Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Gulfstream]

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
Can they all get to food and water? if so you can leave her till you think she's through. She'll get up and start letting you know when she is ready to take the ducklings out. The ones that hatched 3 days ago are already ready to go out. How much longer do you think she'll be sitting? she might leave some if she feels like the others need to go out. My Muscovy usually has hers out the next day, but they all hatched within 24 hrs. Congrats. on the great hatch what a sweet pic. every hen is different so you'll just have to try to read what she is wanting to do.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
My goodness thats alot of eggs.

 

[Gulfstream]

Quote:
My goodness thats alot of eggs.

And therein lies the problem. Obviously some got snuck in there when she wasn't paying attention. She is most definitely NOT going anywhere for the moment. Super aggressive and will not get off the nest. I have food and water close to the nest and food and water away from the nest. It is being consumed as I have filled the little dishes many times today and yesterday. Many more trying to pip and from a distance at least one, maybe two bad eggs. I was thinking to let her do her thing for another 48 hours then attempt to remove the others as I do not need soooo many ducklings.

What say you all?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Rachel'sFlock :

Quote:
Thank you, Miss Lydia! I am very excited to have this wonderful resource at my fingertips!
I have some minor questions I haven't seen addressed in the first 80 pages of this thread, but if the answers were there, please forgive me. I read until my eyes cross at night, I swear!

* I have begun to supplement my regulars feed with plenty of leafy greens. I have read that greens are high in folic acid, and other birth-defect-preventing minerals, vitamins and compounds. It has been likened to women wishing to conceive taking folic acid in preparation to conceive. I understand a min. of 6 weeks of supplementing greens, in advance of collecting eggs to hatch, is a good guide. I feed grass, dandelions and clover. My question (finally, I know,

) is, does anyone here feed or supplement anything specific and/or out of ordinary to their hens (or roos) to help prepare them for successful breeding?

I am kind of a freak about all the reading, research and fact-analysis about (well, everything) my chooks and their upbringing. I talk to everyone about everything they know, read everything, and then try to decide what is best for our flock. Often I have leaned in favor of the Old Ways (as per actual homesteading, covered-wagon travelling Great Grandmas and Grandpas), but also consider and incorporate the latest technology, information and advice as it applies to my situation.

I obtained my first 6 1-week-old chicks last May, and first, just wanted sweet, healthy, egg-layers, which I was handsomely rewarded with (Blessed be!). The very instant they were all laying, I began to yearn for a roo, and to create a flock of my own. I feel buying chooks is kinds of a genetic crap-shoot, and want to be a little more in control about my own breeding.
Then I got roosters. 5 of them (talking of hatchery crap-shoots!

) in a batch of 8 straight run, purchased for me by my neighbor and close chicken-croney) . So, I had the opportunity to observe them all as they grew; behavior in the flock, aggression toward people and the hens, and general physical characteristics. All along, I had my heart set on one (the only one with a name, from 4 weeks-old), but he began to be more aggressive than I liked. One roo emerged as a polite, charming little man, who was beautiful and seemed to be a good FlockFather to me.
Having so many roos began to drive my poor hens crazy, and egg production has suffered this summer for it.
In a bit of amazing fortune, my husband's aunt and uncle came to visit the week the boys all turned 20 weeks, and they happen to live on a Century Farm in ND, and usually process 100 birds at a time. When I asked them to give me a live tutorial on processing roos, they sighed and asked "how many?" When I said 2, their eyes lit up, and Uncle Marty started sharpening knives.
So, now I have a balanced flock, the hens are happy and laying, and my eggs are fertile, so of course I am now obsessing about the next thing which is hatching fuzzy butts.
I finally grasp the nature of "chicken math" (which I also have found includes subtraction), and am so excited about this whole process.
Thank you all for having shared your experiences. As with all things chicken, I see so many different stories, and see that I will continue to have to learn everything and then call an audible about what we will do in this flock, in any given situation.
As I mentioned, I am so delighted to have found this thread before I got ready to allow AliceAnn to complete her life's work. She is a serious broody, who commits to the task, regardless of eggs, golf balls or anything. But I have seen how she tenderly rolled the golf balls, arranged them just so beneath her...and she didn't google a single thing! She had never set a clutch in her life, yet she knew exactly what to do.

I can hardly wait to document this experience, as I have all the rest of our milestones ( first roost in the brooder, noodle-lympics, first day in coop, first egg, first perfect egg day, first rooster, etc, etc...ad nauseum to anyone who doesn't have a baby, a puppy or a chicken they love~ I feel sad for them).
Thanks for being my forum about this. My obsession drives most people crazy...it is great to have a team of folks who already are!!!

Brightest Blessings!

Sounds like you have done a good job, when my hens went broody and all total I had 9 including one duck, I only feed them Flock raiser and chick/starter grower. They all free range so they were able to get any green they so desired. All stayed very healthy during their brood, but one we lost her, still not sure what happened but she managed to hang on till her chicks were 4 weeks old. I also give as treats a couple times a day dried meal worms. I know what you mean about roos. out of 18chicks we had 8 roos hatched , so 6 have already gone into the freezer and we're still deciding on the other 2 but so far they are behaving themselves and the flock is calm, and our 2 resident roos aren't trying to fight them. Your right about Alice ann already knowing more than we will ever know about brooding and hatching and raising. All you have to do is make sure she eats drinks and sit back, she'll take care of the rest. So happy brooding. Others can chime in on any thoing they did as far as feeding, we all have our own methods, like you said what works best for our flocks.​

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
My goodness thats alot of eggs.

And therein lies the problem. Obviously some got snuck in there when she wasn't paying attention. She is most definitely NOT going anywhere for the moment. Super aggressive and will not get off the nest. I have food and water close to the nest and food and water away from the nest. It is being consumed as I have filled the little dishes many times today and yesterday. Many more trying to pip and from a distance at least one, maybe two bad eggs. I was thinking to let her do her thing for another 48 hours then attempt to remove the others as I do not need soooo many ducklings.

What say you all?

Sounds like a good plan, and maybe after the 48 hrs she will be through, they seem to know when to quit.
was going to say, I have 2 hens that are broody but I have been taking their eggs, we have had enough chicks for this season. Anyway came home from church and went in to see who had laid and one of those hens had rolled a big duck egg under her. She is very determined to hatch something she doesn't care at this point what it is.

. she is a little bantam and was sitting on a muscovy egg.

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

ever the planner, I have pics of Maximus Decimus Meridius and AliceAnn, daddy and broody mum of the flock:

(tho not broody, just now, she is preparing to lay an egg, in her fave nest. You can tell she isn't broody because she isn't fluffed out like a prom dress, and actively seeking to peck my eyes out!

)


Next time she sets, it's on like Donkey Kong!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Rachel'sFlock :

ever the planner, I have pics of Maximus Decimus Meridius and AliceAnn, daddy and broody mum of the flock:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/58241_cats_and_chickens_035.jpg


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/58241_chooks_001.jpg

(tho not broody, just now, she is preparing to lay an egg, in her fave nest. You can tell she isn't broody because she isn't fluffed out like a prom dress, and actively seeking to peck my eyes out!

)


Next time she sets, it's on like Donkey Kong!!!

pretty pics. they can get pretty rowdy when broody, some of mine sound like a banshe when I mess with them.​

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Thank you, MissLydia. I am pretty pleased with them. Their maturity feels a long time coming, but they are so wonderful
So excited about the next big thing, but kind of grateful to have the flock balanced, eggs being layed and a rhythm being kept on the farm, again!
I kept BigDaddy Max, and he has "paired off with the 6 year-old biddies. I also kept a less developed roo (shaping up, nicely), who has paired off with the 3 new girls from this year. It has kept the peace, the boys play well together (so far...knocks wood) and the hens aren't being over bred (again, knocking wood).
I am really hoping I can keep both roos, because of the genetic diversity having both brings to the flock.

Ok, off to my quiet research corner to read and learn until Alice goes broody again!
Thanks again!

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Trying an experiment, now, in the "off broody" season.
I have a small area under the nesting boxes wired off from the rest of the coop. I kept the babies in there until they were large enough to mingle with the year-olds. The door is rolled up so it is open at the moment.
No one has ever layed eggs in this area, but it has been a quiet, secluded spot from Day One. I have seen evidence of the new pullets rounding up some straw, but no eggs.
My broody always goes broody in her fave nesting box, but I am wondering if I can lure her to go broody in a more ideal location (on the floor, not 2 feet off the ground in a nesting box). I have placed a large cardboard box on it's side, with nesting straw and golf balls in one end, facing out. This leaves loads of room for a broody and babies to have a safe place to live, once they arrive.
She goes broody about every 4-6 weeks (maddening at best, with no fertile eggs) and has just begun laying again since last round.
I would love it if she would brood on her own in this new location, but even if she goes broody in her normal box, I now have somewhere to stash her, the golf balls, and later, precious fertile eggs. I can also close her in to he area, so she cannot return to the fave nesting box.
I have always broken her in a rabbit cage with wire bottom, and considered trying to move her into it, with a nest box, but don't want to confuse "this is where I go NOT broody" with a place to hatch chicks.
AliceAnn is a sucker for golfballs, so I am hoping she sniffs them out, and decides to like the new digs...

Have no idea what will happen here, but am trying to remain prepared as best I can for my next round of broody!
Has anyone else attempted to "create" a broody environment with any success?


Thanks, in advance!