Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[stonykill]

I am counting on them being good fliers....

they are pretty impressive. I have one young blue hen who lives in a tin shed with her siblings. Their choice to live there. Fine with me. But anyway... every morning she flies out of the shed, squauking up a storm, and flies around the house to get to the duck pen. Silly girls.

Now what is a strange thing to get used to is early in the morning, if I'm outside before the ferrel Sumatra's are out of their spruce tree, it can get crazy. They see me, and start flying down. Anywhere from 10 to 30 of them. All flying TOWARDS ME! They can get a foot away from me, then kinda stop the forward motion, and land straight down at my feet.

The 1st time...I ducked. Still do sometimes. 30 Sumatra's flying directly towrds your head....... They never have flown into me. Buzzed (felt the breeze) me a few times if they are flying around the house, as I'm walking around the other way.

 

[HetaChick]

Wow! Some of the smaller bantams can really fly pretty well can't they!?

My little tiny baby OEGB mix jumps onto my leg while I'm standing, flapping her wings like crazy, and sort've jump/flies up to my chest and then sleeps in my neck.

The bird is like 5/6 inches tall and I'm about 5' 7"….. so it shocked me the first time it did it. I didn't know they could do that.

I have to capture it on record lol

 

[perchie.girl]

they are pretty impressive. I have one young blue hen who lives in a tin shed with her siblings. Their choice to live there. Fine with me. But anyway... every morning she flies out of the shed, squauking up a storm, and flies around the house to get to the duck pen. Silly girls.

Now what is a strange thing to get used to is early in the morning, if I'm outside before the ferrel Sumatra's are out of their spruce tree, it can get crazy. They see me, and start flying down. Anywhere from 10 to 30 of them. All flying TOWARDS ME! They can get a foot away from me, then kinda stop the forward motion, and land straight down at my feet.

The 1st time...I ducked. Still do sometimes. 30 Sumatra's flying directly towrds your head....... They never have flown into me. Buzzed (felt the breeze) me a few times if they are flying around the house, as I'm walking around the other way.

They really do sound as good a flyers as the Guineas Are in which case they have Soo many places where they can go to forage here. no trees except what humans plant but Ribbonwood Chamise and Huge Huge Huge rocks.



That little rock in the foreground is about two feet across. I have had the guineas come out of the rocks when they heard the feed barrel clang Fly over the house and land in front of me like that.

deb "counting the days"

 

[Miss Lydia]

They really do sound as good a flyers as the Guineas Are in which case they have Soo many places where they can go to forage here. no trees except what humans plant but Ribbonwood Chamise and Huge Huge Huge rocks.



That little rock in the foreground is about two feet across. I have had the guineas come out of the rocks when they heard the feed barrel clang Fly over the house and land in front of me like that.

deb "counting the days"

What a pretty scene Deb. Sounds like them Guineas could be in the circus.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wow! Some of the smaller bantams can really fly pretty well can't they!?

My little tiny baby OEGB mix jumps onto my leg while I'm standing, flapping her wings like crazy, and sort've jump/flies up to my chest and then sleeps in my neck.

The bird is like 5/6 inches tall and I'm about 5' 7"….. so it shocked me the first time it did it. I didn't know they could do that.

I have to capture it on record lol

Yes you will! I have some bantams that fly over the fence with my game roo, I always worry they won't make it back at night fall but he always brings them home. My Orps? now they can't hardly jump, so they don't fly at all.

 

[AlienChick]

My broody Silkie had 10 eggs (bantam barnyard mixes) underneath her. I also put three shipped Silkie eggs under her and only one turned out to be fertile, so I tossed the other two.
Her nest was in a box on the floor of the coop inside a large dog crate. I had planned to close the door of the dog crate during hatching so the baby chicks would be contained.
On the "lockdown" day I noticed she was off the nest foraging for food, so I seized this opportunity to go check on the 11 eggs.

They were GONE! All of them!
I searched everywhere; even raking through the deep litter on the floor.
Nothing!

So I started coming up with ways the eggs could have disappeared (predator? she ate them? they disintegrated?).
Then I remembered that two days prior the weather was really sunny and warm, and I left the main coop door open to air it out.
I also remember later seeing one of my dogs inside the coop with his head poked inside the dog crate, and I yelled at him to get out, which he did.

Now I'm thinking he ate all of the eggs.

This could have been worse because I had ordered shipped eggs and had planned to put ten of those underneath her and toss the barnyard mixes.
I'm SO GLAD I didn't do that!

I'm still sad all those potential babies were eaten though.

 

[Miss Lydia]

My broody Silkie had 10 eggs (bantam barnyard mixes) underneath her. I also put three shipped Silkie eggs under her and only one turned out to be fertile, so I tossed the other two.
Her nest was in a box on the floor of the coop inside a large dog crate. I had planned to close the door of the dog crate during hatching so the baby chicks would be contained.
On the "lockdown" day I noticed she was off the nest foraging for food, so I seized this opportunity to go check on the 11 eggs.

They were GONE! All of them!
I searched everywhere; even raking through the deep litter on the floor.
Nothing!

So I started coming up with ways the eggs could have disappeared (predator? she ate them? they disintegrated?).
Then I remembered that two days prior the weather was really sunny and warm, and I left the main coop door open to air it out.
I also remember later seeing one of my dogs inside the coop with his head poked inside the dog crate, and I yelled at him to get out, which he did.

Now I'm thinking he ate all of the eggs.

This could have been worse because I had ordered shipped eggs and had planned to put ten of those underneath her and toss the barnyard mixes.
I'm SO GLAD I didn't do that!

I'm still sad all those potential babies were eaten though.

I am so sorry to hear that. I know what you mean about oportunistic dogs though, mine would eat an egg in a sec. and eat the chicken feed every chance they get. I hope you can get some chicks out of the new eggs..

 

[Fuffy]

My broody Silkie had 10 eggs (bantam barnyard mixes) underneath her. I also put three shipped Silkie eggs under her and only one turned out to be fertile, so I tossed the other two.
Her nest was in a box on the floor of the coop inside a large dog crate. I had planned to close the door of the dog crate during hatching so the baby chicks would be contained.
On the "lockdown" day I noticed she was off the nest foraging for food, so I seized this opportunity to go check on the 11 eggs.

They were GONE! All of them!
I searched everywhere; even raking through the deep litter on the floor.
Nothing!

So I started coming up with ways the eggs could have disappeared (predator? she ate them? they disintegrated?).
Then I remembered that two days prior the weather was really sunny and warm, and I left the main coop door open to air it out.
I also remember later seeing one of my dogs inside the coop with his head poked inside the dog crate, and I yelled at him to get out, which he did.

Now I'm thinking he ate all of the eggs.

This could have been worse because I had ordered shipped eggs and had planned to put ten of those underneath her and toss the barnyard mixes.
I'm SO GLAD I didn't do that!

I'm still sad all those potential babies were eaten though.

That's AWFUL!!!!!!

Hope the shipped eggs work out for you!

Bet the dogs won't be able to do it again!!!!

 

[Niss]

I am so sorry to hear that. I know what you mean about oportunistic dogs though, mine would eat an egg in a sec. and eat the chicken feed every chance they get. I hope you can get some chicks out of the new eggs..

My dog isn't too bad with eggs, but she LOVES chicken food.
Good luck with the shipped eggs! Is she still broody?

 

[Miss Lydia]

My dog isn't too bad with eggs, but she LOVES chicken food.
Good luck with the shipped eggs! Is she still broody?

Mine also love the chicken poo too and duck poo and probably any other kind of poo. I know