Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Jloeffler]

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you need to write a book that was so funny.

X2!! Poor Miss Lizzie!

 

[Jloeffler]

Good point, Miss Lydia, and as Hope is galavanting around her newly set up brooder cheeping demandingly whenever she hears someone nearby, we are fairly certain she's healthy!

Pretty, my broody, has 12 d'uccle eggs under her. I was afraid there were too many, but she fits all of them under her with room to spare. Chicks are due on Monday. Time to prep the coop with chick blockers. I can't wait to see cute fizzies! My ILs are coming to town for the weekend and my MIL is hoping theynhatch before they leave so she can see them. I hope they hatch soon so Hope has a friend. The stuffed chick isn't going to last long!

The (Poultry) Chicken Addiction Anonymous thread is in the Pictures and Stories of My Chickens section of BYC. You'll recognize several of the contributors from other threads, Miss Lydia!

 

[slurrywidow]

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Yes I gave them to her this morning. So the 21st it is! I'm hopeful for your hen too, for both of us. Fingers...and toes...crossed.

 

[slurrywidow]

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Hi!! We can be semi-close hatch buddies if you want.

You can join me and Niss. We'll have stair-stepped hatches. I just put my first set of eggs under a broody this morning. I am very new at this but from what I understand from reading and asking questions, it sounds like you're right on with your plan, at least 1,2 & 3. As for 18 eggs, the advice I got was it might be too many for some hens. Mine is very young yet so I only went with 8 bantam eggs. I know what you mean about being sooooo excited! I am too. Good luck!

 

[Niss]

BarnGoddess--

Wierd thing happened last night--As I was putting everyone (well, everyone that doesn't hide 30' up in a tree

) to bedI noticed Fluffy Britches was not in her nest box...she had been displaced by a 5 mo old tetra tint, who was now on the nest with Fuffy Britches in the box beside her. I'm confussed because that pullet is not a habitual sleep-in-the-nest kind of bird. It also seems to me she'd be unlikily to want to brood. What's up? I left this am with things the same, hoping if the young bird gets up Fluffy Britches will move back over.

 

[kgdubois]

@ slurrywidow (& Niss) = Hi!

I'd be delighted to be "hatch buddies" with y'all! Thanks for the reply

I am so excited, but am trying to keep it under wraps a little, because if it doesn't work out, I'll be so sad

Soooo....fingers crossed, right?

@ Niss - I hope your hens get sorted out during the day today! Silly things -- they always seem to surprise me, but I thought that was just because I'm so new to chickens! Glad to know others are just as baffled by their birds as I am by mine

 

[Niss]

kgdubois--Well, I am pretty new too, I only started this spring, so I am learning almost daily, which is a big part of the fun! My first try at hatching didn't go well, but this is a different hen, and I'm hoping things turn out better. I did give the first broody 4 little fuzzy butts, but I worry for all of us that they are harder to come by this late in the summer. Oh well, I'll just send out extra good vibes for all my buddies

 

[SadieSue]

I have a broody Light Sussex setting on what was 8 fertile EE eggs borrowed from a friend for purposes of hatching. Natch. So long story short, one day after I had moved the broody to her own little coop and run and she had settled in nicely, DH decided to "help" and opened the coop for her to free range. In her confusion she forgot where the eggs were and returned to the big coop and an empty nest. I had not been home all day and was unaware he'd done this. He didn't tell me until we were on our way home last night from an event that he had let her out and she was no longer setting because "he couldn't find her". somad By this time they had been left unattended for at least 5 hours. At 10 PM I moved her back onto the nest with the eggs and this morning she still seemed good, but I just went and checked on her and she'd tossed 5 eggs out of the nest. barnie

Needless to say, I'm a lot disappointed and a little freaked right now. I've fired up the incubator (Brinsea Eco 20) because I don't know what's going on with these eggs. Did she kick them out because they were no good anymore? I was 4 days away from hatching! I just candled and all I can see is solid mass with air sac. Can't determine any movement.

Follow up to my post from a few days ago. All is going well in broody land. I had snatched up those 5 eggs and put them in the incubator thinking the broody had tossed them out of the nest. By yesterday 4 of the 5 eggs have hatched. So yesterday I check the broody and it's still so quiet I can't tell what's going on so I moved her a little and lo and behold - there's a whole lot of peeping and cheeping going on underneath her. She's hatched 2 of the 3 eggs she had left, so we have a total of 6 hatched!

After watching her for a while yesterday and seeing how great she was with "her" 2 chicks, I decided to set the incubator babies in with her and observe. Those babies went running to her to join the others and all were tucked back underneath her neatly. I checked last night on the sleeping family and all was quiet and good.
This morning the mama has gotten up off the nest and was showing the chicks where the food and water was. Then she settled back down with all 6 underneath her again.
What a relief! I was hoping I wouldn't have to be raising these babies in the house this time. A broody hen is indeed, a beautiful thing. The original owner of these fertile eggs is very pleased with how our project has gone.

Also, one confession. When I saw those 5 eggs had been tossed out of the nest I was concerned and set them in my incubator to hatch. But yesterday as I was observing her, I noticed she was stepping on the lip of the temporary nest box I had in the little coop which was a small kitty litter box. She's a big fat Light Sussex, so of course, the box was tipping and everything was wanting to spill out. NOT her fault at all - so I switched it out with a sturdier wooden nest box and all seems good now. I feel bad for underestimating her, but this certainly has been a learning experience for me! Seems she knew what was what all along. I just needed a little faith in her.​

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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Follow up to my post from a few days ago. All is going well in broody land. I had snatched up those 5 eggs and put them in the incubator thinking the broody had tossed them out of the nest. By yesterday 4 of the 5 eggs have hatched. So yesterday I check the broody and it's still so quiet I can't tell what's going on so I moved her a little and lo and behold - there's a whole lot of peeping and cheeping going on underneath her. She's hatched 2 of the 3 eggs she had left, so we have a total of 6 hatched!

After watching her for a while yesterday and seeing how great she was with "her" 2 chicks, I decided to set the incubator babies in with her and observe. Those babies went running to her to join the others and all were tucked back underneath her neatly. I checked last night on the sleeping family and all was quiet and good.
This morning the mama has gotten up off the nest and was showing the chicks where the food and water was. Then she settled back down with all 6 underneath her again.
What a relief! I was hoping I wouldn't have to be raising these babies in the house this time. A broody hen is indeed, a beautiful thing. The original owner of these fertile eggs is very pleased with how our project has gone.

Also, one confession. When I saw those 5 eggs had been tossed out of the nest I was concerned and set them in my incubator to hatch. But yesterday as I was observing her, I noticed she was stepping on the lip of the temporary nest box I had in the little coop which was a small kitty litter box. She's a big fat Light Sussex, so of course, the box was tipping and everything was wanting to spill out. NOT her fault at all - so I switched it out with a sturdier wooden nest box and all seems good now. I feel bad for underestimating her, but this certainly has been a learning experience for me! Seems she knew what was what all along. I just needed a little faith in her.

Congratulations!!!! Broodies truly are a wonderous thing. I'm so glad your mama has taken on all the chicks.

And a very good hatch rate too!! Well done.

Pictures ????

 

[Jloeffler]

Congratulations SadieSue!!

& x2 with Pictures!!