Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Sydney Acres]

I got my cochins because I want to experience the mother laying and hatching her own eggs. I am new to all of this so I have been reading and learning. My question is my cochins both hens are 4 months old and the rooster is the same. When do I put in the nest box? Do I put the nest in the coop with all of them, they are all cooped together? Do I start introducing laying feed now, can you guess I am a newbie...lol. Any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

It's ok to be a newbie -- we will help you.

So, easy question first -- switch to layer pellets when they girls are 18-20 weeks old, so in 2-4 weeks. In addition, have a bowl of oyster shells available at that time. They may not eat them, but they should be available. If it rains in the area where you have the oyster shells, drill a few holes in the bowl to prevent standing water. (Do not have the food in an area that it can get wet.) One of my flocks goes through a bowl a year, the other a bowl a day. However much they want, it needs to be available.

Since they could start laying within the month (more on that later), I would put the nestboxes in now. They should be lower in the coop than the perches, or they will sleep in the nestboxes. (But not under the perches, or they'll get soiled.) If within the coop (as opposed to jutting out of the coop), they should have a sloped roof so that a bird cannot roost on top of them. They should be small enough for an adult Cochin to feel secure, but since you want them to brood, they need to be large enough for the full adult hen, two bowls of food/water, and a little elbow room for the chicks to grow. You do not want them to be a tight fit for the henl. They should be situated in such a way as to be somewhat private and dimly lit if possible (curtains, box on a shelf facing a wall, etc). (Not everyone does that last part, but the hens really like it.) Since you have 2 hens and want them to brood, you should have 2 nestboxes (the general recommendation is for one box per five hens, but that doesn't apply when you have broodies). The two boxes should ideally not be side by side, as you may need to fence off the broody if one of the other birds starts to bother her, or the other hen tries to lay additional eggs in her nest while she's brooding. That's if you want her to brood in the coop. If you want to move her to a private area after she starts to brood, then you should still have 2 nestboxes, but they can be together. Cochins are heavy birds, so the box should be well padded with bedding, about 4 inches. There needs to be a "half wall" across the front of the nestbox, about an inch taller than the bedding height, to keep the bedding from falling out. There's lots of options for bedding. It should be soft, absorbent, non-toxic, not produce fumes, and either not be dangerous if eaten, or not be likely to be eaten. Most people use shavings (not cedar, but either aspen, pine, fir, or "white" shavings, which is a mix of non-cedars -- if the box is inside a small enclosed area, I would recommend aspen, which has the least amount of aromatic oils), straw, hay, grass, leaves, or a mix. I recently have been using a mix of 2 inches of aspen shavings topped by 2 inches of high quality, non-stemmy timothy grass hay (in the pet store for hamsters to eat), which has been wonderful. The shavings keeps everything in place, and the grass hay is softer and more absorbent. You want to pick out any poop from the nestboxes as soon as you find it, as soiled eggs aren't desirable.

As far as when they will start laying, that depends on the breed, their age, where you live, and whether you use artificial lights. Someone else will need to provide Cochin-specific details, as I don't know any specifics about the breed other than large, fluffy, feather footed, lots of colors, broody, and sweet. But if this breed is specifically a winter layer (I don't think it is), then you may not see eggs until Sept/Oct/Nov. But in all likelihood, you will see eggs next month, and the eggs will continue until the day length becomes too short and they will stop laying until Feb/Mar/April. When hens lay eggs has nothing to do with temperature, but has everything to do with something called photoperiod. That is the length of time that it's light in a day. When the photoperiod becomes too short, they stop laying. When the photoperiod gets long enough, they start up again. Natural photoperiod depends on where you live, as southern states will have much different photoperiods than northern states during different seasons. You can extend the laying season by putting lights in the coop. The lights should be on a timer. If you free range, it is extremely important that the extra light be provided in the morning, instead of the evening, or it may not work as well.

Broodiness will not occur just because they're laying eggs. They will become broody on their own time table. (This was discussed extensively on this thread sometime within the last month.) They are more likely to become broody in the spring and early summer, which gives the chicks enough time to hatch and grow a little before winter hits. So you may not see them brood this year, even if you get lots of eggs. But then again, they are Cochins!

So that's a quickie summary of your questions. Post again with more questions as they come up. Good luck with your birds. You'll love having broodies.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Sorry about this post -- my computer double posted my last reply, and isn't letting me cancel it for some reason. So I just changed it to this.

 

[Sydney Acres]

How often do hens generally leave the nest during the day?

My golden sebright hen is broody for the first time. She is sitting on two eggs. I moved her nest last night (a nest box constructed out of cardboard sitting inside a dog crate with food and water. It is elevated inside of the coop so she can still socialize with the flock during her breaks.). One of her eggs is on day three today and the other egg is on day one. I know it is some what staggered, but she laid her first egg and began sitting on it before I realized.
Today she has gotten off the nest two times, each time being close to an hour. Is this typical for a broody? Is a break longer than an hour ok? She seems to want to take a break a little longer than this, but I make sure she goes back in her nest before I leave the coop, because she gets confused since she is still getting used to her new nest location and I don't want her sitting on the wrong nest by mistake.

If it matters any, the outside temperature is in the 70F-80F.

Thanks.

It's pretty individual. Most hens just take a quick break, but some will stay off for a few hours, and some never get off the nest at all (not good). Chicks are actually more vigorous if there are short breaks in incubation (up to 3 hours per day maximum, depending on the ambient temp) during days 7-18, and one of the high end incubator manufacturers has included a cooling feature into its automatic incubation control. But it is a little scary when they're off the nest too much. Sometimes we just have to trust that they know what they're doing, and if they mess up a hatch more than once, don't let them brood again.

 

[lilstarshine7]

Thank you for all that info....my cochins are bantam so they are small. I live in west louisiana and we have our share of hot summers and rain. I have them under a large pecan tree, they are well shaded but they also get sun. I do let them free range for several hours a day. I will put the nest boxes in today. And start giving them the laying feed. All of this is exciting and well overwhelming too...lol. I never thought I would get so attached to chickens...lol, but I find myself when it rains going out to the coop to make sure everyone is dry and okay, they kind of look at me like whats your problem...lol. But I have become attached an they are the sweetest little things. My rooster tries to be a tuff guy and at first when he hit puberty tried to peck at me whenever I went to open the door, but thanks to all the wonderful advice I have received from this group, I put him in his place and now he will come at me sideways but he doesnt peck at me and has calmed down. He is very protective of his girls though and I do like that, I have a cat that will go to the coop just to see whats inside, but he will come and puff himself up and the cat quickly makes a run for it...lol Thank all of you for all the advice you are giving this newbie.

 

[Sydney Acres]

I have a Welsummer sitting on 4 eggs. Monday was day 20, and I was away from home all day. I went out Tuesday morning, day 21, and found a tiny black head peaking out from underneath mama hen's feathers!!!! I haven't seen any others yet. I'm afraid to move her to check in case others are trying to hatch. This is my first broody so I'm excited & nervous!
When is it okay to move her? How long do I wait after first chick hatched before giving up on other eggs? Today is day 22. The one I've seen likely hatched on day 20 or very early on day 21. She's in a nest box 2ft above ground so I have a box ready to set up on the floor for her & the chicks.
This morning, day 22, I couldn't see any chicks, but I heard mama talking a lot and saw an egg shell neatly tucked into the corner of the nest.

If she is not tame, I would just set up a second nest box on the floor and leave her alone. She will probably bring the chicks out on day 3 or 4 after the first one hatched. They don't need to eat or drink before then. The 2 foot drop shouldn't be a problem for the chicks, but it might be nice to have the drop area well padded, just to be sure. But the chicks won't be able to get back up, so she'll need the floor level nest to raise the babies in.

If she is very, very tame and you have been handling her all through her brood, then you have more options, depending on what you could gain by intervening. If you have a lot of experience with incubator eggs and would be able to provide an assisted hatch if one was needed, then the benefits might be worth you checking. I would not lift the broody up off the chicks, as they might be tightly held under a wing or in the crease of a leg, and you could injure one easily by moving her. But if she is very, very tame she might let you put your hand under her and might rise up an inch or two while you feel around. Wash your hands thoroughly first, as hatching eggs can easily be contaminated. Be VERY careful, as newly hatched chicks are very fragile, and you could easily injure one. If you find an unhatched egg, be sure not to rotate it around or you could make it more difficult for the chick to hatch, but you could check it for internal and external pipping. Be sure to return it under her in the same position that you found it. The problem is that unlike an incubator, once the broody starts moving around she could rotate the eggs, causing problems with hatching. So unless you really know what you're doing, have the ability to assist a hatch, and have an incubator available and up to temperature and humidity before you start, it's probably not a good idea to interfere on day 22, because there's a lot you could do to accidentally kill or injure a chick, either right before or immediately after hatching. If it gets to be day 24-25, or if you start to smell a rotting odor coming from the nest, then that's different. But at only day 22 with no obvious signs of trouble, it's rarely a good idea to interfere, no matter how curious you are.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Thank you for all that info....my cochins are bantam so they are small. I live in west louisiana and we have our share of hot summers and rain. I have them under a large pecan tree, they are well shaded but they also get sun. I do let them free range for several hours a day. I will put the nest boxes in today. And start giving them the laying feed. All of this is exciting and well overwhelming too...lol. I never thought I would get so attached to chickens...lol, but I find myself when it rains going out to the coop to make sure everyone is dry and okay, they kind of look at me like whats your problem...lol. But I have become attached an they are the sweetest little things. My rooster tries to be a tuff guy and at first when he hit puberty tried to peck at me whenever I went to open the door, but thanks to all the wonderful advice I have received from this group, I put him in his place and now he will come at me sideways but he doesnt peck at me and has calmed down. He is very protective of his girls though and I do like that, I have a cat that will go to the coop just to see whats inside, but he will come and puff himself up and the cat quickly makes a run for it...lol Thank all of you for all the advice you are giving this newbie.

Oh, they're bantams. That's a little easier. Not as likely to break eggs as the big girls, and probably able to tolerate the southern heat a little better.

Don't feel silly about being totally in love with your chickens -- lots of us are.

One thing I would recommend about them being under a pecan tree is to rake up the nuts at least once a week., especially in the areas that are likely to get walked over and the shells broken. The problem is that fresh pecans are great nutrition, but moldly pecans can be dangerous. The mold produces something called an aflotoxin. Pretty much all nuts have aflotoxins -- the main difference between peanuts being labelled as acceptable for human consumption vs animal consumption vs non-consumable is the amount of aflotoxins in them. A little isn't a big deal, but too much can cause seizures and death. It's not cumulative like some chemical poisons, so a safe amount per day doesn't become a toxic amount after a week. But unlike walnuts, which have harder shells and are typically only a problem to large dogs with strong jaws after they get wet, pecans have shells that are easy to break just by walking over them. And living in the south, you get rain regularly throughout the hot summer months. So water plus heat plus nuts mean aflotoxins, and easily broken shells mean that the chickens will probably be eating some of the nutmeat. And the longer the nuts sit on the ground, the more aflotoxin they will build up. So if you gather the nuts up at least once a week, you shouldn't have any problems. When I lived in SC there were three huge Pecan trees and one English Walnut tree in my back yard. Being from CA, I had no idea how delicious or expensive pecans were, so I just let them sit on the ground and mowed over them. The wild birds loved them, and thoroughly cleaned up the cracked nuts after each mowing. Hopefully none had been on the ground long enough to build up toxic levels. Then one day a friend came over, saw my back yard, and begged me to let her children come gather the nuts every week. The first week she baked me this amazing dessert (old family secret recipe, darn it!!!) and I've been hooked on pecans ever since. Too bad I wasted them for 2 years!

 

[bumpercarr]

Oh, they're bantams. That's a little easier. Not as likely to break eggs as the big girls, and probably able to tolerate the southern heat a little better.

Don't feel silly about being totally in love with your chickens -- lots of us are.

One thing I would recommend about them being under a pecan tree is to rake up the nuts at least once a week., especially in the areas that are likely to get walked over and the shells broken. The problem is that fresh pecans are great nutrition, but moldly pecans can be dangerous. The mold produces something called an aflotoxin. Pretty much all nuts have aflotoxins -- the main difference between peanuts being labelled as acceptable for human consumption vs animal consumption vs non-consumable is the amount of aflotoxins in them. A little isn't a big deal, but too much can cause seizures and death. It's not cumulative like some chemical poisons, so a safe amount per day doesn't become a toxic amount after a week. But unlike walnuts, which have harder shells and are typically only a problem to large dogs with strong jaws after they get wet, pecans have shells that are easy to break just by walking over them. And living in the south, you get rain regularly throughout the hot summer months. So water plus heat plus nuts mean aflotoxins, and easily broken shells mean that the chickens will probably be eating some of the nutmeat. And the longer the nuts sit on the ground, the more aflotoxin they will build up. So if you gather the nuts up at least once a week, you shouldn't have any problems. When I lived in SC there were three huge Pecan trees and one English Walnut tree in my back yard. Being from CA, I had no idea how delicious or expensive pecans were, so I just let them sit on the ground and mowed over them. The wild birds loved them, and thoroughly cleaned up the cracked nuts after each mowing. Hopefully none had been on the ground long enough to build up toxic levels. Then one day a friend came over, saw my back yard, and begged me to let her children come gather the nuts every week. The first week she baked me this amazing dessert (old family secret recipe, darn it!!!) and I've been hooked on pecans ever since. Too bad I wasted them for 2 years!

I have 80 pecan trees. We usually harvest in December/January, but there are always a lot that don't come off the trees until the spring winds hit. I will gather up a handful, crush them and feed them to the chickens almost every day until this time of year. We're really dry, so mold is not a problem here, but I never feed them any that aren't looking fresh. The chickens love, love, love to have pecans. I have a great pecan pie recipe, but we sell most of ours wholesale...it is easier for me to buy them at the store and not have to crack them.

 

[lilstarshine7]

Trust me the pecans do not stay on the ground long, what with the squirrels and birds. I do keep the chicken area cleaned and raked and the chickens would rather have the worms and bugs under the tree rather than the pecans. Thank you for that advice though, much appreciated. My hubby says the chicken area is the cleanest in the yard, lol.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Hi Everyone -- I need some advice on broody and egg arrangement. First a little background.

My main flock has three different breeds that free range together -- some very elderly (6-8 years old) Croad Langshans that my husband inherited from his father, some 2 year old Barnevelder hens that I waited a long time to get but have been very disappointed in, and some 2 year old Red Dorkings, which I got by accident and totally love, and am now starting to breed with the goal to develop excellent quality birds.

We've had the Croad Langshans for over 5 years, and lost the first hen this last fall. So now my husband is realizing that his dad's flock won't be around forever, and just this spring asked if I would start hatching out their eggs. Well, the fertility rate of old birds isn't great, even when they do lay eggs, which isn't often, but I'm trying. Basically, every Langshan egg in the last 5 weeks has been given a chance. So far it's been 15 out of 15 clears, with 7 more in the incubator for one week that also look clear, and two from yesterday that I will put in the incubator soon. Basically, what I'm doing is saving up any eggs from my best four Dorking hens, which I want chicks from. Whenever I get Langshan eggs I start incubating all of them within 7 days, plus a minimum of 3 Dorking eggs to keep the Langshan chick company in case one hatches (come on, miracle chick!!). This last broody (Red Dorking hen #3) had 5 Langshan plus 3 Dorking eggs under her -- all 5 of the Langshan eggs were clear, one of the Dorking eggs didn't hatch because of a a malpositioned chick, and the other 2 Dorking eggs hatched into my first 2 perfect chicks, which were one week old yesterday. So that broody is occupied for the next few months.

I had 10 Langshan eggs, 7 eggs from Red Dorking hen #1 (RD#1), 2 eggs from RD#2, 2 eggs from RD#3, and 6 eggs from RD#4 in the incubator. The 10 Langshan eggs are all clear, so they were culled, as well as one of the eggs fom RD#1. The other 16 RD eggs look great, and today is day 20. RD#4 had been sitting on ceramic eggs until yesterday, when I put her six eggs under her (not ideal to wait until after lockdown starts to transfer eggs, but my plan to put her eggs under her after she'd held her brood for 2 days had some complications -- long story). The other 10 RD eggs are in pedigree cages in the incubator, and the plan is to mark the chicks as to parentage (which I have to do to be able to progress with my breeding program), and then graft those chicks onto RD#4, who's chicks will be the same age. RD#4 is a first time broody, and probably won't be able to cover 16 chicks adequately, assuming that they all hatch.

So here's my first issue. I've been told that a first time broody shouldn't have more than 6-8 eggs to hatch out, regardless of how many she can probably cover. Does that number also apply to grafted chicks, or can she likely take care of more? If more, how many should I try (she's about 6.3 lbs, with very good brooding instincts)? Also, I have a Brinsea Ecoglow brooder that I was planning on putting beside the hen to cover chicks that overflowed out from under her. Does anyone think that will work, or is that just headed for disaster? Should I just limit the number of chicks under the broody to a specific number and put the extras in a brooder with the Ecoglow, or put the Ecoglow beside her with all 16 chicks, or just let her try to brood all 16 without any electrical heating assistance? Also, I have a heat mat with thermostat that I use for seed propagation, and have used it extensively to provide heat under the floor of my brooder when I've brooded chicks myself. It really helps keep the chicks from getting chilled if they venture away from the overhead heat sources. Would that have any place in this situation, or would it just make the broody too hot and uncomfortable? Sorry, worried moms have poor judgment, and I just need some second opinions.

My second issue is a little different. In addition to my day 20 eggs, I also have 7 Langshan and 3 RD eggs in the incubator on day 8. All the Langshan eggs look clear, and all 3 of the RD eggs look great. My original plan was to brood these myself if no other RD went broody in the meantime. But yesterday one of my Barnevelders started brooding. The brooding tendency of this line of Barnevelders is all over the map, but I think this particular hen will hold her brood. So my question is -- should I let a Barnevelder hen raise Dorking chicks? I know they're able to do so, but the Barnevelders have very different personalities and behaviors than the Dorkings, and I'm not a big Barnevelder fan (no offense intended to anyone who loves them, but this line did not turn out to be what I expected -- especially disappointing since I waited in line for years to get them). I would love for these chicks to get all the benefits of a broody hen, but I don't want RDs that act like Barnevelders. Has anyone ever had hens brood chicks of a different breed, where the two breeds were overtly different in personality and general farm behavior, independence, etc.? If so, how much influence did nature vs nurture have on the chick's final outcome? Any general opinions about the subject??

And finally my last question, hopefully a bit easier to answer, is regarding when in the course of a brood is the average broody willing to accept grafted chicks? In addition to my day 20 eggs, which will be hopefully going to RD#4 broody, and my day 8 eggs in the incubator as discussed above, I also have 2 Langshan and 3 RD eggs that will be going into the incubator soon, possibly more if the old hens are fruitful before Sunday. So IF I end up putting eggs under this BV hen to hatch out and raise, do I put the eggs that are one week ahead of her brood, or the eggs that will be started a few days after the beginning of her brood? Years ago I read that chicks should not be grafted onto a broody until she has gone through the whole 21 day brood time or more, because her hormones will not have yet gone through the entire cycle needed to accept chicks, and that she will kill them if put under her before day 18-19 at the earliest. But from what I've read on this thread that doesn't appear to be true, since several people have posted that they've grafted chicks after just 2 weeks of broodiness. Is that the norm for hens to accept grafted chicks that early, or were those exceptions. What is the shortest time a hen can brood and still be likely to accept chicks? Has anyone grafted earlier than 2 weeks of brooding??

Thank you in advance to everyone who is willing to help with these decisions.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Here are my new Swedish Flower Hen babies!
They were bred & hatched here!
Sophie is first time broody & did a fantastic job.