Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

I want my hens to be broody mommas! I want entered in the contest. Go team Chippin McPuff-N-Stuff and Pico the Guy-oh!

What contest?

 

[Violetsfeathers]

What contest?

x2

 

[Molpet]

x2

What contest?

probaly easter https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1151482/the-8th-annual-byc-easter-hatch-a-long

 

[Violetsfeathers]

I cracked five eggs out of eight open. The egg with the "black" yolk looked like this:

And the rest of the ones I cracked open were not fertilized. Two are for sure alive, the other one I thought I saw bloood vessels in.

So I put five new eggs under the hen.

 

[Cluck77]

I put 10 eggs under my broody silkie cross last year. That was my first time hatching anything. /img/smilies/love.gif


It was such fun that I have just ordered 10 Buff Sussex eggs for her. They should be here by Wednesday. Can't WAIT!!!! /img/smilies/jumpy.gif


Has anyone tried leaving their broody hen with the flock? I would be worried that the other birds might kill the little chicks. I'd love to hear! /img/smilies/thumbsup.gif

 

[fisherlady]

If you go back a month or two worth of posts you will see a wide variety of managing broodies with their chicks. Yes, some do leave them with their flock, some separate, all for our own reasons. I leave mine with the flock and have good success with it. Our roosters are not a problem and I prefer the chicks be raised with the flock.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I cracked five eggs out of eight open. The egg with the "black" yolk looked like this:


And the rest of the ones I cracked open were not fertilized. Two are for sure alive, the other one I thought I saw bloood vessels in.

So I put five new eggs under the hen.

If I understand you correctly, you have just staggered set dates by placing fresh eggs under a hen with developed eggs...by 3 to 5 days? This will result in a staggered hatch.

In staggered hatches, generally you end up with a hen that abandons eggs before they are hatched to take care of the older chicks, or you have a hen that sits on the developing eggs and neglects the older chicks.

Sometimes the stress will cause the hen to give up the project altogether.

Occasionally, with veteran or very genial hens, and if you keep food and water close, you can get a hen to sit through the late hatches while keeping an eye on the older chicks. Even then, I find the older chicks coming and going often interrupt the hatchings beneath. In cold weather, the mom usually gets up by day 3 or 4 to tend to older chicks which does not leave enough cover time for the freshly hatched chicks.

So all in all, it is not recommended to stagger hatch dates unless you've got an incubator warmed up to handle the overflow of later hatches or a brooder for the earlier hatches.

Just my experiences.
LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Originally Posted by Fuffy

I put 10 eggs under my broody silkie cross last year. That was my first time hatching anything.

It was such fun that I have just ordered 10 Buff Sussex eggs for her. They should be here by Wednesday. Can't WAIT!!!!

Has anyone tried leaving their broody hen with the flock? I would be worried that the other birds might kill the little chicks. I'd love to hear!

@Cluck77 I'm not sure if you are re-asking the question or were trying to answer the question since it is a quote from another poster.

I will assume you were re-asking the question, so I'll give a quick overview. Fisherlady is correct that this thread has a lot of very good advice about different experiences, but I know it can be hard to find just the right spot.

It really depends upon your broody and your coop and your flock. There is no one way to do it. There are different risks, however.

Overall, especially for first timers (either broody or flock owner, or both), it is best to have the broody isolated in her own clean, warm, soft nest that is safe. Flock members often tramp and toss eggs with their coming and going. You then get staggered egg starts with difficult staggered hatches. Often more dominant hens discourage the broody momma to set in the nest, wanting it for themselves, and can drive her off the nest leaving the eggs unattended. Small chick Integration can likewise be difficult if dominant flock members are not accepting. And, worse case, dominant hens can crush young chicks in over used nesting boxes

Once you understand your flock, your broody, and your situation (coop safety, predator situation, flock temperament), you may be able to leave a broody in a safe corner in the general area IF she is of a dominant nature that will chase the others away, or the flock is generally very laid back and congenial, AND that nest does not receive other traffic. (Subdividing can be very helpful in this situation).

For expensive breeder purchased eggs, I use designated broodies in an isolated, designated broody hutch with protected grow out run.

For my own farm flock eggs, I have experimented with main flock brooding and learned 2 of my boxes are no go's (crushed chicks and eggs), but one is acceptable for brooding and hatching IF I mark set eggs removing others and block it off at day 18 (since it is large enough for feed and water at the end). That prevents chicks being crushed while hatching. When the chicks are old enough, in a couple of days, I open up the box and let momma integrate the chicks into the flock. I've had some really great flock integration and dynamics since I have a laid back flock (carefully selected for over the years) and an excellent rooster....it is wonderful to see poppa protecting momma and the babes. However, I've also had significant predator and stupid chick loss with that method (It is ALWAYS your favorite chick). If you are very disturbed that you could lose a chick to a predator or by accidental loss (drowning in an overturned bowl, getting lost through the fence), then only use isolated nests and secured runs.

Good luck on your brooding endeavors.
LofMc

 

[Violetsfeathers]

If I understand you correctly, you have just staggered set dates by placing fresh eggs under a hen with developed eggs...by 3 to 5 days?  This will result in a staggered hatch.

In staggered hatches, generally you end up with a hen that abandons eggs before they are hatched to take care of the older chicks, or you have a hen that sits on the developing eggs and neglects the older chicks.

Sometimes the stress will cause the hen to give up the project altogether.

Occasionally, with veteran or very genial hens, and if you keep food and water close, you can get a hen to sit through the late hatches while keeping an eye on the older chicks. Even then, I find the older chicks coming and going often interrupt the hatchings beneath. In cold weather, the mom usually gets up by day 3 or 4 to tend to older chicks which does not leave enough cover time for the freshly hatched chicks.

So all in all, it is not recommended to stagger hatch dates unless you've got an incubator warmed up to handle the overflow of later hatches or a brooder for the earlier hatches.

Just my experiences.
LofMc

Yes, I do know it is a staggered hatch, I did not mention this before but I have two broody hens. One can hatch the first two or three chicks and then a week later the other hen will hatch the rest of the chicks.
Also I'm thinking about taking the chicks away form the hen after they hatch because hand raised chicks are tamer. But I would feel really bad for the momma, and it's so much easier for them to be broody raised

 

[NysiaAnera]

We might have another broody hen, a Black Australorp. If so, it is nice to be getting more eggs again, so I will have a good selection to choose from to give her. I thought I might have had another Brahma going broody as well, but I think she is just "trying it out". Either that or she was in laying an egg very, very late in the day. I have seen her spending quite a lot of time in one nest box though. I guess we'll see how it goes!