Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

Been away from this thread for a while, but I thought I'd share my recent Sebright broody pics. "Trouble" is too small to have fertile eggs by our big English Orp roo, but she was persistent. I ended up giving her a few orp eggs. She was a great mom & lovingly cared for her giant chicks. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Find the chickie [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] She also adopted a lonely only chick even though it was 4-5 days younger. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Sleeping got complicated around 3 weeks, but she still insisted on covering them [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] 3.5 weeks The smallest one is in front. I love the expression on Trouble's face and the chicks pancaked beneath her are also priceless. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] By 4 weeks, they surpassed mama in size. She stayed with them for 7 weeks until she started laying again.

Wonderful pics! She is a wonderful broody for you!

 

[karenerwin]

Hello! I'm new to this group, but am really enjoying all of the great info on this site! I need some advice.....I have a broody hen, an Australorp, and she's been sitting on 4 fertilized eggs for 29 days now. We candled them, and there are definitely chicks inside the eggs. From everything that I've read, the chicks should've hatched by now. What should I do? She's in her own cage, I moved her 2 weeks ago. Could that be the problem? HELP!!!!

I've never had anything hatch past the 24 day mark. If/when you decide to crack one open to take a look, I would strongly suggest doing so inside a closed ziplock bag and outside of the house. That way the smell ( if there is one) will be mostly contained and not in your house! Good luck. Let us know what you find/what happens.

 

[karenerwin]

Hello! I'm new to this group, but am really enjoying all of the great info on this site! I need some advice.....I have a broody hen, an Australorp, and she's been sitting on 4 fertilized eggs for 29 days now. We candled them, and there are definitely chicks inside the eggs. From everything that I've read, the chicks should've hatched by now. What should I do? She's in her own cage, I moved her 2 weeks ago. Could that be the problem? HELP!!!!

All of these links came from hatching 101 by Sally Sunshine. There is currently a link on the home page. Sally is an expert (eggspert!) in incubating eggs. However the candling information applies to all chicken eggs whether in an incubator or under a broody hen. Hope these help you see/understand what you are seeing or looking for when you candle eggs.
CANDLING & WEIGHING EGGS​

​

Sites to refer to for Candling Images and Videos

Progression Though Incubation
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261876/chicks-are-here-egg-candling-pics-progression-though-incubation

Great pics of CANDLING and good and bad eggs.......
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/Avian/pfs32.htm

Metzer Candling :
http://www.metzerfarms.com/Candling.cfm

Development of a Chick:
http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=73884.0

Candling Pics:
http://shilala.homestead.com/candling.html​

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

I've never had anything hatch past the 24 day mark.  If/when you decide to crack one open to take a look, I would strongly suggest doing so inside a closed ziplock bag and outside of the house.  That way the smell ( if there is one) will be mostly contained and not in your house!  Good luck.  Let us know what you find/what happens.

Oh man! Ziploc baggie such a good idea! Lol I wore my respirator when I cracked open my non-hatchers. ;P

 

[Bukbuk Betty]

Thank you so much for the input, I will place the chick food in as soon as we have some chicks.  We are at day 15 today so another 7 to go.  I have her in a 6' x 6' pen with her own 'nesting crate' and the food and water are at the other side of the enclosure and she gets up pretty regularly and stretches her legs, produces the most enormous poop, eats, drinks and goes back to her nest.  She has kept it clean so far.  Here's hoping... 

I hope you'll update us when you hatch!

 

[oesdog]

Still waiting on the chicks day 21 tomorrow!

Oes

 

[Faraday40]

At what age can chicks be taken away from mama? Do hens go through postpartum depression if they lose all their chicks? We sold some of Cookie's chicks but made sure to let her keep 2. We do not have the space to keep any new flock additions.
* Not sure if it matters, but this particular hen bonds only with chicks she has hatched. All other intruder chicks are fiercely attacked.

 

[fisherlady]

At what age can chicks be taken away from mama?  Do hens go through postpartum depression if they lose all their chicks?  We sold some of Cookie's chicks but made sure to let her keep 2.  We do not have the space to keep any new flock additions.
* Not sure if it matters, but this particular hen bonds only with chicks she has hatched.  All other intruder chicks are fiercely attacked.

I have never removed them all, we have always left some for her to raise and let her hormones tell her when to be done. I would wait at least a couple of weeks though to reduce the chance of her going back into a 'I need to hatch babies' funk.

 

[karenerwin]

Man, I feel horrible! I was cracking eggs to put in gallon ziploc bags ( I need 15 dozen for an event) and 1 of the eggs I cracked open had a very developed chick in it. I had marked all of the eggs that the broody was sitting on, but the mark must have been covered by dirt, or rubbed off or I just plain didn't see it. I'm so upset with myself. It has no chance anymore, it was an egg I collected on Friday night. So it had been inside our air conditioned house all day today as well as all last night. Hatch day was/is this weekend. I know what is done is done, but still I feel super bad, mad & sad all at once. I don't even know if either broody was will even hatch any eggs and I ruined 1 great possible hatcher.

 

[fisherlady]

Man, I feel horrible! I was cracking eggs to put in gallon ziploc bags ( I need 15 dozen for an event) and 1 of the eggs I cracked open had a very developed chick in it.  I had marked all of the eggs that the broody was sitting on, but the mark must have been covered by dirt, or rubbed off or I just plain didn't see it.  I'm so upset with myself. It has no chance anymore, it was an egg I collected on Friday night.  So it had been inside our air conditioned house all day today as well as all last night.  Hatch day was/is this weekend.  I know what is done is done, but still I feel super bad, mad & sad all at once.  I don't even know if either broody was will even hatch any eggs and I ruined 1 great possible hatcher.

I'm sorry....

I'm not sure how you marked yours but we use a black sharpie and just draw a line the whole way around the center of the egg...it is visible no matter what position the egg is laying and doesn't rub off.