Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[josh]

My game hen just hatched 8 of 8

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

I just candled my hen's eggs, and I guess it is just too cold here at the moment, because none of the 7 eggs made it.

Poor mama hen, all that work.

Of the seven egs I had in the incubator, all made it to lockdown, but I had my doubts about a couple. Sure enough, only two are alive as I type, one hatched and one peeping/tapping in its egg. The others were quitters: two at day 15, two at day sixteen, and one at day 17/18. It is better than my first attempt at eggs from the same pair; all those eggs quit/died at days 15-20, no pips. I am trying to figure all this out; I can't seem to hatch these eggs. I have tried three times before this, and all three times I have had horrible hatch rates: 0%, 15% (2 out of 13), 33% (2 out of 6).

I have looked at the troubleshooting sites, and the only thing I can think of is that the eggs are getting too cold before I gather them. I might be able to try in the summer and see if that makes a difference.

 

[quiltnchik]

Quote:
She probably knew something you didn't (chick wasn't developing right or had died) and took care of it herself; it happens

 

[Raven81]

found the shell it was stuck to her feathers but dont know what happened to the contents
& now it seems that she doesnt want to sit on the eggs anymore she keeps getting off & trying to get out of the run then 15 mins later goes & sits on them for an hr then gets off again so i have cranked up the bator incase i need to move the eggs.

 

[Attack Chicken]

First time broody BB hatched out 6 of 7 serama eggs..found out one had already died in the shell when I went to pip the airhole end but no movement or no peeps..sad but it's life and one has a deformed eye but it's peeping and crawling around under mama.


Haven't checked on Pepper anymore when I locked the birds up for the night. So far she has 0

AC

 

[RioLindoAz]

Moving a Broody
This is usually done when a hen goes broody in a small coop/run where she may be bothered by other hens or confuse her nest with another.

At night, have a covered nest prepared and take it inside the coop. It should be dark out so that you can't distinguish the hen's face (the darker the better). Set the nest you prepared next to the Hen's setting place. Next, gently lift her from the nest and nestle her inside the new nesting box. Then grab her eggs and try to put them under or beside her. Broody hens turn their eggs every 15 minutes around the clock, so when she sences them near her, she will tuck them under. Finally, carefully carry the nest box to the designated area you chose to put her.
I always choose a medium sized box to put my broodies in. Something like this should work:

 

[Fuffy]

Quote:
She probably knew something you didn't (chick wasn't developing right or had died) and took care of it herself; it happens

I wonder if there is a predator? Could there be rats around? Or possums?
Better luck next time!!!!

 

[HHandbasket]

Quote:
Those game hens make great broodies! My Olga is half American gamehen & half Easter egger. She's only 7 months old, started laying right about 22 weeks, lays tiny bantam-sized blush/pale pink eggs, then 4 weeks later started trying to go broody. I broke her several times, but apparently her hormones are stronger than my ability to pull her out of the nest 10 times a day. The last time she decided to go broody, it was coincidental with a day when I had picked up some silkie & porcelain d'uccle hatching eggs from a breeder out in Davis. Hmmm.... broody hen, fertile eggs, why not? She's doing a great job for being such a young girl and has only come off the nest maybe 3-4 times in 12 days. I bring her food & water in small dishes and put it where she can get it without getting up. Unfortunately, even though we have 4 nests, all 6 of my layers want to use the same nest, so Olga steals their eggs every day (they go in there and lay right next to her). I have to go out there and steal them back. Sometimes Olga doesn't feel like dealing with me and doesn't steal the other girls' eggs.

Right now, she has 10 eggs under her. There were 11, but I don't know what happened to the other one & there are no shell fragments so I dunno. Anyway, yesterday when she was off the nest, I candled 6 of her eggs & they ALL looked good. It was day 11 & was the first time those eggs had been candled.

Even though I have eggs in two incubators in the house, I'm very excited about what's happening under my Olga out in the henhouse.

 

[ilovechickens]

I had a RIR Bantam 3 weeks ago hatch out 3 of 8 eggs. we had very cold weather, below zero and at times 30 below wind chills. I was glad that she hatched out the 3!!! now I have another RIR Bantam that is due to hatch on Tuesday, she has 8 Buckeye eggs under her!! very very good mama, she gets off once a day and takes a large poop drinks some water and hops back up in the nesting box!!! I have not candled the eggs or touched them, she isn't as friendly as the last hen. Now I need to move her and her eggs to the brooder box so the baby chicks don't fall and get hurt, or she will want to jump back up into her nest!! will keep you posted!!

 

[Raven81]

Quote:
well she has gone off the cluck completely poor thing so close to having them hatch but she was sitting for almost 2wks before i got the eggs & its her first time bein broody so she done well just didnt stick to it.
i now have the eggs in the bator i made in the hopes that they will still hatch in a day or so.