Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

@fisherlady

Oh my goodness... that is just to surreal. How awesome! Good for them. What good little mommas. All the little cousins will have fun growing up together.

Although...you could also have some fun with these photos too.....

Lady of McCamley

Joined with more than love, Siamese Chickens hatch chicks together! ....or Two Headed Chicken Hatches Twice the Chicks!

 

[fisherlady]

@fisherlady

Oh my goodness... that is just to surreal. How awesome! Good for them. What good little mommas. All the little cousins will have fun growing up together.

Although...you could also have some fun with these photos too.....

Lady of McCamley

Joined with more than love, Siamese Chickens hatch chicks together! ....or Two Headed Chicken Hatches Twice the Chicks!

LOL... when we saw how the pics turned out we did joke about them looking like siamese hens

we have been watching them closely through the day to make sure the 'good vibrations' continued, and they have! Both hens get up with the babies for short periods of time, goodies are found and shared to which ever chick is closest and after a few minutes one hen heads back to the nest and sits and as the chicks get cold they head back and dive under her while the other hen continues to help find goodies for the rest. When they are all finished the second hen returns to the nest and settles in and you see the babies running around diving under wings here and there without a care.
I know co-broodies don't happen very often, so we are appreciating the experience even more because we have a rare chance... and I am really, really hoping to see it happen with other hens in the future. DH is totally enthralled with them and he can't wait till weather breaks so they can roam outside where he can watch them even more.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

LOL... when we saw how the pics turned out we did joke about them looking like siamese hens

we have been watching them closely through the day to make sure the 'good vibrations' continued, and they have! Both hens get up with the babies for short periods of time, goodies are found and shared to which ever chick is closest and after a few minutes one hen heads back to the nest and sits and as the chicks get cold they head back and dive under her while the other hen continues to help find goodies for the rest. When they are all finished the second hen returns to the nest and settles in and you see the babies running around diving under wings here and there without a care.
I know co-broodies don't happen very often, so we are appreciating the experience even more because we have a rare chance... and I am really, really hoping to see it happen with other hens in the future. DH is totally enthralled with them and he can't wait till weather breaks so they can roam outside where he can watch them even more.

I hope the good vibes continue too....I wonder what will happen when the little roos or the "snotty queen bee" start butting and stirring things up? Hopefully they will all grow up peacefully.

I would love to have dual broodies, having 2 ends to my broody hutch to accommodate such, but I had to put up a partition as the dominant full size hen(s) run over my Silkie and chase her and her babies. :sigh:

I'm wondering what I'm going to do come spring when my seasonal girls go into a brood again...I usually have more than just 1...and I only have 2 brooding spots in the hutch. (Hubby can hear the wood sawing now).

Congratulations on your success. Keep us posted. I would love to follow these two.
Lady of McCamley

 

[kimmerjo]

How adorable!!! It looks like you took the picture threw a kaleidoscope

 

[Debs55]

Hi everyone! I have a few questions for y'all

ok first a little background. Ive been hatching chicks with broodies for about 2 years so I know the basics but Ive had a little problem pop up. I had 4 of my silkie hens sitting on eggs. all of them were separated into their own pens except for one because every time I've moved her to hatch eggs she quits setting. She has hatched chicks successfully before. Anyway I went to check on her and 2 of her eggs were missing..i assume busted since one of the other eggs had yolk on it. I left her and decided I'd come back after dark and candle them. If they were developing I'd come up with a plan from there…I went back and she had abandoned them. She had just up and moved to the other side of the coop and was hanging out with the other chickens asleep. I candled the eggs and all 4 looked good (they are on day 9). I have 2 other broodies who eggs are on day 11 (broody #4) and day 16 (broody #2). I marked the eggs with a pencil and put 2 under each of them ( I split them because I didn't want to crowd them and have eggs sticking out and what not)
My plan is that when broody #2's eggs are on day 18 I will candle all the eggs and toss any obvious bad ones as usual (I'm thinking this will make room under broody #4 because I saw 2 iffy eggs a couple days ago) and then I will move all 4 of the abandoned eggs under broody #4 since the hatch days are 2-3 days apart. Then when hatch day comes I will just remove each chick after it is dry and keep it under a light until everyone has hatched. Im hoping she will continue to set as long as I take the chicks. Will this work? any other suggestions?
I considered giving the hen back her eggs but I had had some eggs bust earlier in the season but could never figure out why so I don't want to chance it
Thanks!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hi everyone! I have a few questions for y'all

ok first a little background. Ive been hatching chicks with broodies for about 2 years so I know the basics but Ive had a little problem pop up. I had 4 of my silkie hens sitting on eggs. all of them were separated into their own pens except for one because every time I've moved her to hatch eggs she quits setting. She has hatched chicks successfully before. Anyway I went to check on her and 2 of her eggs were missing..i assume busted since one of the other eggs had yolk on it. I left her and decided I'd come back after dark and candle them. If they were developing I'd come up with a plan from there…I went back and she had abandoned them. She had just up and moved to the other side of the coop and was hanging out with the other chickens asleep. I candled the eggs and all 4 looked good (they are on day 9). I have 2 other broodies who eggs are on day 11 (broody #4) and day 16 (broody #2). I marked the eggs with a pencil and put 2 under each of them ( I split them because I didn't want to crowd them and have eggs sticking out and what not)
My plan is that when broody #2's eggs are on day 18 I will candle all the eggs and toss any obvious bad ones as usual (I'm thinking this will make room under broody #4 because I saw 2 iffy eggs a couple days ago) and then I will move all 4 of the abandoned eggs under broody #4 since the hatch days are 2-3 days apart. Then when hatch day comes I will just remove each chick after it is dry and keep it under a light until everyone has hatched. Im hoping she will continue to set as long as I take the chicks. Will this work? any other suggestions?
I considered giving the hen back her eggs but I had had some eggs bust earlier in the season but could never figure out why so I don't want to chance it
Thanks!

I agree with the setting them up under Broody #4, however I would just let them hatch with mom, but keep a watchful eye.

I personally find the babies do best when hatched by and taken care of by mom, especially in cooler weather. (I've had trouble trying to integrate heat lamped chicks). You have a natural 2 to 3 day lag for normal hatches anyway, so I think that will just even out okay.

I say let #4 do the work.

My thoughts
Lady of McCamley

 

[fisherlady]

Sounds good except I'm not sure why to remove the chicks as they hatch, and then give them back... my broodies have all remained on 'late' eggs for at least a day or two beyond any others hatching, in fact, we usually remove them on the 2nd or 3rd day so that she will then get up and moving to get her chicks out and about. If the broody is provided with food and water close to the nest she should stay on the later eggs. Biggest thing to do is make sure they are provided the food and water for her and the 1st hatched chicks and watch for her to broody poo in the nest because she doesn't want to leave the late eggs. If you want to remove the hatching babies you certainly can, and if she has left late eggs before then it is certainly the right idea, but if the eggs are all due within 2 or 3 days you shouldn't have to.
Hope they all hatch well!


oops... I see Lady answered as I was typing, didn't mean to duplicate....

,

 

[Debs55]

I don't know if she specifically will leave the eggs because this the first time she has set since she is only a year old but I know my other two silkie hens usually move after a day of chicks not actively hatching. I will just keep an eye on her…Id just hate for them to get so far and then get cold on hatch day

 

[kmollyhughes]

I don't know if she specifically will leave the eggs because this the first time she has set since she is only a year old but I know my other two silkie hens usually move after a day of chicks not actively hatching. I will just keep an eye on her…Id just hate for them to get so far and then get cold on hatch day

I would say try and leave them. X3. I had a silkie sitting on eggs this winter who I gave an orphaned chick to after the marans mother went homicidal on her chicks as they hatched. I put food and water right there in the nest with them and she sat the whole rest of that week (7+ days) with that other chick climbing all over her. She successfully hatched 4/5 eggs. If they don't have to leave the nest, she'll stay put. That little silkie still has all 5 babies with her...even thought they are all 1 1/2x her size. Lol

 

[chickensnbees]

I have a Buff orp hen that goes broody if you're 2 hours late collecting eggs! I have never let her hatch any eggs; I only have hens. I want to get some call ducks to hatch for my pond but everything I read says they are difficult to hatch in an incubator. I have my very first chicken eggs in my incubator right now and don't think I'm up for a challenge yet. My question is, has anyone used a broody hen to hatch other than chicken eggs? And if so, will they raise them or abandon at hatch?