Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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DelaneyFarm said:
Well, we're down to 10 eggs. I went to give her more water and found a broken, stinky egg, which I threw away, and then realized there was a dead chick at the edge of the nest, and an empty egg. Then another egg on the edge of the nest, which was cold and when I broke it open, the chick was dead and there was a lot of blood. I'm really hoping that the remaining ten eggs may net us a chick or two. It will be awfully disappointing if nothing comes of the whole affair, even though it was accidental to begin with. I think I may have to get an incubator, and hatch a few on my own, to add to our flock, rather than waiting on a hen, who, I suspect, may have either stepped on the chick, or pecked it after it got out? Or stepped on the egg, breaking it, and then the chick was just dead? Not ready? I'm very confused but I'm just going to wait and see if anything happens. No point in disturbing her further, I suppose they'll either hatch or not. Or is there something I could do at this point? Could I babysit them with warm rice socks and damp towels to see if they'll hatch on their own, then slip them back under mom? Or is that a bad idea...? Advice sought
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I would let mama finish this out... I have had hens accidently crush shells of eggs just prior to hatch, one recent incident involved 2 different hens, each stepped on an broke an egg on day 20, one chick survived the other didn't. It depends on how close to hatch time it occurs and how badly the inner membrane of the egg is torn. Usually the bleeding you see is where the vessels in the inner membrane hadn't dried yet and were lacerated by the pieces of egg shell. It is just an accident.... there is very little that could be done to avoid it, some broodies are just clumsier than others when it comes to maneuvering in their nest. If you have a broody with a known history of this you may limit her clutch (maybe only give her 8 instead of 12) which could reduce likeliness of it happening, but their isn't any guarantee even that will work.
In our case both eggs it happened to were porous shelled to begin with, so they were high risk anyway.... I have one hen who is a delicate ballerina in the nest, so given a choice I would give marginal eggs to her, but she wasn't broody at the time. Lesson learned....
ooltewah said:
Help! I've messed up. My lovely babies free range and thus pick their broody place. Usually it's a safe place. Big red is under my steps and her first baby hatched today. I'm so worried something is going to get the babies at night. If I move her to porch in a crate do you think she will turn on them!!!! There is more to be hatched
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What bumpercarr says!
bumpercarr said:
I would try to put some sort of fence around them to protect them at night. She must feel safe there, or she wouldn't have nested there. I read an article the other day that talked about the vitality of chickens and how the best ones are the survivors. If you aren't able to fence her in with a temporary fence, she might be just fine. After all, she's managed to sit on those eggs for 21 days without anything getting to them. Believe me, there are a lot more predators for eggs than there are for chicks. Skunks, raccoon, weasels, snakes, rats, other birds....you name it and they love to eat eggs. Since she is under the steps, they are safe from predators in the sky (owls, hawks). So, I'd fence and wait until everyone is hatched (she probably won't be moving a muscle for a few days) and then when she is ready to leave the nest make sure she has somewhere safer to sleep with the babies. Just my thoughts.
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x2... a temporary fence would be great, but little else you can do without possibly messing up the rest of the hatch. Once the babies are all hatched she will be much easier to move.
TheChips said:
I havent posted in here in a while!

I just wanted to stop by and say thanks to those who helped me with my hen while she was sitting on her two eggs! She only had 2 and both hatched on the 25th day.

I do believe they are over a week old, healthy and i cant wait to see what sex they are. Crossing my fingers 2 hens
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Glad she got 2 for her efforts!! Pics?????? LOL

little said:
why not put some chicken wire around her.every one has old chicken wire around don't they?or am i just a hoarder?
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hmmm.... I have chicken wire (in 3 different heights), hardware cloth (2 different dimensions) and assorted grates and bins from old fridges and grills to use as temporary barricades and nest boxes, assorted rabbit cages and dog and cat carriers for isolation and nest boxes..... uh, oh... I think I hit hoarder status a few items back!
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This is the second time this year that these two hens have had chicks together, the first time there was a 3rd hen also...the 3rd hen is due to hatch her clutch this weekend, so will be interesting to see if she joins the other two again. the first time it was nearly an identical situation...2 hatched on same day and third got adopted in a while later. Then all 3 raised the chicks together.

Another shot of the current pair...
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And the hen still setting...
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I'm really hoping the third one does join the other two...it makes it much easier to figure out coop logistics!
 

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