Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[PD-Riverman]

My eggs took 30-31 days, but they were turkey eggs, which take on average of 28 days.

Some duck eggs take 35/37 days(Muscovy), were yours under a hen, turkey or incubator?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y somebody is in the brooding mood.

I've been waiting for my usual spring round of brooding, which usually begins in January with my bantams and progresses to my seasonal large fowl volunteers by March/April, but alas this year that has not happened.

Sadly, I lost several really good broodies, including one of my best bantams, due to a predator problems this winter (both hawks and coons were bad this year).

I got another Silkie pullet, just at point of lay, who is teasing me with maybe/maybe not. And my Bantam Cochin, Rosie, who I've used the last couple of years, has been thinking of brooding, but not committed. However she has set a good example for the Silkie who has been keeping her company on the nest in the broody hutch.

Then my Isbar/Marans, Olive, who has been an excellent momma and brooder for me for several years, but alas always chooses the main coop (which I experimented with letting her brood in last year), has plucked her breast, sat a bit, but got back to the roost.

We've had crazy weather...warms up to be spring like then cools back down to freezing. I think its throwing them off.

But good news, Olive is flat as a pancake today spread over some left over eggs on her favorite nest. I've decided not to let her brood in the main coop again (too many crushed eggs, squashed chicks, although integration of the survivors was a thing of beauty).

So, after downsizing my flock over the winter (actually the coon helped a lot with that), I've condensed the birds to the larger coop to let the smaller set fallow. Today, I cleaned that out and plan to move Olive to it this weekend once she is deeply settled and that coop dries out. (Had a leak in the roof so floor was a bit wet).

I'm also picking up another Silkie from the same breeder this weekend...this one is an experienced momma.

So, maybe I can finally get setting some eggs for this spring. Berney's (my Barnevelder rooster) daughters are laying some nice dark clay pot colors that I want to hatch F2 from, and last year's olive egg project was a bust (all roos and 1 pullet who died during an extreme heat wave).

I've been saving and rotating out eggs of the dark daughters and Olives. So, I've got a nice pile of eggs fresh and fertile for setting.

Soon. Hopefully. Soon.

LofMc

 

[NysiaAnera]

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y somebody is in the brooding mood.

I've been waiting for my usual spring round of brooding, which usually begins in January with my bantams and progresses to my seasonal large fowl volunteers by March/April, but alas this year that has not happened.

Sadly, I lost several really good broodies, including one of my best bantams, due to a predator problems this winter (both hawks and coons were bad this year).

I got another Silkie pullet, just at point of lay, who is teasing me with maybe/maybe not. And my Bantam Cochin, Rosie, who I've used the last couple of years, has been thinking of brooding, but not committed. However she has set a good example for the Silkie who has been keeping her company on the nest in the broody hutch.

Then my Isbar/Marans, Olive, who has been an excellent momma and brooder for me for several years, but alas always chooses the main coop (which I experimented with letting her brood in last year), has plucked her breast, sat a bit,  but got back to the roost.

We've had crazy weather...warms up to be spring like then cools back down to freezing. I think its throwing them off.

But good news, Olive is flat as a pancake today spread over some left over eggs on her favorite nest. I've decided not to let her brood in the main coop again (too many crushed eggs, squashed chicks, although integration of the survivors was a thing of beauty).

So, after downsizing my flock over the winter (actually the coon helped a lot with that), I've condensed the birds to the larger coop to let the smaller set fallow. Today, I cleaned that out and plan to move Olive to it this weekend once she is deeply settled and that coop dries out. (Had a leak in the roof so floor was a bit wet).

I'm also picking up another Silkie from the same breeder this weekend...this one is an experienced momma.

So, maybe I can finally get setting some eggs for this spring.  Berney's (my Barnevelder rooster) daughters are laying some nice dark clay pot colors that I want to hatch F2 from, and last year's olive egg project was a bust (all roos and 1 pullet who died during an extreme heat wave).

I've been saving and rotating out eggs of the dark daughters and Olives. So, I've got a nice pile of eggs fresh and fertile for setting.

Soon.  Hopefully. Soon.

LofMc

Holy cow, the weather has been whacky this winter!!! I have been saying the same thing about it messing with the hens. It got warm and they started laying, went back down to subzero temps and they stopped... up, down, up, down... now we are getting no eggs and I am concerned that my hens are going into an out of season molt!

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

My eggs took 30-31 days, but they were turkey eggs, which take on average of 28 days.

Some duck eggs take 35/37 days(Muscovy), were yours under a hen, turkey or incubator?

Mine were under a first time broody hen. I had six turkey eggs, and 4 chicken eggs added at the correct time. Only two turkey eggs hatched, so I do t know what happened, but it was her first time.

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y somebody is in the brooding mood.

I've been waiting for my usual spring round of brooding, which usually begins in January with my bantams and progresses to my seasonal large fowl volunteers by March/April, but alas this year that has not happened.

Sadly, I lost several really good broodies, including one of my best bantams, due to a predator problems this winter (both hawks and coons were bad this year).

I got another Silkie pullet, just at point of lay, who is teasing me with maybe/maybe not. And my Bantam Cochin, Rosie, who I've used the last couple of years, has been thinking of brooding, but not committed. However she has set a good example for the Silkie who has been keeping her company on the nest in the broody hutch.

Then my Isbar/Marans, Olive, who has been an excellent momma and brooder for me for several years, but alas always chooses the main coop (which I experimented with letting her brood in last year), has plucked her breast, sat a bit,  but got back to the roost.

We've had crazy weather...warms up to be spring like then cools back down to freezing. I think its throwing them off.

But good news, Olive is flat as a pancake today spread over some left over eggs on her favorite nest. I've decided not to let her brood in the main coop again (too many crushed eggs, squashed chicks, although integration of the survivors was a thing of beauty).

So, after downsizing my flock over the winter (actually the coon helped a lot with that), I've condensed the birds to the larger coop to let the smaller set fallow. Today, I cleaned that out and plan to move Olive to it this weekend once she is deeply settled and that coop dries out. (Had a leak in the roof so floor was a bit wet).

I'm also picking up another Silkie from the same breeder this weekend...this one is an experienced momma.

So, maybe I can finally get setting some eggs for this spring.  Berney's (my Barnevelder rooster) daughters are laying some nice dark clay pot colors that I want to hatch F2 from, and last year's olive egg project was a bust (all roos and 1 pullet who died during an extreme heat wave).

I've been saving and rotating out eggs of the dark daughters and Olives. So, I've got a nice pile of eggs fresh and fertile for setting.

Soon.  Hopefully. Soon.

LofMc

Aw, so sry to hear you lost a good broody. I lost three this past year too. Actually, I lost my whole flock (which was only 8) when I moved. I found some one kind enough to keep them, but she had a nasty coon attack that wiped out her whole flock. So I started again in September.

Thankfully, from my new flock, I have had two broodies already! The one was a black sex link. The gentleman I purchased her from (who hatches lots of them) said he hasn't had one go broody yet. So I guess I am keeping the girls comfortable here. My first broody is taking care of the turkey poults, and my second one is a week into sitting on fertile eggs. Tried to candle, but I couldn't see anything, so I will try again in a week or so.

It has been a wacky year for weather. I'm hoping this cold weather cuts out soon. I want to start some seeds, but can't seem to get in to the swing of things yet!

 

[fisherlady]

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y somebody is in the brooding mood.

I've been waiting for my usual spring round of brooding, which usually begins in January with my bantams and progresses to my seasonal large fowl volunteers by March/April, but alas this year that has not happened.

Sadly, I lost several really good broodies, including one of my best bantams, due to a predator problems this winter (both hawks and coons were bad this year).

I got another Silkie pullet, just at point of lay, who is teasing me with maybe/maybe not. And my Bantam Cochin, Rosie, who I've used the last couple of years, has been thinking of brooding, but not committed. However she has set a good example for the Silkie who has been keeping her company on the nest in the broody hutch.

Then my Isbar/Marans, Olive, who has been an excellent momma and brooder for me for several years, but alas always chooses the main coop (which I experimented with letting her brood in last year), has plucked her breast, sat a bit,  but got back to the roost.

We've had crazy weather...warms up to be spring like then cools back down to freezing. I think its throwing them off.

But good news, Olive is flat as a pancake today spread over some left over eggs on her favorite nest. I've decided not to let her brood in the main coop again (too many crushed eggs, squashed chicks, although integration of the survivors was a thing of beauty).

So, after downsizing my flock over the winter (actually the coon helped a lot with that), I've condensed the birds to the larger coop to let the smaller set fallow. Today, I cleaned that out and plan to move Olive to it this weekend once she is deeply settled and that coop dries out. (Had a leak in the roof so floor was a bit wet).

I'm also picking up another Silkie from the same breeder this weekend...this one is an experienced momma.

So, maybe I can finally get setting some eggs for this spring.  Berney's (my Barnevelder rooster) daughters are laying some nice dark clay pot colors that I want to hatch F2 from, and last year's olive egg project was a bust (all roos and 1 pullet who died during an extreme heat wave).

I've been saving and rotating out eggs of the dark daughters and Olives. So, I've got a nice pile of eggs fresh and fertile for setting.

Soon.  Hopefully. Soon.

LofMc

Glad to see you have another in the broody mood, but very sorry to hear you have had predator issues. The weather patterns have really messed with the birds, but I think the odd weather has made predator attacks worse, seems they are more brazen this year since their normal patterns are also mixed up. Thankfully we have (so far) avoided predator issues.
We currently have two sitting on eggs and 4 with young chicks...my normal spring brooders are just getting started, so I have a couple of older hens I expect to park in the near future.

As far as where you have Olive brood...I understand why you want to move her, not every hen or coop is right for 'in house' brooding...but another option for you would be to let her brood and hatch in the other coop but after a week or so move her back to the main coop in a secure dog cage or similar enclosure to allow the flock to get used to her again, then after a couple of days allow the cage door to be open (when you can supervise) and allow her to enter the flock. See how they behave, there may be a few squabbles (to be expected) but see if they don't settle rather quickly. You may be able to have the best of both worlds...allowing her privacy during her set but still having them raised with the flock so integration isn't an issue.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Glad to see you have another in the broody mood, but very sorry to hear you have had predator issues. The weather patterns have really messed with the birds, but I think the odd weather has made predator attacks worse, seems they are more brazen this year since their normal patterns are also mixed up. Thankfully we have (so far) avoided predator issues.
We currently have two sitting on eggs and 4 with young chicks...my normal spring brooders are just getting started, so I have a couple of older hens I expect to park in the near future.

As far as where you have Olive brood...I understand why you want to move her, not every hen or coop is right for 'in house' brooding...but another option for you would be to let her brood and hatch in the other coop but after a week or so move her back to the main coop in a secure dog cage or similar enclosure to allow the flock to get used to her again, then after a couple of days allow the cage door to be open (when you can supervise) and allow her to enter the flock. See how they behave, there may be a few squabbles (to be expected) but see if they don't settle rather quickly. You may be able to have the best of both worlds...allowing her privacy during her set but still having them raised with the flock so integration isn't an issue.

Good to hear your wonderful pencilled Rocks are still doing their job. I envy those fine ladies of yours and your wonderful set up. And glad you didn't get hammered by predators like we did this year. (We had a very unusual year with our normal rain turning into extended deep snow which drove the hungry hoards down from the mountains).

As to Olive, I am actually going to put her in the coop designed and built for main flock brooding...and which no body has ever used for broody. (Silly birds). With my set up, think 2 coops with attached enclosed run between them for a community "courtyard." The idea was to have this wonderful smaller left side coop for the broodies, and the larger right side coop for layers. Integration could occur in the middle courtyard.. Both have additional exits directly into the main free range yard without going into the courtyard if I need to let the main flock out but momma and babes need some "alone" time. It was meant to be "ideal" for both coop brooding and integrating. However the silly birds never volunteered to use the left brooding coop, or any coop at the time. So....since no one in the large fowl flock was a consistent brooder, I went to bantam only brooding in a segregated THIRD coop built for small, nobody-respects-my-size-but-very-broody-prone Silkies and bantam Cochins.

Chicken math being what it is, I quickly filled that left side coop along with the right side main coop with adult layers instead. Over the years, through adding more breeder quality birds, I've finally gotten large fowl gals (my Marans) who actually want to consistently brood. So last year, I gave in and allowed some big girls to brood in the main coop with less that great results. Even with segregating nests at lock down and first days to prevent chick crush, I kept losing little ones in the main flock from stupid chick tricks... or mostly as hawk bait..I got to watch Cooper's Hawks dive bomb and fly off with 4 week old babes. Argg.

So sadly, my foray into main flock brooding and grow out has been tempered, though the integration is a thing of beauty as the little babes (those who survive) grow up into full fledged flock members. Unfortunately, last year, I could only grow out roos in the main flock, every last, single, one of my main flock raised pullets were taken by hawks or died in stupid chick tricks. Sigh.

But Olive has been persistent, and none of my large fowl like the smaller bantam hutch (which is filled with bantams anyway and that mix with big gals doesn't work well). So, I think she is a good candidate to see if my left broody hutch will indeed be ideal to brood and integrate. It will mean a lot of separate feed bowls and gate let out, as I am determined to get the babes big enough before letting them free range. By the time they are 8 to 10 weeks, the hawks tend to not be so successful. We'll see.

I'm also going to trust my bantams in their enclosed, secure run and grow out to do the "heavy lifting" of brooding this year. Their enclosed pen is surrounded by the free range area of the main flock who gets to observe them as they grow. That still caused some transition issues. My two styles of integration were 1) open broody pen and allow free range period so grow outs forage with main flock (darn, lose bantam brooders that way to hawks), or 2) place the grow outs at 10 to 12 weeks of age in the main coop and keep doing so for several weeks as the confused things keep trying to go home to momma.

But now I have Berney, my wonderful roo, who is really good about helping those confused pullets get into the main flock swing of things.

So I'll do both this year....if I can get anyone to actually stick. Bantams are still greeting me for morning treats and lingering in their run. However, Olive is flat as a pancake this morning in her favorite box. Another day of dry out for that left coop, and I'll fill it with some nice warm bedding and see if Olive will transition. (Pretty sure she will).

LofMc

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Here are some pictures of my broody mama (the black chicken). She's lucky enough to have a broody turkey as a nanny! The poults love to snuggle with the turkey and jump on her back.

 

[fisherlady]

Here are some pictures of my broody mama (the black chicken). She's lucky enough to have a broody turkey as a nanny! The poults love to snuggle with the turkey and jump on her back.

I think that is so cute...I love how comfortable the chicks are with the other flock members (or is it only the turkey hen they will go near?)...the fun part of seeing chicks brooded amongst the flock is often their interactions with other flock members. It sure doesn't take them long to figure out who to avoid and who they can use as a jungle gym! We have a few 'nanny' types and they are priceless members of the flock.

 

[fisherlady]

@AnneInTheBurbs
Do you think there is some level of instinctual recognition on the poults' part that tells them she is a turkey like they are? Even though they know their broody as 'mama' they are drawn to the turkey mama....

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Oh ok , sorry for the silly question, I have seen that before but didn't know what that meant.

There are no silly questions. I like to know what those acronyms mean too. Even if I've seen them before, I sometimes have a brain fart or senior moment.