Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[A2Kzoo2]

4 of 6 hatched! She's still sitting on the other 2 eggs, but if they haven't peeped by tonight, I'll pull them. The fun thing is that we have also had a pair of bluebirds nesting in a bluebird house in the yard and their 4 eggs hatched on the same day! The pic of the bluebirds is not good, but I included them.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Adorable! Congrats!

 

[Faraday40]

No questions or advice. Just wanted to share some pics.

Here's an update on our little Sebright & family. If you're like me & read that this breed rarely goes broody, you'll be happy to know that when they do, they're great little moms. When I finally gave in to her persistent broodiness, I gave her some orp eggs since she was too small to be fertilized by our giant English Orp roo,



Happy mama with 2 day old chicks


1 week old chicks going for a walk with mama. The 2nd black one looked like an extra male, so we rehomed him.


3.5 week old chicks getting bedtime snuggles.

Confused mama trying to cover her giant 4 week old chicks


5 week old chicks surpassed mama in size, but she still mothered them 24/7.

At 7 weeks, our Sebright (Trouble) began laying again & spent more time away from her babies.

The chicks turned 10 weeks old today. Here's the tiny mama with her giant chicks.




Trouble has also resumed to doing her regular tricks for treats, so all is good again.
Here she is today flying up to my daughter's arm when called. Thankfully, the giant chicks were never trained to do this. LOL


I like the appearance of her lav orp "son," so he may stay in the flock if he continues to get along with his gentle, laid back father. He's already starting to crow and almost the height of an adult hen.

Here he is between 2 hens.

 

[2 Russo Chicks]

Ok question my broody was sitting on 9 eggs and laying an egg in the nest, I marked the original 9 and was taking the new eggs. Then I read in here that they will keep laying until they get a big enough clutch and then she will settl down to sit. Well I stole 5 eggs from my other hens and put them on my broody hens nest a week later. She us sitting on all and hatch days is in 4 days, will they all hatch together or will she not hatch the late 5?

 

[Home Tweet Home]

I had a Wyndotte who was broody for a couple days. I put dummies under her but as soon as the egs arrived that I had ordered for her, she was no longer broody. Luckily, I had my bator. Learn from my experience and always have backup if you order for a broody hen.

 

[fisherlady]

​

Ok question my broody was sitting on 9 eggs and laying an egg in the nest, I marked the original 9 and was taking the new eggs. Then I read in here that they will keep laying until they get a big enough clutch and then she will settl down to sit. Well I stole 5 eggs from my other hens and put them on my broody hens nest a week later. She us sitting on all and hatch days is in 4 days, will they all hatch together or will she not hatch the late 5?

I'm not sure from your phrasing why you felt you needed to add another 5 eggs, was she not sitting all the time (except for a once daily bathroom break) or was there some other problem?

A hen rarely cares how many she has, as long as she can sit on something, many folks routinely only give their hens 2 or 3 eggs due to having to keep flock size restricted.

If she was sitting regularly on the first nine when you added the rest then you created a staggered hatch situation and will need to plan to finish the last 5 in an incubator. A hen will usually only remain on the nest for a day and a half or 2 days after the first egg hatches, she will then need to be up and around to start caring for her chicks.

 

[h2oratt]

[COLOR=333333]No questions or advice. Just wanted to share some pics.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Here's an update on our little Sebright & family. If you're like me & read that this breed rarely goes broody, you'll be happy to know that when they do, they're great little moms. When I finally gave in to her persistent broodiness, I gave her some orp eggs since she was too small to be fertilized by our giant English Orp roo, [/COLOR]

Spoiler: Below are past pics to show the family's progression

Happy mama with 2 day old chicks
[COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]

1 week old chicks going for a walk with mama. The 2nd black one looked like an extra male, so we rehomed him.

[COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]
3.5 week old chicks getting bedtime snuggles.

Confused mama trying to cover her giant 4 week old chicks


5 week old chicks surpassed mama in size, but she still mothered them 24/7.
[COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]
At 7 weeks, our Sebright (Trouble) began laying again & spent more time away from her babies.

[COLOR=333333]The chicks turned 10 weeks old today. Here's the tiny mama with her giant chicks.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Trouble has also resumed to doing her regular tricks for treats, so all is good again.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Here she is today flying up to my daughter's arm when called. Thankfully, the giant chicks were never trained to do this. LOL[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]I like the appearance of her lav orp "son," so he may stay in the flock if he continues to get along with his gentle, laid back father. He's already starting to crow and almost the height of an adult hen.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR] Here he is between 2 hens. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]

Thank you for the update, lovely birds. I just hatched some Orpington babies. One is lavender. I love them. My choc rooster is very sweet .

 

[2 Russo Chicks]

She was sitting on my he 9 eggs but still (or one of the other hens) laying new eggs in the nest, I was taking the new eggs out but they were determined to lay new eggs in there. I read that a hen will keep laying in the nest until she had a big enough clutch. And hubby said we might not have any viable eggs. I don't know why he thinks that we have a rooster. So I was using our odds for chicks and keeping her from laying and start setting and added 5 more eggs, but a week too late I guess.

 

[dawnpel]

I have my first broody hen sitting on 12 eggs. Her nest is in the coop in one of the nesting boxes. I am soooo excited!! How long will she stay off the nest when she gets up for food and water?

 

[Faraday40]

I have my first broody hen sitting on 12 eggs. Her nest is in the coop in one of the nesting boxes. I am soooo excited!! How long will she stay off the nest when she gets up for food and water?

There's a pre-broody stage when they're still laying, hoarding eggs, & spending a lot of time on the nest. They scream when you remove eggs or fuss with the nest, but they're not incubating yet. They may leave the nest for an hour or more, but usually return. Then there's the full broody when they look like a pancake. The broody scream becomes more fierce & is heard if you simply open the coop door. When they're like that, they rarely leave the nest & bio breaks are very short (5-15 min). In warmer weather, the potty breaks are slightly longer. I like to place a small dish of feed in the corner of the nest & hang a small chicken nipple waterer within neck stretching reach.