Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[phasianidae]

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It will depend on the size of the flock and their temperament, I keep my broodys away from the main flock until the chicks are fully feathered.

 

[Fuffy]

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It's really a case of 'Mama hen knows best'

She may sit on her babies for a day or 2 before she gets them out, so don't be too alarmed.

And, to be honest, now is the time to run away from home and let her get on with it.

Once the babies have started hatching there is nothing you can do except wait, unless you want to boil water.

It is one of the wonders of Nature to see mamma hen when she first brings those babies out!!!!

Enjoy and good luck!!!

 

[quiltnchik]

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It will depend on the size of the flock and their temperament, I keep my broodys away from the main flock until the chicks are fully feathered.

5 of her 6 chicks are meaties, so I'd really love to let them be chickens and free-range some while they can. The other chick is a barnyard-mix I hatched last week and is dwarfed by the meaties.

 

[buckaroo's wife]

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Yes, 24! Apparently, the flock designated her to sit on ALL of their eggs

I honestly thought she was dead, but then DH found her 2 days later under our horse trailer sitting in a nest of leaves and eggs - so we moved her and the eggs just kept coming and coming! We were amazed! We went ahead and moved them all with her, but yes, it IS crowded. I know she's already kicked out one or two eggs....but really, I'd like to make her more comfortable. This is my first time to have a broody hen. She's pretty "angry" though, so I may attempt candling but give it up if it stresses her too much.

 

[phasianidae]

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It will depend on the size of the flock and their temperament, I keep my broodys away from the main flock until the chicks are fully feathered.

5 of her 6 chicks are meaties, so I'd really love to let them be chickens and free-range some while they can. The other chick is a barnyard-mix I hatched last week and is dwarfed by the meaties.

Give it a try and see how it goes, most broodys are very protective mothers and will take great care of their chicks.

 

[Pharm Girl]

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Thanks! I think it might be love.....They are stealing my heart. I walked them around the house in my bathrobe this morning and they snuggled right in.

 

[boxermom]

I had 1 broody last year that had her chicks hop out of the brooder and she took them everywhere, including outside. I had another broody that kept them all with her inside the brooder tank. She never took them outside. She finally left them at about 8 weeks and they never went outside until this spring. I think each "mama" does what she's comfortable with. The only chick I lost was because I didn't have chicken wire over the lower portion of my chicken pen. The chicks could go thru the welded wire, but mama couldn't go with them. Needless to say, that is now fixed.

 

[GoChick]

I've been following this thread for a while, and got all excited when my 8 month old Australorp got broody. Per suggestions here, I made sure she spent two nights in the nestbox before officially declaring her broody. I then ordered some eggs, supposed to arrive this Monday, and was preparing her nest away from the flock, planning on moving her tonight, when lo and behold, one of my other pullets expelled her from the nest, and now she's free ranging with the flock!!! any chances she is broody and will go back? Also, what should I do with the eggs arriving on Monday - for how long would they still be viable? I don't have an incubator, so either she decides to go broody again or I'll be having some very expensive ommelletts. How should I keep the eggs? Outside the fridge? Pointed ends down?

I'm so frustrated right now...thanks!!!

 

[boxermom]

Don't refrigerate. Let them settle for 12 hrs or so, pointy side down. You have nothing to lose. Give your hen some warm eggs of your own to sit on. She may get her "memory" back. Can you partition her off by herself so that won't happen again? If she decides to set, just swap out the eggs she's sitting on with your new eggs. Nothing to lose, so give it a try.

 

[BlackBart]

Right now I have three Broodies on eggs and two more with chicks. Partridge Wyandotte (chicks) , BLR Wyandotte, BCM, SG Dorking and a Gold Laced Cornish (chicks and a excellent Mother)
I have never used a incubator, only Broody hens. I don't know anything about incubators.

Young hens sometimes get silly . They go Broody then change their minds. Its frustrating. I only use my very best Broodys (usually SG Dorkings as they can handle up to 14 eggs) for expensive eggs. I learned the hard way.

A couple of years ago I found one Broody hiding in the bush, a Buff Orpington sitting on 22 eggs! Only seven hatched

I put my Broodies in big dog crates with food and water. I feed them hard boiled eggs along with their regular food and put vitamins in their water.
They all go to a special safe area. Some I will leave the dog crate door open during the day as they like to leave the nest, while others never do leave the nest.
When the chicks hatch, I leave them in that area for approx three days. Then the dog crate moves to a special wire penned area. I open the dog crate door every morning and she barrels out with her chicks to teach them chicken stuff BUT it must be locked up at night.
The pen is fairly large and the fencing is small mesh wire.One end has a back wall and roof for the dog carriers to sit under. Each run is separate from the other. I place fir/cedar/etc. branches in the runs so the chicks can hide under them. They feel safer that way.
They can stay in these runs for quite awhile.
Each run has a door at the end. When the chicks get older and I am home to watch, I open the door to the outside world. But everything is locked up at night.
When the Mother decides it is time to leave the chicks. I put perches in the dog carriers and they can use these for quite awhile. When I think it is time for them to move to one of the big coops. I move the dog carrier into the coop run, near the coop house and do the routine until the young birds figure out it is better to sleep inside the big coop. Usually takes a few days.