Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

There is so much more to my idea of 'broody' and 'heritage' than just the surface definitions most use and it is great to have found others with the same ideas... my coop will never have a 'perfect' chicken maybe, but I hope to eventually have a few that are 'perfect' for me! LOL
my idea of a great hen.....

Willing to go broody at least once a year and maybe twice a year and able to hatch out and raise a clutch of 6 or so....
Willing and able to forage and teach the little ones to do the same....
Able to defend the little ones from normal dangers and teach them how to avoid them...
Able to lay eggs of decent size and amount over the course of a year (medium large to large works for my purposes)
Able to lay for a decent number of years, I would rather a hen lay 125- 150 eggs a year for 4 or 5 years than 200+ eggs/year for 2 years
Be relatively calm and cooperative about being handled, she doesn't need to be a lap chicken, but I don't like birds who run away if you come within 5 feet of them.

The traits are hard to find all rolled into one bird, but hoping it will happen for us.

Good list...I agree I would rather have a bird lay reasonably well but longer than use the breeds that lay like crazy but burn out after 2 years.

Being calm and able to be handled is important not only for general pleasantry but also husbandry as a calm bird is easy to treat. It is never pleasant to have to dust or do some procedure to a bird who behaves as if you were skinning them alive.

I think I would add to the "perfect" bird list the ability to lay reasonably well in winter without artificial lighting. I am trying to find good winter layers as I weary of having to buy eggs yet again this winter, and I don't want to add artificial light to the coops (expense, hassle, and wear/tear on the birds artificially forcing them to lay longer than they naturally would).

Lady of McCamley

 

[vpatt]

I wish the the greatest of success with your breeding program. (And send some of that broody magic my way)

 I would like to start breeding, but would have to work out some political/legal issues of keeping a rooster first....legal here where I am, but not sure if it would go over well as this old farm area is encroached into suburbs...if it didn't go well (complaints), what would happen....so for now I must seek fertile hatching eggs of good quality utility stock as I am not interested in showing but having lovely eggs, some good broodies, some meat, and pleasant birds to look at and be around.

Have you ever had any experience with Buff Rocks? (I still think your SP Rocks especially lovely).  I am going to pass along my Buff Wyandottes to my friends farm as they are simply too fat and lazy....I tried Buff Orps with the same conclusion (at least what I got)...I love the honey gold color in the chicken yard...so I've heard the Buff Rocks are a pleasant but productive bird. Have you tried them yet?

Lady of McCamley

Are Buff Rock a separate breed? I thought "rocks" were a breed and buff, partridge and such were different colors in that breed. There is so much for me to learn! I appreciate all of you who share your knowledge.

 

[CandylandRanch]

So the hatch is right around the corner. I'm getting so anxious.. My biggest worry is that she sits to finish the staggered hatch .. Biting my nails over here in anticipation!

How involved does everyone get with mom and babies. Is it bad to want to handle them and what not? (After they dry of course) I just want the chicks to love me too! Lol

 

[bumpercarr]

There is so much more to my idea of 'broody' and 'heritage' than just the surface definitions most use and it is great to have found others with the same ideas... my coop will never have a 'perfect' chicken maybe, but I hope to eventually have a few that are 'perfect' for me! LOL
my idea of a great hen.....

Willing to go broody at least once a year and maybe twice a year and able to hatch out and raise a clutch of 6 or so....
Willing and able to forage and teach the little ones to do the same....
Able to defend the little ones from normal dangers and teach them how to avoid them...
Able to lay eggs of decent size and amount over the course of a year (medium large to large works for my purposes)
Able to lay for a decent number of years, I would rather a hen lay 125- 150 eggs a year for 4 or 5 years than 200+ eggs/year for 2 years
Be relatively calm and cooperative about being handled, she doesn't need to be a lap chicken, but I don't like birds who run away if you come within 5 feet of them.

The traits are hard to find all rolled into one bird, but hoping it will happen for us.

Good list. Also like to add winter laying and maybe for the adult birds to be able to defend/hide from predators as well. My brahmas fulfill most of this list, but the third on the list is a bit of a problem. Avoiding danger isn't a problem, but they aren't very good at defending their chicks. Might have something to do with number six on the list, mine are really calm and generally cooperative and maybe this makes them a little less protective of the little ones? I have a hawk that visits daily right now, don't have any really small chicks to worry about and I think he's decided that the brahmas are too big for him to try to grab one, but if he gets hungry enough he may give it a shot.

I know one of the things I need to work on with any of my stock of Rocks is to try to get tighter feathering (less butt and thigh fluff). As much as the 'fluffy butts' are cute it can actually be a detriment to fertility and with slow maturing birds to begin with I would rather my stock have a better 'self sustainability'. A fertility/hatch rate of 50% just isn't what I want and I don't want to have to shave feathers to get results.

I've been told that you can trim (not shave, LOL) once a year to help out the fertility issues in fluffy butts, but if you have to do that, it isn't a sustainable breed is it? Another thing that I'm learning from my "breeding projects" is that when I try to fix one problem, I end up with another problem. Sometimes the results are better and sometimes they aren't. But then again, that is probably half of the fun.

I don't have as much of a problem with winter laying as probably most because of the weather here, but I still see a decrease in egg laying in the winter for the birds in their second year of laying. My first year girls will all lay normally through their first winter, probably because most of them don't even start laying until winter if they were born in the spring (that's because of their slow growth rate). I will see this year if the crosses between the darks and the partridge will speed up the growth rate of the darks, but still we're talking the difference between 7-8 months for the partridges to start laying and 10-11 months for the darks to start laying unless I can speed up the darks a bit. And I've never had any brahma go broody until she's at least a year old (more like 18 months) when my silkie mix went broody at 6 months old.

So, I'm so glad that there is a group that is like minded about sustainability.

 

[bumpercarr]

So the hatch is right around the corner. I'm getting so anxious.. My biggest worry is that she sits to finish the staggered hatch .. Biting my nails over here in anticipation!

How involved does everyone get with mom and babies. Is it bad to want to handle them and what not? (After they dry of course) I just want the chicks to love me too! Lol

Congrats. Keeping my fingers crossed for you. Mine will usually sit for three days after the first one hatches. If you can, have an incubator ready to finish off any if she does leave the nest. You can always put the chicks that you finish back under her at night......I've found that chickens can't count very well.

I never try to touch the babies that are under momma, mostly because I treasure my fingers. If your broody will let you and the chicks will let you, I don't see any problem with it. Just make sure your hands are clean. I've found that mine pick up the personality of the rest of the flock as they grow up, so if your flock loves you then the chicks probably will once they are past the stage of sticking close to their mother.

Hope this helps!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

So the hatch is right around the corner. I'm getting so anxious.. My biggest worry is that she sits to finish the staggered hatch .. Biting my nails over here in anticipation!

How involved does everyone get with mom and babies. Is it bad to want to handle them and what not? (After they dry of course) I just want the chicks to love me too! Lol

I would be an obvious liar if I said I NEVER touch my babies as the evidence is right there in my avatar. However, I do try to be brief and disturb them as little as possible to let mom and chicks bond and to keep mom from getting very upset. Never overstress a broody hen as it may interrupt the bonding process and make her a less than perfect mother or she may harm the chicks if she begins to thrash about in anger or fear.

I do make very quick health checks withing the first day or two, and I keep a close eye on them for several weeks. Pasty butt indicates they aren't drinking enough, and very occasionally you can see a health problem that needs addressing such as vitamin deficiencies (funky feet appearing within the first week) and always be on the alert of bloody diarrhea or listless and rumple appearances as coccidiosis is always a possible threat.

Are Buff Rock a separate breed? I thought "rocks" were a breed and buff, partridge and such were different colors in that breed. There is so much for me to learn! I appreciate all of you who share your knowledge.

You are correct that Rock is the breed and buff the color...however, whenever certain colors of a breed are selectively breed for, you also usually get certain characteristics selected as well either intentionally or inadvertently. For example, in dogs, Labrador Retriever is the breed, and any litter can have yellow or black in it. However, chocolate is the recessive color and you can only get chocolate labs from a chocolate lab in the mixing, best if both parents are since it is a recessive gene, but both parents must carry the recessive gene. If you want to consistently get chocolate to sell, then you will breed only chocolate labs. Chocolate Labs, while still a lovable lab, are generally more excitable and temperamental than the more frequently naturally occurring yellow and black, they also tend to have more health issues since, if I remember right, it is a double recessive (???).

I am early in my understanding of chicken genetics, and I've learned chicken genetics works differently than mammal genetics (one item being that the female determines the gender, not the male) and I think I've picked up that you don't have to worry about over inbreeding in chickens as much as you do in mammals as adding in too many lines causes more problems than it solves.

As to the reason of my buff question, I do know that barred is dominant and partridge is the wild type, so I suspicion buff is a recessive gene that was specifically selected for to get a flock of that color to sell, hence my query as to their temperament type and quality in case some behaviors or issues crept in as well. Hopefully those that know will enlighten me.

Lady of McCamley

 

[ochochicas]

So the hatch is right around the corner. I'm getting so anxious.. My biggest worry is that she sits to finish the staggered hatch .. Biting my nails over here in anticipation!

How involved does everyone get with mom and babies. Is it bad to want to handle them and what not? (After they dry of course) I just want the chicks to love me too! Lol

My broody hen is not friendly, but when she is broody she is not aggressive. She will growl at me, but has never once bitten me. I handle the broody once day when she is sitting so she gets a break and also gets used to me handling her. Once the chicks hatch, I weigh them and look them over for any problems. Momma is OK with this. When the chicks are a day old, I move everyone into a dog carrier and they go to live in a horse stall. There is a chair that I put in the stall where I sit with them everyday. The chicks get used to me that way. I also handle them a little bit everyday. It definitely helps. The last hatch I had included chicks I didn't intend to keep. I did not handle those chicks as much as the others. Now that they are grown (and I rehomed them) they are not as friendly as the others. The ones I kept follow me around and like to be picked up. The others don't really come around people unless you have scratch grains. LOL

IMO, Broody raised chicks are the best, but you have to handle them in order for them to be friendly.

 

[ChickyChickens]

I may

have another broody!!!

 

[vpatt]

So the hatch is right around the corner. I'm getting so anxious.. My biggest worry is that she sits to finish the staggered hatch .. Biting my nails over here in anticipation!

How involved does everyone get with mom and babies. Is it bad to want to handle them and what not? (After they dry of course) I just want the chicks to love me too! Lol

I am much larger than my broody....but I have learned to only touch a chick if it is necessary and it best be for only a split second. I did not raise her and she must not have been handled by the previous owners. None of my chickens were handled.....they are very used to me sitting with them and feeding them treats but no touching is allowed even tho they will eat out of my hand.....some of them. The other day one of her chicks got out of the coop. She did not get off the nest and the other two chicks....but she growled at me until i had set it back in the coop. Me crawling under the coop must have been a sight. Per advice from a more knowledgeable person here on BYC I will try to tame them after the broody has released them from her care. Lots of treats will be involved I'm sure. I am hoping in the future for a less aggressive broody....but I don't know if it will happen.

 

[CandylandRanch]

Thanks all who had Advice on how they handle their baby chicks.

I am concerned about my fourth egg hatching due to being expected Sunday when the first three are expected Thursday and Friday. If by chance she gives up, and the egg is still viable, what should I do? Considering I don't have an incubator .. I don't have the heart to just give up and not try at all if this happens. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but if so I feel like I should have a plan..

I've seen others use a styrofoam cooler .. But if I did this It wouldn't be perfect.. I have regular brooder lamps.. ? I do have a good temp reader with humidity readings on it ..
I must admit I have thought.. "Could I shove it down my shirt for a day? "