Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[tjo804]

Quote: You are correct!
I did not explain that the 1st hen got off the last 5 eggs and moved her live chicks out of the nest. I had no incubator and 1 egg was chirping one was moving on candle and 3 I couldnt tell.
Hen #1 took the eggs back and moved again. They were room temp when I checked again (coop was 50 degrees) and no more chirping. It took 4 more days but all 5 eggs hatched.
I am not suggesting this as a normal course of action. Nor would I recommend a shared hatch between hens at any time.
This was a desperate experiment in an emergent case.

A small warning with my experience - All the hatch-lings that were finished by the second hen are in a brooder in the house. Her early Brooding phase had her move away from the hatched chick. so I watched for every single one and brought them in the house. I did not sleep more than a hour at a time for 4 days.
So no it is not ideal but it worked out better for me to try the early broody rather than to loose the live chicks.

I personally will not try another hatch without a small incubator on hand for emergencies.

I do not know what went wrong with the hatch and have not been able to find answers to my questions. But I keep looking.

 

[fisherlady]

I snapped this picture yesterday, looks like Lacey ended up with 6 chicks to ring in the new year but she isn't letting them out much for photo ops.
I can just imagine the conversation going on here...
"Now daughter, this is what we call our grumpy broody stare, we use it when the silly human bothers us with the flashy box thing"
"Like this, Mom?"
"Yes, just like that! You will be a great grumpy broody if you keep practicing that stare just like I showed you."

 

[nchls school]

Well, Blondie is still sitting steady on her 7 eggs - day 15 now. She has surprised me - she's a first time broody and I really wasn't sure how she would do. She appears to be pretty dedicated. I've been leaving her alone except to give her an occasional treat (which she gobbles up). I've only seen her get up once while I was out there, but there's evidence that she's out once a day when I'm not looking That splat that she leaves outside her crate is mighty impressive. I am hoping that she gets to hatch at least a couple of chicks - I really want to see what kind of a mama she is. She's an 8 month old BO, and I'm hoping that she has good chick-raising skills!

They stop leaving the nest a couple of days before the chicks hatch, am I right? Once the babies arrive, I'll move them to their own area out of the main coop (I didn't want to stress her while she was sitting - I don't have an incubator to finish the job if she quits). If all goes well, hopefully little peeps Friday

I have been observing nine different broody hens of different breeds this year-silkie, serama, crossbreed, and all get off their nests to eat, drink, etc. right up to hatching. At times I have seen them off the nest eating when eggs were pipping. Their eggs hatched and they proved to be good mother's.

 

[Faraday40]

I snapped this picture yesterday, looks like Lacey ended up with 6 chicks to ring in the new year but she isn't letting them out much for photo ops.
I can just imagine the conversation going on here...
"Now daughter, this is what we call our grumpy broody stare, we use it when the silly human bothers us with the flashy box thing"
"Like this, Mom?"
"Yes, just like that! You will be a great grumpy broody if you keep practicing that stare just like I showed you."

That's a great pic!

 

[vpatt]

I snapped this picture yesterday, looks like Lacey ended up with 6 chicks to ring in the new year but she isn't letting them out much for photo ops. I can just imagine the conversation going on here... "Now daughter, this is what we call our grumpy broody stare, we use it when the silly human bothers us with the flashy box thing" "Like this, Mom?" "Yes, just like that! You will be a great grumpy broody if you keep practicing that stare just like I showed you."

Haha, i love that......you all are making me want more chicks, where are my broodies? Lol, i wonder if the warm weather messed them up. My last one to set ended up with not a single hatch. It's the first time that has happened, im glad she was only on 3 eggs. My cochin has not laid an egg since her last hatch, at least 3 months ago and the silkie is not quite old enough, i think.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Momma, the Queen Mum, had the littles out today in the main run. I opened things up as my bantam Cochins were getting a bit restless having been locked up for 3 days straight. I figured momma would either keep the babes up in the hutch or bring them into the run.

She decided run. The Queen Mum (Buff Silkie) with her 2 female Backyard Stars (Barnevelder/California Grey cross). Aunty Banty Cochins Mimsy (left) and Rosey (right) are behaving perfectly around the babies. The Queen Mum is both a good mommy and a good mentor to her younger handmaids.




and for those who have doubts that broodies and babies and winter go together....I offer the following photo that is a panorama of the covered pen with the snow and freezing rain falling outside it...babies, who hatched late Wednesday/early Thursday, so 4 days old, have been scratching some, then momma sits and warms them:




I enjoy mommies with their babies in the run.

LofMc

 

[chickenmomma16]

Its been SO long since I have visited this thread.. I am officially on the hunt for some hatching eggs for my broody

Her "official" broody nest area will be 4x as big as that box + a separate pen area.

I question about broody size and number of eggs. How many eggs would you give this lady? What would you put under her? She is next to a RIR, she's the girl to the right. She is petite but not nearly as small as her mother.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Its been SO long since I have visited this thread.. I am officially on the hunt for some hatching eggs for my broody

Her "official" broody nest area will be 4x as big as that box + a separate pen area.

I question about broody size and number of eggs. How many eggs would you give this lady? What would you put under her? She is next to a RIR, she's the girl to the right. She is petite but not nearly as small as her mother.

How fun...happy egg hunting (although I must admit finally having a rooster on residence, and, uhem, on call, makes fertile egg gathering much easier).

She looks like a decent "medium" size. I would guess she can hold 6 to 8 full size eggs easily. I'd start with 6 if she is a first time broody (which it sounds like she is).

LofMc

 

[nchls school]

Its been SO long since I have visited this thread.. I am officially on the hunt for some hatching eggs for my broody

Her "official" broody nest area will be 4x as big as that box + a separate pen area.

I question about broody size and number of eggs. How many eggs would you give this lady? What would you put under her? She is next to a RIR, she's the girl to the right. She is petite but not nearly as small as her mother.

Depending on egg size, anywhere between 6 and 12. It's always best to give an amount the hen can easily cover. Too many and the hatch will be poor if at all.

 

[fisherlady]

Its been SO long since I have visited this thread.. I am officially on the hunt for some hatching eggs for my broody

Her "official" broody nest area will be 4x as big as that box + a separate pen area.

I question about broody size and number of eggs. How many eggs would you give this lady? What would you put under her? She is next to a RIR, she's the girl to the right. She is petite but not nearly as small as her mother.

Although she could easily cover 6-8 eggs judging by the pic you have to keep in mind that with cold weather hatches the hen will be warming a lot of little bodies, and they won't be little for long. I tend to reduce hatch sizes by about 25% in cold temps to keep plenty of room under the hen for chick warming. I would aim for 4-6 chicks for a medium hen in winter.