Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[countrygirl74]

Haven't been on here in a while - last time I posted, my silkie was broody and we gave her some duck eggs that my sister wanted when they were old enough to leave. Turns out none of them were fertile so she sat on them for nothing, poor girl. Maybe my drake hasn't quite figured things out yet as it appears that we get about 1 fertile egg for every 20!

So, we gave up on hatching ducklings and just worked on getting her weight back up again. She started laying again for about 2 weeks, then went broody again.

I didn't want her to sit on nothing again, so we let her keep her own last 4 eggs she laid as they will definitely be silkies since all we currently had at the time was a silkie roo.

We candled them all last week and all were developing just right as far as we could tell!

We are excited to see her be a mama. I will keep you posted. She's a sweet girl that lets me do anything I want with her or the eggs, although I try to just leave her alone. I do have to lift her up daily to get my EE's egg out from under her as she steals it every day - lol.

This is a picture of her last time she was broody...


Okay, so, question... do you think she and the chicks will be fine left in the coop? I have 1 big Cochin cockerel (about 19 weeks old who has just discovered the girls this past week), the father of the babies (a silkie roo), 4 big girls (almost 9 months old) and 13 pullets (range in age from 13-18 weeks old). Anything I should be aware of or will she just be able to protect her babies?

 

[chickydee64]

Haven't been on here in a while - last time I posted, my silkie was broody and we gave her some duck eggs that my sister wanted when they were old enough to leave. Turns out none of them were fertile so she sat on them for nothing, poor girl. Maybe my drake hasn't quite figured things out yet as it appears that we get about 1 fertile egg for every 20!

So, we gave up on hatching ducklings and just worked on getting her weight back up again. She started laying again for about 2 weeks, then went broody again.

I didn't want her to sit on nothing again, so we let her keep her own last 4 eggs she laid as they will definitely be silkies since all we currently had at the time was a silkie roo.

We candled them all last week and all were developing just right as far as we could tell!

We are excited to see her be a mama. I will keep you posted. She's a sweet girl that lets me do anything I want with her or the eggs, although I try to just leave her alone. I do have to lift her up daily to get my EE's egg out from under her as she steals it every day - lol.

This is a picture of her last time she was broody...


Okay, so, question... do you think she and the chicks will be fine left in the coop? I have 1 big Cochin cockerel (about 19 weeks old who has just discovered the girls this past week), the father of the babies (a silkie roo), 4 big girls (almost 9 months old) and 13 pullets (range in age from 13-18 weeks old). Anything I should be aware of or will she just be able to protect her babies?

I do not know what your set up is, will just post what works for me.
I have a couple if plastic dog kennels..............the ones you ship in.
After broody is really setting, I put her in and leave the door open.
After hatch, I keep Mom and chicks in it for 5 days or so then open the door.
My feeling is it gives the chicks and mom a little time for her to teach them to eat and drink and kind of get some strength.
Also, I can close it off for them to eat their chick starter.
My experience is that I have lost a chick a few times when it wandered into the flock and could not get back to mom quick enough.

I think the flock thought it was a mouse????????Anyway.no one would dare go around the chicks when Mom was let out with the chicks.
Right mow it is very funny.I have all ages together 8 weeks, 10 weeks 12 weeks.....and adults...............They walk way far from mama hen and her brood. We put out water melon out today, she chased everyone away from it and she and the babies had a feast un interrupted.

 

[chickeneer45]

Somehow the egg from my third chick has become attached to the underside of my broody hen... I don't if its incredibly sticky or something? I have not heard of anyone having this problem. It won't come out and I don't want to disturb her, can I just wait to cut it out until she has stopped being broody? Thanks.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Somehow the egg from my third chick has become attached to the underside of my broody hen... I don't if its incredibly sticky or something? I have not heard of anyone having this problem. It won't come out and I don't want to disturb her, can I just wait to cut it out until she has stopped being broody? Thanks.

It will come off soon without intervention. I've had that happen too.

If it is still there in three days when she takes the new babies out just use a little water on a wet paper towel to moisten it and move it away. Once she's done being an incubator the egg will probably dry up and fall off all by itself.

 

[fisherlady]

I had 20 eggs under my one hen, i thought... and then I counted today and there was only 19

So I reaaaaallly hope it just fell on the floor somewhere and rolled away to never be found because otherwise I brought it in the house with my eating eggs

Mark all of her hatching eggs with a dark colored marker. Then you will see it immediately if you happen to collect a wrong one. We have had to do this ourselves because our one broody liked to go collect extra eggs once in a while.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Haven't been on here in a while - last time I posted, my silkie was broody and we gave her some duck eggs that my sister wanted when they were old enough to leave. Turns out none of them were fertile so she sat on them for nothing, poor girl. Maybe my drake hasn't quite figured things out yet as it appears that we get about 1 fertile egg for every 20! So, we gave up on hatching ducklings and just worked on getting her weight back up again. She started laying again for about 2 weeks, then went broody again. I didn't want her to sit on nothing again, so we let her keep her own last 4 eggs she laid as they will definitely be silkies since all we currently had at the time was a silkie roo. We candled them all last week and all were developing just right as far as we could tell! We are excited to see her be a mama. I will keep you posted. She's a sweet girl that lets me do anything I want with her or the eggs, although I try to just leave her alone. I do have to lift her up daily to get my EE's egg out from under her as she steals it every day - lol. This is a picture of her last time she was broody... Okay, so, question... do you think she and the chicks will be fine left in the coop? I have 1 big Cochin cockerel (about 19 weeks old who has just discovered the girls this past week), the father of the babies (a silkie roo), 4 big girls (almost 9 months old) and 13 pullets (range in age from 13-18 weeks old). Anything I should be aware of or will she just be able to protect her babies?

When I first started allowing my broodies to hatch I sequestered them for safety sake. I've since decided it isn't necessary. My flock just ignores the new babies hatched in the coop or pecks them away if they get underfoot. My broodies have had very little trouble keeping their chicks safe. And I don't see the need to keep them separated. Of course it boils down to available space, breed, size, and temperament of your flock. Only you can make the call as to whether your chicks will be fine in your setup or need their own separate area. My coop is 5x10 and I have a large outer run. My flock is mixed with ages from 2 years to 7 weeks old. I've had roosters in the past and they sometimes were curious, but only one ever dared mess with a chick. My WL roo picked up and flung a day old chick and was immediately taken down by my seemingly docile pullet who was a third his size. The chick was fine but momma didn't let anyone near after that.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I had 20 eggs under my one hen, i thought... and then I counted today and there was only 19

So I reaaaaallly hope it just fell on the floor somewhere and rolled away to never be found because otherwise I brought it in the house with my eating eggs

Definitely marking the eggs is a good idea. But also when you use your eggs for cooking I've learnt to break the eggs into a small bowl first before using them as you never know what you might find inside

 

[bobbieschicks]

three baby chicks now!!

Congrats!

 

[bigT88]

posted this in the broody hen thread. but seems like this is a more lively thread.


so first time using a broody hen. put 18 eggs under her (black australorp). She covers them all nicely. She is sitting on these eggs in a nesting box (10) nest box. It is about 4 or 5 feet off the ground. Obviously this wont work for the chicks when they hatch. Should i move her and the nest to a pen, very tricky. Or just lower the whole nesting shelf after they hatch?

 

[bobbieschicks]

posted this in the broody hen thread. but seems like this is a more lively thread. so first time using a broody hen. put 18 eggs under her (black australorp). She covers them all nicely. She is sitting on these eggs in a nesting box (10) nest box. It is about 4 or 5 feet off the ground. Obviously this wont work for the chicks when they hatch. Should i move her and the nest to a pen, very tricky. Or just lower the whole nesting shelf after they hatch?

Wow! That's pretty high up. I wouldn't mess with her too much now if possible. She will be getting down to eat, drink and poo unless you have her caged up there? If she's loose with eggs, the chicks usually stay right under momma until about the third day. That's when my girls usually take their babies out of the nest to the floor. If you can provide a ramp, a ladder, or some way for the chicks to navigate down she will probably bring them down without intervention. Or of course you could lower the nesting area to around two feet and not worry about it. My silky chicks have jumped at a day old from the 24" height without problems.