Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[the1honeycomb]

Just candled my eggs, the EE is empty!! very porous egg. but the other two are dark and full!!! one more than the other so it may still be a birthing July 1!!!!
Very eggcited!!

 

[aubreynoramarie]

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Thanks guys. I know nothing about broodys. When I got her she has some eggs that were almost ready to hatch but the move freaked her out and the eggs died. Now she's back in the dog crate and I think she's sittin on some of my other hens eggs but I don't know because I'm terrified to check under that she-devil

If you don't mind her sitting then just let her do her thing. might want to sneak in while she's out doing her thing and mark the eggs so you can keep up with the first ones to hatch. what I mean is when she goes outside sneak in and mark her eggs. [don't want you to lose a hand

no i do like my hands very much. none of the eggs under her are fertile- no roo

But i have babies due to hatch today (though thats not looking so good either!)

 

[hillbillycitygirl]

I put my broody in a different box and just loosely put fence around it because I couldnt find the screw gun and my hubby is away until tomorrow...that little stinker left her nest again and went and sat on new eggs someone else layed...then I moved her back and what do you know, she got out again and was sitting on yet a different nest. she just cant make up her mind. what in the world?????
Now I have three broody hens, two bantams and a wyandotte, I can almost feel the PMS in the coop, its not good lol
I am ordering some eggs tomorrow so I can at least choose what they hatch, I dont want any bantam babies right now.

 

[hillbillycitygirl]

Quote:
If you don't mind her sitting then just let her do her thing. might want to sneak in while she's out doing her thing and mark the eggs so you can keep up with the first ones to hatch. what I mean is when she goes outside sneak in and mark her eggs. [don't want you to lose a hand

no i do like my hands very much. none of the eggs under her are fertile- no roo

But i have babies due to hatch today (though thats not looking so good either!)

I use a towel and nicely place it over top of them and lift them out, no fuss, no freaking and no hand pecking at all, then when I am done I just pop her back on she she acts like nothing even happened. Its great.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Quote:
no i do like my hands very much. none of the eggs under her are fertile- no roo

But i have babies due to hatch today (though thats not looking so good either!)

I use a towel and nicely place it over top of them and lift them out, no fuss, no freaking and no hand pecking at all, then when I am done I just pop her back on she she acts like nothing even happened. Its great.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

I guess I've been lucky thus far. Dark Cornish Mama was all bluff. She would do the dinosaur growls but she never attacked me. She does the Velociraptor Scream (TM by broody mamas!) if anyone gets too close to her babies. I've watched full size cockerals decide they had business elsewhere after an altercation with her!

The current broody is a Dominique-Ameracuana. "Twinkle" has been handled by my children almost constantly since she was little (and survived the fox massacare at 10 weeks old with her sister "Beardy"). Twinkle doesn't like being handled now. I speak quietly and move her a few inches off the eggs so I can collect the unmarked ones. I roll the eggs back to center and return Twinkle to her position. She considers forgiving me This Time when I slip some cracked corn next to her.

After Dark Cornish Mama had only one successfully hatch, I went and bought two day olds to give her. I have extra eggs in the incubator for Twinkle. When it rains outside, I mist the eggs. Hopefully when these eggs start "talking" I can slip them under Twinkle with no drama.

Good luck and happy hatching to all the broody hens and us folks that love them!

 

[Chicklette 1]

I gently stick my hand under 5 broodies sitting in one nest to see if they have stolen any eggs that I need to remove. I sometimes get a little growl or a hackle raised here and there but never bites. I handle most of them so I guess they know and trust me. If I ever get a mean one, I won't know what to do!!

 

[Firefly]

We have a chick! Right on schedule on day 21. I went out this morning and thought I might have heard some peeping. A couple hours later when I checked again I was sure, and couldn't resist anymore... I gently peeked under my broody and there was a broken egg and a little chick, still wet! My question now is about moving them. I posted earlier that I left her in a large nesting box because my first attempt at moving resulted in breaking her. I have a cat carrier in the coop ready to move her too, but my questions are 1) when? (I should wait until all the eggs have hatched, right?) and 2) will the carrier be big enough? It's longish but not very tall-- about as tall as a nesting box 3) when do I need to provide chick feed?

Thanks so much, I can't believe she actually did it! I hope the little ones are healthy and that they make it.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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Congrats!!! when ready to move make sure it's at night, and I think I'd find something else to put them in you want them to have plenty of room especially mama she needs to be able to turn around and stand up. Even a large card board box would work since she'll most likely want to bring them out after about 3 days. I feed my mama hen chick feed while she is brooding. but after 2 days she will show them where the feed and water is.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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I've not had a problem with my hens biting, but boy when my Muscovy hens are broody thats a different story, They latch on and pinch the daylights out of ya. I've got a nice blood bruise on my wrist from moving one off the nest this morning.