Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Wow Good luck!
So i just woke up, its 8:12am here. I checked on the broody and she has 3 chicks underneath her still slightly wet!!! They are sooo adorable. Obviously still 18 eggs left so more should be hatching in the evening. I will get the pictures in a few hours.

Wonderful! Congrats!

Quote:
I think you may be. Twins are extremely rare, and its hard enough to see into those tough eggs anyways. We'd love to see some pics. I'm not that experienced, but other here may be able to offer some wisdom.

 

[MrsMoon]

UPDATE:Out of 21 eggs 8 have hatched so far!!! The hen doesn't really like me looking under her too much but I noticed a few others with pips.
Shes doing good so far.
Its day 22 today.

 

[chikenscratch]

Okay, I might be going crazy but I just candled quite a few of the eggs and I swear there are two more eggs with two chicks on them. Am I setting double yolkers without knowing it? In all the years I've had bantams I have never gotten a double yolker from them. Just the standard ones.

Are you sure that you aren't seeing the air cell and chick?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

UPDATE:Out of 21 eggs 8 have hatched so far!!! The hen doesn't really like me looking under her too much but I noticed a few others with pips.
Shes doing good so far.
Its day 22 today.

Congratulations on your hatches thus far

I know it is hard, but really try not to look. Each time you lift the hen you change the humidity of the eggs under her which can cause what is known as a "shrink wrapped" chick...the membrane loses moisture and sticks tight to the chick like glue making it very hard to hatch.

Momma knows best. Just let her sit and hatch.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Day 3, Olive is sitting tight (and happy as can be in her private abode).

I candled a sampling of the egg as I didn't want to disturb her much (she gets very angry when handled with eggs).

Since I'm working with olive and dark brown egg shells, it is always hard to see, but the 4 eggs I pulled looked developing.

Which makes me happy that I should have some hatches with this batch of 9.

Berney my roo seems to cover his ladies well.

LofMc

 

[Shilo7]

I heard a peep inside an egg on Wednesday. Thursday *am she had 1 chick by 2:30 Thursday she had 3 chicks. I checked on her today and there are still eggs that have not hatched how long should I wait to see if they hatch before moving the hen and chicks to their new area.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Day 3, Olive is sitting tight (and happy as can be in her private abode).

I candled a sampling of the egg as I didn't want to disturb her much (she gets very angry when handled with eggs).

Since I'm working with olive and dark brown egg shells, it is always hard to see, but the 4 eggs I pulled looked developing.

Which makes me happy that I should have some hatches with this batch of 9.

Berney my roo seems to cover his ladies well.

LofMc

Go Olive! It's so much fun to have broodies. My girl Cinnamon has eggs due to hatch on Wednesday. I candled around day 7, but she was so nasty at that point I almost lost fingers. I would like to pull the duds, but I will have to wear gloves!

I heard a peep inside an egg on Wednesday. Thursday *am she had 1 chick by 2:30 Thursday she had 3 chicks. I checked on her today and there are still eggs that have not hatched how long should I wait to see if they hatch before moving the hen and chicks to their new area.

Give them another day or two. She will know when to get off the nest.

 

[NysiaAnera]

Oh my goodness, we have a chick!!! Discovered it while checking for eggs. A little yellow cutie pie, from our olive green egg. No pictures yet. So exciting!

 

[Violetsfeathers]

Here is one of the eggs that I think has two chicks in it

This is a one-chick egg, a black blob surfaces once in a while. It's a bit younger

And this is a video of the original egg I thought had two chicks in it, you can see them kicking each other in person.

 

[PouleNoire]

Wont be doing any hatching this year because we got feed store chicks instead! Thanks for all the info though everyone!