Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

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how is it going bb? hope they are hatching good and you now have some peeps..

Nothing this morning.....she is still stuck tight to the eggs. The one that was caved in a little has been turned along with the others and she is back on the nest. She came out long enough to eat very quickly, drink a little bit and go back onto the nest. My SIL got a quick picture of the eggs to show me.

There is no way that one egg can make it. Even if she saw the little one knock out a small chip of shell....the cave in probably took care of the chick. If it were going to make it out of the shell it would have been out this morning. Makes you sad. My SIL is besides herself with worry......this hen has been named Pretty Baby for a year but now I think in honor of my SIL and all the hard work she has done with my chickens while I have been laid up we will rename her to Donnadonna. (what my daughter used to call McDonalds) My SIL's name is Donna.

Will post if we get some hatched out!

Thats a sweet tribute. One of my hens is named Penny after my best friend.. will be waiting to hear how it's going

 

[Fuffy]

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S, you do what you feel is best for your hen and chicks, if you move her at night along with the eggs that haven't hatched she will most likely accept it. Let us know how it goes..

The chickies, eggs and mama are all moved into a temporary pen area, covered with a tarp for shade.. They all seem happy, and are eating starter feed. No more hatching yet. The hen seems to be spending more of her time with the chicks than sitting on the eggs, do you know if this will cause the eggs to not hatch? How long should I wait for them before taking them out? Last possible day they could have been fertilized was 2 weeks and a day ago... It takes 21 days for them to hatch right?

I would think they are probably not going to hatch, I'm afraid. Maybe give it one more night.

But you really need momma to concentrate on the living right now.

Could you put them under a different broody or in an incubator?

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Fuffy]

BTW

My little buffy girls have already discovered the delights of PERCHING.

Momma taught them 'dustbathing' yesterday. And today they were sitting on the ... errr... stick that I have in my nursery.

Sooo cute ...Will try for pics tomorrow

 

[Tiss]

Gwen took her chicks out in the run for the first time today! Man did they ever get beat up as she took a dust bath, poor peeps.

For some reason Blue is much smaller than Splash. She looks like she hasn't grown at all. She seems to be eating and drinking well and is active. This is a terrible picture, but Splash has full wings now and tail feathers and Blue has none. I'm a little worried about her.

 

[Fuffy]

Not that I'm an expert, but it seemed to me that my boys were a little further along than my little girls.

Hope they are both girlies for you!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

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I hope they are both healthy, they look to be. cute as lil bugs in a rug too.

 

[perchie.girl]

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The feathers actually make them look bigger than they are. Not a super expert here but I have heard here on BYC that little boys get their feather later than the little girls. So maybe Blue is a he not a she. Just a couple of thoughts.

 

[Tiss]

I hope (s)he is just a runt. I keep waiting for her to grow!

In other news, Red's still sitting on her 11 eggs. I candled them a few days ago and I'm dying to look again tonight. I told myself I'd wait until day 10 so I could see more shadow in the BCM eggs, but I'm so impatient. Eight is close enough, isn't it?

 

[Theeggboxtoo]

We have Babies! 4 chicks, 2 BO/EE mixes, a olive egger and a unknown, pics to come!

 

[NellaBean]