Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bumpercarr]

Update on the broody who pooped on her eggs. I candled the eggs yesterday, and all eight have blood vessels in them. I'm sure that's a good sign. One egg still has some dried poop on it, and about four are stained.

That is good news!

 

[kristin07035]

Anyone have Serama's?
My serama seems to be broody (going to wait a few days to see how serious she is about it)...coincidentally I have silkie eggs in my incubator (only on day 3)...can i give her 2 or when they hatch will the chicks grow too big too fast for her to cover them? (Im in NJ & this is the predicted weather for hatch day and beyond)

 

[fisherlady]

Anyone have Serama's?
My serama seems to be broody (going to wait a few days to see how serious she is about it)...coincidentally I have silkie eggs in my incubator (only on day 3)...can i give her 2 or when they hatch will the chicks grow too big too fast for her to cover them? (Im in NJ & this is the predicted weather for hatch day and beyond)

SallySunshine is in Pa south of Harrisburg I think. She used to have seremas. You can try messaging her if you really want serema eggs. She would probably be fine with 2 or 3 silkies though, if you want to go that way.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Anyone have Serama's?
My serama seems to be broody (going to wait a few days to see how serious she is about it)...coincidentally I have silkie eggs in my incubator (only on day 3)...can i give her 2 or when they hatch will the chicks grow too big too fast for her to cover them? (Im in NJ & this is the predicted weather for hatch day and beyond)

I don't have Serama's, so I will step aside to those that have first hand knowledge, but they are smaller (by half?), and less fluffy, than Silkies, so their brooding ability on Silkie eggs would be reduced. I'd see if you could fit 2 eggs under her and have complete coverage.

My Silkies set large fowl chicks all the time, actually ALL the time as I don't hatch banty eggs. They do really well even though the chicks get larger faster. However, they snuggle and huddle just fine even after they don't fit under her any more. (See photo below). I bet a good Serama momma would do the same....and typically they fledge them at 6 weeks or so, when the birds are still pretty young.

If you do plan for her to raise them, I personally would recommend that you have her brood only what she hatches. I have trouble grafting chicks in cold weather...I can do it in summer well enough, but only those that hatch under a hen in cool weather seem to adjust well to it afterwards.

So if it were me, I'd give her 2 eggs and let her hatch them.

It will be interesting to see what other Serama owners say. You could also post on the Serama thread if you do not get response here.

LofMc

You can see what I mean...little momma with a big heart:

 

[bumpercarr]

I don't have Serama's, so I will step aside to those that have first hand knowledge, but they are smaller (by half?), and less fluffy, than Silkies, so their brooding ability on Silkie eggs would be reduced. I'd see if you could fit 2 eggs under her and have complete coverage.

My Silkies set large fowl chicks all the time, actually ALL the time as I don't hatch banty eggs. They do really well even though the chicks get larger faster. However, they snuggle and huddle just fine even after they don't fit under her any more. (See photo below). I bet a good Serama momma would do the same....and typically they fledge them at 6 weeks or so, when the birds are still pretty young.

If you do plan for her to raise them, I personally would recommend that you have her brood only what she hatches. I have trouble grafting chicks in cold weather...I can do it in summer well enough, but only those that hatch under a hen in cool weather seem to adjust well to it afterwards.

So if it were me, I'd give her 2 eggs and let her hatch them.

It will be interesting to see what other Serama owners say. You could also post on the Serama thread if you do not get response here.

LofMc

You can see what I mean...little momma with a big heart:

These pics made me laugh. I only raise large fowl, and I mean LARGE FOWL, and last year I had a silkie mix that I adopted. She naturally went broody, and I naturally gave her some Brahma eggs. Saw that exact same picture as they were approaching 4-5 weeks old. It was just hilarious. Thanks for sharing that, makes me remember the girl (lost her to a dog attack, along with the rest of the flock).

 

[Lady of McCamley]

These pics made me laugh. I only raise large fowl, and I mean LARGE FOWL, and last year I had a silkie mix that I adopted. She naturally went broody, and I naturally gave her some Brahma eggs. Saw that exact same picture as they were approaching 4-5 weeks old. It was just hilarious. Thanks for sharing that, makes me remember the girl (lost her to a dog attack, along with the rest of the flock).

I'm so glad it gave you a laugh...it is my fondest photo memory too...I sadly lost that Silkie to a hawk this last fall.

So glad you'be been able to rebuild your flock after such a devastating loss. I remember your posts back then.
LofMc

 

[bumpercarr]

I'm so glad it gave you a laugh...it is my fondest photo memory too...I sadly lost that Silkie to a hawk this last fall.

So glad you'be been able to rebuild your flock after such a devastating loss. I remember your posts back then.
LofMc

Yes, it has been a struggle. Brahmas are such slow growers. I'm just now back to having layers and broodies....I'm still haunted with the vision of finding them all and the panic that they must have felt. The owner of the dog was fined $50, I lost almost $1000 worth of chickens. Even with the video of her dogs breaking into the coop, coming out of the coop, she still said her dogs hadn't done the dastardly deed. She never even apologized.

So, saw one of her dogs two days ago coming around the corner of my garage headed toward the coop. I scared her off, and now am carrying my .22 pistol whenever I'm outside. I won't scare it off the next time. I will deliver it's cold body to her doorstep with my regrets. It is sad because it isn't the dog's fault, it is the owner's fault.

Anyway, I've started over. I am very pleased with my darks, but need to work hard on the partridges. Put one of the cockerels in with the laying pullets last week and started collecting eggs yesterday. If I have a broody, I'll put some under her but if not I'll fire up the incubator. It has been a struggle to come back, I had two years of work in the birds that I lost.

Thanks for remembering. Anyway, your silkie with the "chicks" that were almost as big as her made me smile.

 

[kristin07035]

Aww that's adorable! I guess ill feel her out the next few days and if shes committed then ill give her 2. Posted on Serama thread too but no response yet...Thanks!

I don't have Serama's, so I will step aside to those that have first hand knowledge, but they are smaller (by half?), and less fluffy, than Silkies, so their brooding ability on Silkie eggs would be reduced. I'd see if you could fit 2 eggs under her and have complete coverage. My Silkies set large fowl chicks all the time, actually ALL the time as I don't hatch banty eggs. They do really well even though the chicks get larger faster. However, they snuggle and huddle just fine even after they don't fit under her any more. (See photo below). I bet a good Serama momma would do the same....and typically they fledge them at 6 weeks or so, when the birds are still pretty young. If you do plan for her to raise them, I personally would recommend that you have her brood only what she hatches. I have trouble grafting chicks in cold weather...I can do it in summer well enough, but only those that hatch under a hen in cool weather seem to adjust well to it afterwards. So if it were me, I'd give her 2 eggs and let her hatch them. It will be interesting to see what other Serama owners say. You could also post on the Serama thread if you do not get response here. LofMc You can see what I mean...little momma with a big heart:

 

[ochochicas]

So, saw one of her dogs two days ago coming around the corner of my garage headed toward the coop. I scared her off, and now am carrying my .22 pistol whenever I'm outside. I won't scare it off the next time. I will deliver it's cold body to her doorstep with my regrets. It is sad because it isn't the dog's fault, it is the owner's fault.

The fact that the neighbor refuses to control her dogs or take responsibility of them is not acceptable. When the dog "accidentally" gets in your yard while you are having target practice you can do like she did and say it wasn't you.

Our neighbor's dog used to come over all the time and chase our horses and also chase the cats up the trees. It is an aggressive dog, so we took the liberty of shooting at it once. It has not stepped foot in our yard since that day. It goes up the street and poops in other yards, but not in ours anymore. The dog is a bit smarter than I thought.

Now we have new neighbors on the other side of us. Their stupid retriever will come over and chase the chickens. When you try to scold it, it just lays on the ground and pees all over itself. I don't really want to shoot that dog, so maybe a well placed smack with the lunge whip will teach it a lesson.

 

[vpatt]

So I decided against chicks. I had to go pick up my granddaughter from school which just happens to be within five minutes of the feed and seed. Fortunately we only brought four babies home....lol. now I need to know what I should put in their water....and in a week or so I need to be figuring out their outdoor schedule provided the weather cooperates.

I think I need to put sugar in the water.....was there something else?

Already had our first chick issue and we've only had them for an hour. Cameron was looking at them and told me that one of them had something brown hanging on its behind. Was a big bit of dried poo. So I had to hold its little fuzzy butt under the faucet until the stuff finally came off.

They are one week old already. One is a RIR-Buttercup. The other three are Aracauna according to the store lady....Helga, Nora and Viola. All are supposed to be pullets. Time will tell. I know they may be EE's I guess we will see about that too. I am calling back to ask what hatchery they are from and I will try to do pics in a little bit....I hope I'm not in over my head.