Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[daniellea2912]

We do... everything the hen got as treats before we continue with the chicks once a day, we just run it through a food chopper to make sure it is all in little bits... the hens absolutely love it for being able to show the little ones how to eat and such. But we only give it once a day, and not in great quantity so it doesn't replace the chick starter. And our chicks are raised on sand, so they get grit every day just by pecking at the seeds we throw on floor for them (again, the hen likes to teach them how to scratch after about day 2)... but if you are raising chicks on other bedding you may want to get some chick grit (available at feed stores and Tractor Supply) and place it in their area so they can have it when they want it.

Thanks for the info Glad I can continue the supplemental stuff- my hen seems to be confused why her daily tablespoon of yummy food stopped lol I put a small clump of dirt I dug up outside in the pen for them to use as grit, mama has already been scratching and showing it to the baby. I think i will put some chick grit in also for good measure.

 

[bumpercarr]

Do most of you typically candle your broody eggs? I was assuming I'd just leave my broody alone and let her do her thing... Should I be doing something?? (first timer here)...

How can I estimate when she will be hatching she has been brooding for 3-4 days. I heard broody eggs take a bit longer than incubator eggs??

I don't candle eggs under a broody. I just let things progress naturally. I don't think broody eggs take a bit longer, mine always hatch on day 21 (first day is day 0).

I currently have 2 French Black Copper Marans hens sitting eggs due to hatch soon (one nest on Saturday and one a week from today). My little flock contains the FBCM's mentioned as well as some newer year old White Rock and Red Sex Link hens, as well as one tetra tint I got by mistake. The eggs are a mix of all three types, though it seems the one FBCM rooster rarely "visits" the White Rocks so I do not know how fertile their eggs would be. In my reading I came across information saying that it is not a good idea to further cross the mixes like the Red Sex Links as negative traits show up. Does anyone have experience with this? I love the personality and laying of my Red Sex Links and was excited to see what the mixed babies would be like. With days to go it is too late to turn back now, but was wondering if I made a mistake crossing hybrids?

I had red sex links last year and hatched out a few of their eggs. I had a cuckoo marans cock over them. They really turned out a mixed bag of colors, but silver was the base and black was the secondary color in all of them. I didn't keep any of mine long enough to know if any bad characteristics would turn up. I guess my question would be what kind of characteristics are you worried about? Really, sex links are just a mix of two different types that result in a specific color at birth based on sex. There are many mixes that result in sex links, I don't see that it is any different that breeding a cochin to a brahma....just in the sex linked case you can't be sure what color/pattern you'll get. One thing you definitely will not get is sex linked chicks. So, I don't think that you will have something bad come out of the breeding, at least not that I am aware of.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I currently have 2 French Black Copper Marans hens sitting eggs due to hatch soon (one nest on Saturday and one a week from today). My little flock contains the FBCM's mentioned as well as some newer year old White Rock and Red Sex Link hens, as well as one tetra tint I got by mistake. The eggs are a mix of all three types, though it seems the one FBCM rooster rarely "visits" the White Rocks so I do not know how fertile their eggs would be. In my reading I came across information saying that it is not a good idea to further cross the mixes like the Red Sex Links as negative traits show up. Does anyone have experience with this? I love the personality and laying of my Red Sex Links and was excited to see what the mixed babies would be like. With days to go it is too late to turn back now, but was wondering if I made a mistake crossing hybrids?

The reason you don't want to breed the hybrids isn't so much negative traits, it's unpredictable traits, which to many people is negative. The main difference between breeding purebreds and breeding hybrids is predictability. If you have a well-managed flock of purebreds that you've properly selected for specific traits for generations, chances are the chicks are all going to have the same characteristics as their parents, because you've already eliminated all the variables that you don't want in their genetic line. On the other hand, if you breed hybrids, which are a mix of two purebreds, then anything can happen because the genes will be mixed in an unpredictable fashion. The original two purebred parents will create a predictable hybrid offspring (the Sex Linked Red for example), which is the F1 generation. But when you cross two F1s together you get some degree of unpredictability in their offspring (F2 generation), and when you cross two F2s together it's basically a genetic free-for-all.

Now that doesn't mean that the chicks will be horrible. They'll just be unpredictable. You may get some fabulous birds, or some really undesirable birds. Just like with any mixed breed dog of unknown parentage for several generations, there's the potential for hybrid vigor, or disaster. If you like predictability, you shouldn't breed hybrids (F1s). If you like surprises, then see what happens, as long as you're comfortable culling.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
That also has the added benefit that the hens teach the chicks to eat a large variety of food, which is important in the long run. Not only do they get the benefit of a varied diet, but they learn to crave treats. If they ever get sick and don't want to eat their regular pellets, they're more likely to eat healthy treats that they crave. Variety is always good!

 

[daniellea2912]

That also has the added benefit that the hens teach the chicks to eat a large variety of food, which is important in the long run. Not only do they get the benefit of a varied diet, but they learn to crave treats. If they ever get sick and don't want to eat their regular pellets, they're more likely to eat healthy treats that they crave. Variety is always good!

Very true!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

I have 2 broodys, would it be possible to house them together with chicks? They are hatch mates & are both 1st time broodys.
I have eggs hatching & chicks coming in the mail.
Running out of room & do prefer to have broodys raise the chicks!

 

[fisherlady]

I have 2 broodys, would it be possible to house them together with chicks? They are hatch mates & are both 1st time broodys.
I have eggs hatching & chicks coming in the mail.
Running out of room & do prefer to have broodys raise the chicks!

You can try, especially if the hens are familiar and friendly, but be ready to intervene and have a plan in place to quickly separate them (Just a simple wood frame with wire fencing will work, just make sure the mesh is small enough that chicks can't get through it)
Some hens will tolerate other hens around, some absolutely won't, and there isn't too much that gets uglier than an all out hen fight... and baby chicks can get injured in the scuffle. If the hens are placed close to each other while brooding your odds are a bit better... but just approach the introduction with extreme caution! And have a box or small cage handy to use as a safe place to quickly place babies if something happens.

 

[elsfieldchickens]

I have 2 broodys, would it be possible to house them together with chicks? They are hatch mates & are both 1st time broodys.
I have eggs hatching & chicks coming in the mail.
Running out of room & do prefer to have broodys raise the chicks!

If the hens get along it should fine provide them with lots of space when the chicks hatch incase they fight
I just hatched 4 chicks with two broody

 

[bumpercarr]

The reason you don't want to breed the hybrids isn't so much negative traits, it's unpredictable traits, which to many people is negative. The main difference between breeding purebreds and breeding hybrids is predictability. If you have a well-managed flock of purebreds that you've properly selected for specific traits for generations, chances are the chicks are all going to have the same characteristics as their parents, because you've already eliminated all the variables that you don't want in their genetic line. On the other hand, if you breed hybrids, which are a mix of two purebreds, then anything can happen because the genes will be mixed in an unpredictable fashion. The original two purebred parents will create a predictable hybrid offspring (the Sex Linked Red for example), which is the F1 generation. But when you cross two F1s together you get some degree of unpredictability in their offspring (F2 generation), and when you cross two F2s together it's basically a genetic free-for-all.

Now that doesn't mean that the chicks will be horrible. They'll just be unpredictable. You may get some fabulous birds, or some really undesirable birds. Just like with any mixed breed dog of unknown parentage for several generations, there's the potential for hybrid vigor, or disaster. If you like predictability, you shouldn't breed hybrids (F1s). If you like surprises, then see what happens, as long as you're comfortable culling.

Good thoughts, Sydney. Obviously, if the parents (and in sex links you have no idea what they are) are complete opposites, you could end up with heaven only knows what. I find it interesting to see what I get, but like I said, I don't keep them. Of course, I don't have any sex links left now, so the issue is moot for me. The whole reason that I hatched them was simple curiosity. Some things I did notice (I usually gave them away at 6 weeks old)....they were the biggest chicks, they feathered out very quickly, they were the leaders in the chick brigade, and all of the ones that I hatched were cockerels (probably a coincidence but 6/6?). Anyway, good post!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
They were all cockerels?? That's quite a coincidence. Where all the eggs from the same hen? Maybe she only throws males, but it is a feature of that individual hen and not typical of the breed. Were both parents sex link hybrids? Which hybrid were they? If it was a common hybrid, it's easy to look up what two different purebreds were used to create the hybrid. Perhaps there's some weird thing in their genome where the F2 generation has a lethal gene on the Y chromosome (in birds, females are XY and males are XX, which is the opposite of mammals, so in birds only females have a Y chromosome).