Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Philosorapteuse]

Once the chicks have hatched I haven't had any issues moving hens with their chicks.

Just sort of scoop up carefully then?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Just sort of scoop up carefully then?

Since you have two hens maybe an extra set of hands would be helpful, lol. Usually my daughter or husband help me. One of us grabs the chicks and the other hens and then we place them in their new space. I don't do anything all that special once the chicks have hatched. Lol

 

[Molpet]

I have put chicks in a bucket and hen follows the crying bucket

 

[mandycapel]

I've been having a hard time hatching my white rock bantam eggs in my hovabator, so I have seven in the 'bator and seven under my white rock hen (who decided to go broody after I needed a hen...

). We'll see if nature does a better job than my hovabator on these eggs. Will post back with results!

I have had no luck moving the hen, so I moved the rest of the flock, lol! I have two pens bacause my rock cockeral fights with my cochin cock, so I just took all the hens (mutts) from the pen my rocks were in and put them in the other pen. This might not work for everyone, but it's OK for me. You might also be able to partition off a part of the coop, like we did for a new batch of youngsters a couple of years ago.

Our nest boxes are raised off the ground, and I am concerned about the chicks falling out and not being able to get back up to mama. Should I make a ramp? Should I close off the front of the nest box until everyone has hatched and then move the chicks and mama to ground level?

We have the same issue, but our broody Silkie is right by the door so can't attach a ramp. We only started allowing her to sit on 4 eggs yesterday as she went broody again. May move her to a separate brooder within the same run of put her on the floor of the coop.

 

[Broxi]

I have a 7 month old CCL that seems to want to be broody. I'd love for her to raise a clutch for me, but how do you really tell if they will go the distance? She's also the most flighty of all my hens. Will this cause the babies she raises to also be flighty? So far she has been in the nest box for a couple days and sits still while I collect eggs from under her. That is not how she normally acts, but isn't growling or pecking at me. How long should I wait to see if she's dedicated?

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Some years ago, my husband built 2 broody boxes for me. (I had 2 broody hens at the same time) They are each a small area that is predator proof at night, with a door that opens to a small run, so the broody hen can eat some grass and do her business away from her nest.
I usually place a hen I believe to be broody in the box with her nest, food and water, with fake eggs under her to see if she will continue to remain broody. I do this at night. If she remains broody I swap the fake eggs for eggs I would like her to hatch. Again I do this at night.
The broody boxes are in the regular chicken run, so everybody can see everybody.
This method has worked well for me. Good luck

 

[BullChick]

As frightening as it is, chicks can actually withstand a fall from the nest box. Watch a video on where our hatchery chicks come from. You will probably never buy chicks again.
How do you know if a broody will stay? You don’t actually know, but if she’s good for a week, she’s probably okay. My current flake will sit from afternoon until morning. She’s puffed, growling and stays when I get eggs. Right now? She’s in the run with the others where she will be most of the day. As soon as I get others, she will stay glued with them in the last week or so. She kept half an eye on the babies last year, but was the first to go back to roosting and laying. I did put her in the broody cage (not breaker) last week. She didn’t like being alone, so that had to end after two days.

 

[BullChick]

This morning after sending the above post, I went out to the coop... a second hen was in the box with the first. They are now in the broody cage.

 

[electrycmonk]

So I have 3 broody Silkie Momma’s.
“Flappy” had 1 of 5 hatch a little over a week ago.
“White Silkie”(I forgot the name kiddos gave her) has a batch of 5 EE/OE that are from ~3/25 start date
“Youngest Silkie Momma” has a batch of 5 1 EE & 4 silkies. They are from ~4/1 start date.

I’ve got to put together the other dog crate to be ready to shuffle Momma’s around for safety of the youngin’s.... at least I have a week still (as a minimum estimate imho)

[edit] yes... pics will be forthcoming properly too.

 

[Imse]

This is Persille (Parsley in english), a swedish hedemora. She's been laying on 11 eggs since march 27. We are counting down the last week.
We have been candeling two times and are sure there are life in the most of the eggs, but the last time we candles she wouldn't let us touch the eggs