time. Right now I have to feed and water everyone separately!

Thinking this marathon is a total pain.

So my original broody game hen is still not broody since losing her entire clutch in February, can fly out of the enclosure, now walking around laying eggs who knows where, not even sleeping in the coop any more. I am clipping her wing and putting her back in before she can waste her time sitting on a dud clutch because the rooster hasn't been near her in weeks.

Anyway, try to prepare some housing for multiple hens going broody at the same time. it is so much easier to keep them separated (no hens laying extra eggs in the nest, no one stepping on nor eating eggs, no aggressive hens pecking at new babies, no babies falling out of a nest unable to hop back in, etc). We have now done this six times this year, and a separate broody house for each hen, while a pain to get at the beginning, is really saving you more pain during the process!

 

[Johnn]

After spending months unable to get my game hen mix to go broody again, I had 4 OTHER hens go broody a week ago, like it is some sort of competition, and coming up with housing and feeding for all them was a challenge.

Two I got moved into a broody pen by partitioning it in half, and luckily they both stayed broody in the morning.

Another one can fly out of the pen and nested under an old wood pile, away from the protection of my dog: I saw a raccoon in the yard one night, several broken egg shells from another loose flyer, and had to move her. I put her into a large pet carrier, but by morning she was freaking out and had broken many of her eggs. There was blood, so she thankfully slept in the coop at night and obviously spent a little time with the rooster each day. She is not sitting anymore, so I split her remaining eggs between the other 3 girls.

The 4th one nested in our coop, but my egg eater (who we had "cured" by leaving ceramic eggs in the nest), found all the goodies and was eating one every day. I put most of the broken broody's eggs under her since she didn't have many to start and lost several, but she spent a day after being moved to a dog kennel in limbo and not really sitting. She is sitting again, but seems uncommitted, and many of the eggs are not tucked well under her, so we probably lost several of them in her transition.

My husband is building a little goat shed to use once the chicks hatch since no one has enough space once they hatch, so we can put in some partitions for the three mamas and let the goats use it after they are in the flock full time. Right now I have to feed and water everyone separately!

Thinking this marathon is a total pain.

So my original broody game hen is still not broody since losing her entire clutch in February, can fly out of the enclosure, now walking around laying eggs who knows where, not even sleeping in the coop any more. I am clipping her wing and putting her back in before she can waste her time sitting on a dud clutch because the rooster hasn't been near her in weeks.

Anyway, try to prepare some housing for multiple hens going broody at the same time. it is so much easier to keep them separated (no hens laying extra eggs in the nest, no one stepping on nor eating eggs, no aggressive hens pecking at new babies, no babies falling out of a nest unable to hop back in, etc). We have now done this six times this year, and a separate broody house for each hen, while a pain to get at the beginning, is really saving you more pain during the process!

All sounds so stressful. Good Luck!

 

[animalboy0895]

I have a broody hen who's eggs are obviesly bad she has been sitting for 18 days can i put new eggs underneath her will she stay broody long enough to hatch them?

 

[groverlvchx]

I have a broody hen who's eggs are obviesly bad she has been sitting for 18 days can i put new eggs underneath her will she stay broody long enough to hatch them?

Yes she will--she doesn't know how to count days (or eggs or chicks) but what I did was get some week-old chicks from a local breeder and swapped them out for the eggs one night. My broody purred and fluffed out over them and she's been a great mama to them for three weeks now. I had another nest of duds that I removed about a week ago and replaced with golf balls. That broody is very devoted to her golf balls and on Tuesday I'm scheduled to get some day-old chicks for under her from the same guy. We plan to do the swap in the evening again.

 

[animalboy0895]

Yes she will--she doesn't know how to count days (or eggs or chicks) but what I did was get some week-old chicks from a local breeder and swapped them out for the eggs one night. My broody purred and fluffed out over them and she's been a great mama to them for three weeks now. I had another nest of duds that I removed about a week ago and replaced with golf balls. That broody is very devoted to her golf balls and on Tuesday I'm scheduled to get some day-old chicks for under her from the same guy. We plan to do the swap in the evening again. 

i cant afford to buy Chicks at The moment but i Do want her to hatch. I just hope she will not get to weak and die. I put food near her and she ate and i gave her water and she drank but did not get off the eggs.

 

[groverlvchx]

i cant afford to buy Chicks at The moment but i Do want her to hatch. I just hope she will not get to weak and die. I put food near her and she ate and i gave her water and she drank but did not get off the eggs.

For my broodies I serve scrambled eggs every third day or so. At first serving, they look at me like it's poison and I'm invading their space. Now when I bring them in, they get all excited and gobble them down. The chicks love them, too, even at days old. I just do a soft-scramble so they're pretty moist and let them cool before serving. My first broody even ate a few of her eggs. It could have been because they weren't viable, but just in case it was protein starvation, I added scrambled eggs to my broody-care. Even if you don't see them getting off the nest, most likely they do it when you aren't looking, though.

 

[Johnn]

I have a broody hen who's eggs are obviesly bad she has been sitting for 18 days can i put new eggs underneath her will she stay broody long enough to hatch them?

It takes 21 days for them to hatch though :/