Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[kristin07035]

Yesterday was day 18 & all 3 eggs my broody is sitting on looked good & one even had an enternal pip can't wait for these babies to arrive!

 

[itstartedwith2]

I'm thinking my silkie Mrs. Roo (my 3 yr old named her haha) maybe going broody! This will make my life much easier as I have a few eggs in my incubator that are staggered by around 18 hrs. I can give her the ones that are further along and show development. It's funny how it can work out sometimes. I was just going to search for another incubator and natural one pops up haha

 

[Pyxis]

Here are my two current broodies.

This one has guinea keets due possibly tomorrow, but any time between tomorrow and Thursday they could hatch.

This is Green, and she is just starting to brood. I'll be giving her some eggs tonight and moving her to a crate so the others can't bother her.

Oh, and my one remaining adult guinea decided to pick a fight with the broody today, which is extra rude because she's hatching his future girlfriends. But she taught him a lesson and I don't think he'll be doing it again!

 

[chainedspider]

I am so glad I found this thread even though I wish I had when I first discovered our broody hen. Here's what's happened so far and lessons I'm learning along the way:

1. Over a month ago, we had one Sussex cross hen start making funny noises and spending time in one of the laying boxes. Not knowing what this was about, we researched and discovered that she was brooding. After about a week or so of watching her sit in her box, the look on her face made us feel sorry for her and we thought we'd do a little experiment, so we put three eggs in, one of each colour that we have (this was over a two day period).

2. A couple of days later, we discovered that the eggs multiplied from 3 to 5. we realized that when the brooder was out in the run getting food or water, the other hens were going in her box and laying eggs. After more research, we decided to mark these eggs so that if it happened again, we would collect the unmarked ones.

3. After another week, when I went to collect eggs, we found that there were now 9 in her box. So, I took out the unmarked ones only to discover that I was removing 6. There were only 3 marked ones. Knowing that racoons and crows can't get in the run or coop because of how secure we made them, we could only conclude that maybe a mouse or snake took two of them. We did find the carcass of a mouse in the run with a chicken running around with it's tail in its mouth.

4. 21 days later, the first egg hatched. We didn't see the whole process though. I was out of town and my partner went out to collect eggs and there was a freshly hatched chick, no egg shell to be seen anywhere. Momma took care of baby and within a day she had it out and about in the run with the rest of the flock. I was worried about this but Momma kept the baby protected and went after the other hens who got to close. The only problem was, she wasn't sitting on the nest with the other eggs.

5. About 5 days later, egg two hatched. When I woke up and let the chickens out of their coop, I looked in the brooder's nest (who was outside already with the chick) and I saw two little beady eyes staring up at me. I put momma and first baby back in the nest so she could keep the baby warm. an hour later, I found momma and first baby outside again and the newly hatched one laying on its side in the brooding box with its eyes closed. worried it was dead, I picked it up and it woke up chirping. I brought it in the house and kept it wrapped up in towels in a box. I put the box in a window and let the sun warm it up. Baby slowly started eating and drinking. Once it got dark, I put the baby under momma while she was sleeping.

6. Momma took to the new baby just fine and two days later, when collecting eggs. I noticed the third egg had a beak peaking out of it. I didn't think this one would hatch since momma wasn't sitting on it regularly. Over the course of several hours, I saw the egg slowly breaking apart but a lot of blood was coming out of it. I was worried since momma was with the other two chicks wandering around. I quickly grabbed the egg and chick and did the same thing I did with #2. By the evening, the shell was half off and the chick was kicking with its legs. We put an electric heating pad underneath towels and left it for the night. My partner woke up during the night and realized it was cold in the house. By this time the chick was completely out of the shell but was lethargic, so my partner wrapped it in a towel, held it close and fell asleep with it wrapped in his arms. I woke up to them both asleep on the couch together.

7. We nursed number 3 all day and then at night put the baby under momma. The next day I found that momma would keep an eye on 1 and 2 but 3 had a hard time keeping up with them and then got confused as to who momma was. It would run and hide under the rooster (who was very good at protecting it). It didn't seem momma was interested so we decided to lock momma and the three chicks up in a small rabbit hutch that we had sitting empty. That was two days ago, right now all are doing well except momma is now giving me dirty looks because she can't go running around free.

Lesson learned: don't give the eggs to a brooding hen intermittently. give them all on the same day, make sure they are all marked, and let them all hatch around the same time, not days apart.

 

[sktlmt]

I have a naked neck mutt sitting on 3 eggs. They are due to hatch tomorrow. I listened to one egg yesterday and did not hear anything. These eggs have been under attended by the broody. Her name is Homicidal Mama. She freaked out on her last clutch and started to peck them out of their shells when they wiggled. So each day when she leaves the nest to poop and stretch another hen jumps in her box and lays an egg. If hr box is still occupied when she has returned she gets comfy in another box. Later in the day I find her eggs chilled so I pop her back on them. I do not have great hopes that they will hatch but if they do will they likely be delayed due to the almost daily cooling off?
I also have 17 chicks in my kitchen that are 7-9 days old it was a very long hatch... Are they too old to introduce to her if her eggs do not hatch?
If hers do hatch are they chicks close enough in age to be in the same pen in a week or 2?

 

[chainedspider]

our brooder would do that as well. if her box was occupied, she'd just hop in another. I always put her back in her box once it was free. we didn't have high hopes for the eggs either but we managed to hatch 3 out of 3 which was a miracle.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Well this has been a good news and bad news day....

Good news, the third chick was still alive and pretty vigorous this morning, and is a splash (yippee), and momma was still trying to hatch it; however, it has been tooooo long (day 26 now) so I took that chick and assisted hatch, which was pretty easy as it was nearly out. But the chick understandably is quite weak and in another make shift brooder so that it isn't tromped on right now by #1 or #2.

When taking the 3rd chick I attempted to graft in 1st chick who is now strong and eager to be out of the small shoe box and back with momma...momma let me put the chick under her (it is daylight), but was still in a broody trance. I put out the fresh scrambled eggs and yogurt mix, just out of reach, and momma ate it eagerly but totally ignored her chick. She ignored it while it chirped and screamed at her. I can see how the babies are wandering off from this hen and not getting back to her as she ignores them, not even chooking to them, and they so weak from an over-due hatch are just succumbing the elements and lack of nourishment.

Frustrated and figuring what have I got to lose, I took the chick to my other bantam Cochin who has been broody for about 3 days, but it was too early for her to really want to interact with a chick. I had opened the broody hutch up so that the Cochins were now on the same side, in hopes that either momma or auntie would begin to interact with the chick. Momma finally woke up enough to get up again (I had moved the dish out further) and get some treats, but instead of just ignoring her chick, she attacked it.

Oh boy...all 3 chicks are now in the house in makeshift brooders....now what? Attempt with momma again at night? I know I risked it a bit in broad daylight, but I had hoped she would take her chick back as I needed to take away the 3rd to assist it in hatching. The 2nd isn't strong enough yet by any means and I fear leaving her with no chick hatching may break her brood and cause her to abandon the nest...although I suspicion this hen will just sit on air in a deep trance now. She may simply not know how to mother yet.

My next thought is to put some eggs out to keep her broody and attempt again tonight with chick no. 1....which means I will have to place and check and then pull if it doesn't appear to go well...if it does seem to take, it is still a risk as momma may abandon in the middle of the night (ie chick wanders off and mom could not care less) and I will go out in the morning to a dead, cold chick. I really didn't want to heat lamp brood again but will if I have to as these are a special breed for me.

The odd staggered hatch (even though set at the same time) and my forced interference is really mucking up the works I fear.

Ideas please, I need suggestions from those who are experienced... @bumpercarr and @fisherlady and @PD-Riverman

Thanks!

LofMc

 

[ChickenLady2014]

 

[bumpercarr]

I wouldn't wait too long to put the three of them together if you are going to brood them yourself. Most of my chicks are brooder raised, so I have quite a bit of experience in this realm (much more than with a broody hen). I would give the broody one more shot, but this is how I would do it:

Remove her from the nest and put her in a box, cage, whatever you have around and slide the chicks (that are ready) under her. Do this tonight, after dark. Tomorrow morning, get up before dawn (I know...I'm sorry) and put food and water outside of the box/cage. Wait for sunrise, then force the mother out of the pen if she doesn't leave on her own. Make sure the food/water is in a dish small enough for the chicks. If she doesn't start taking care of them at that point, you're sort of stuck brooding them yourself. If you can, see if you can encourage them to eat and drink before you try putting them in with momma. That way, they can at least get food and water....maybe she'll figure out the keeping them warm part. I know that you know if she attacks them then all bets are off and you'll have to brood them.

Your brooder can be almost anything that has high enough sides and enough space for the three chicks (yes, you are going to put all three of them together..LOL). Keep in mind that I have never, ever lost a chick due to being tromped on by others. Use an old heating pad and fold it in half to make a tent. Turn it on medium. Make sure that there is ample space for the chicks to be able to walk in. I have a heating pad specifically for this, you can also put it up into a lean to type arrangement, staple the cloth cover (wire side) to the side of the box/crate. What you are trying to achieve here is a space where they can run in to get warm if they need to, just like they would do with momma. With this set up, you don't need to measure the heat all of the time (I have an ecoglow...same concept). When the chicks feel like they need to be warmer, they will migrate to the lower sides of the heating pad, if they want to be cooler they migrate to the center or out of the heat pad tent altogether. Once they start climbing on top of it to sleep, you can just put it on low and let it collapse under their weight, that is usually at the two week mark or earlier in some cases. I don't do the whole 5 degrees a week thing....the mothers don't do that so why should I? I just give them different levels of heat to choose from and let them choose.

As far as putting the three together, I would probably do this tomorrow assuming that #3 isn't too weak. Too weak is not being able to lift it's head by itself. Any measure of strength above that should be put with the rest. Only thing to keep an eye out for is that because #3 hasn't built up it's strength it may topple over when pushed around by the other two. Just set him/her back up when that happens. Within a few hours he/she will be strong enough to keep up with the other two. There will be some minor pecking, but the longer that they are separated the harder it is for them to bond with each other. I've put newly hatched in with 3 days olds and haven't had a problem yet. I do have to watch them though....the newly hatched are not strong enough to right themselves if they end up on their back.

Good luck!
Let me know how it goes and if you encounter any problems.

 

[PD-Riverman]

The odd staggered hatch (even though set at the same time) and my forced interference is really mucking up the works I fear.

Ideas please, I need suggestions from those who are experienced... @bumpercarr and @fisherlady and @PD-Riverman

Thanks!

LofMc

L-O-Mc If you want these chicks "I" would Not put them with the hen----1 peck to the skull is all it takes to end its life. A make-shift brooder is all you need.

Everyone does things different/their way-------"MY" way is I never bother a broody the last few days(not looking under her or anything)---For Sure I never put feed or water where she can get it without leaving the nest----doing so can and will lead to her pooping in the nest----if she poops in the nest it will usually be a "mother load" because she will hold it as long as she can----if she gets off the next during the hatch to poop----that can mess up her hatch(no food/water close to her nest at my farm). I have set MANY broody hens and I have never lost one because she did not eat/drink the last 2/3 days----They usually hatch on time and hatch 99+% of the fertile eggs that are under them. Except for one silkie the hens usually comes off the nest around day 21/22 with her chicks. The silkie I mentioned was trying to hatch the last egg and her some of her chicks jumped out the nest----this was day 23. I put her out the nest---took the egg(it was no good)---then she raised all the chicks till I removed them---she was a good mom----Had me worried to start with.

I wish you the best--in what way you decide to go!!