Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Atomic Ranch]

I am about to go out to the coop right now and put our newest broody into just about the same arrangement as you have-- a double nest. I am putting a solid board between her and the rest of the coop because the coop is only 4x4 and contains a broody and her 8 chicks that she just hatched out today. I don't want the two hens communicating so they can concentrate on themselves. My daughter had problems last year with a hen abandoning a nest because she saw other newborn chicks and thought she should be with them! By the time we are certain the broody is settled on the eggs- a day or two-, the mama and chicks will be moved to the nursery area and we can open things up again.

Great! So this is normal? Hooray! Sounds like you've got your hands (coop) full though, wow! I guess the ideal would be to move the broody into a separate area next time... If I could build the coop again, I think I'd have integrated a brooder area. Not to late to knock out a section I guess! No more chickletts for now though... after these (hopefully)! Best of luck and thanks!

 

[JakRat]

Hehe! You showed them? How awesome... So, you just set them on it and they went? Like little wind-up toys they are! Never figured I'd raise chicks (I was happy with the ten + one roo), but since she was so darned insistent, I just couldn't resist. I just wonder how the others will react to them. Doing a lot of reading, to say the least. Thanks for chiming in! Sounds like you're having fun too.

Well they ran back to mama after I set them up there, but then when she went up it was like a light blub went off in their adorable little brains. It all depends on how the other will react. You just have to watch for a bit. My mama is the lowest on the totem pole and no one is bothering her or her babies anymore. There were a few fights and scuffles and some babies being picked up the first few hours, but after I stepped in and made them realize who the REAL head hen is they stopped. I wouldnt be to worried though since your gal is in the coop anyway. You may even be able to take that wire down. My mama hen takes on our jack russlle to protect her babies (he just wants to play, its really cute) so I wouldnt worry to much.

Its a great learning experience and the next time I have hens after these ones I will for sure be starting out with a breeding pair and having the mom raise the babies! So much less work

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Atomic-- in the past we have also allowed broodies to incubate and hatch in our eggnests in the coop,too. But DH has over 20 hens and only 3 nests they will use and we can't afford the luxury of giving a broody one of those nests.
We recently added one of those commercial metal nest boxes in one side of the coop. The hens ignore it and lay in the 3 large nests. We'd take out the large nests but don't want to upset the layers so they'd stop laying. Darn chickens!

 

[hennypenny99]

oh and also today the chicks learned how to go up the ramp. It was super cute. Mom was having some difficulty teaching them so I had to intervene and show them that they could stand on the ramp. Then when mom went up the next time they followed her right up! It was super cute. This whole ordeal took about 45 min because at first they didn't get the whole ramp idea. So they went to the one roost and tried to jump from there (which is impossible). Mama then went and tried to show them that they could jump from the roost, but she failed to jump so back to the ramp she went. She then gave up for a while and sat down with them. Then after I went and helped out a bit it was smooth sailing. They have hunkered down in the one nest box for the night. Super cute I just hope that they can make it down in the morning.

The one egg that never hatched is in there too... I still see blood veins and what not, so I put it up there with her just to see... an experiment if you will. I am still so traumatized from that egg I opened that still had the baby alive in it that I just cant bring myself to throw it away.

I love this whole experience of having a broody hen!!! Also today mama and babies were dust bathing together! They are only a week and a half old! It is amazing how fast they pick up things when they are shown how by mama. Broody is the way to go!

I took some video, but I will have to up load that later.

I once opened an egg that I thought was bad and it had a chick in it. It was horrible. I'm the same way, unless it's 100% clear or smells really bad I won't toss it and if I choose to toss it I don't open it - just in case.

Well My broody had a baby when I got home! A guinea baby. I hope she doesnt cause it to die because when I found it, it had fell into the nesting box next to the one where the hen is and it's leg had slipped into a crack and was stuck. I got him out and slipped him back under her and candled the other eggs. I'm not sure about them so just in case I put them back. Then I came back later to gather eggs and he had gotten out again. She won't get off of the other eggs and the baby will get cold tonight if he gets out from under her? I hope she keeps him warm. This may be the only one she has.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Adorable

We moved our hens and their chicks this morning and the one broody still sitting on some eggs. It went relatively smoothly for getting 5 hens and 12 plus chicks out of the cramped area they chose to brood in and into a pen in the house.


The first to arrive.


In transit



Everyone is settled in now and going about their chicken ways. We have had 3 eggs that only partially hatched. So six total that didn't make it. If no more eggs hatch by Saturday I think I'll remove the rest. We've had something hatch every day since last Saturday. This Sat will be 4 weeks since I penned them up so I'm guessing if they don't hatch by then, they aren't going to.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Could it be gapeworm? I read somewhere that gapeworm causes them to open and close their mouths - may look like they're throwing up.

I havent tried the epsom salt drench on her yet. I wasnt sure if that would be used for sour crop, but I will see how she is when I get back into town. I gave her some anti fungal meds today. I am starting to think that maybe she has pendolous crop on top of that. She is still running around, eating and drinking fine. I have had to vomit her a couple of times. My husband will be watching them while I am gone and he is a "let nature work itself out" kind of a guy so any treatment will have to wait until I get back. The one thing she does that makes me worried to is she looks as though she is trying to throw up randomly. Luckily if anything takes a major turn for the worse, I can just call the vet and her can take her there.

 

[bobbieschicks]

The area looks fine - when she poops it will be one great big one and you can clean it out pretty easily as long as it's not washed off the eggs. Just wipe or flick it off any eggs.

Momma and chicks could go out by day 3 after they've hatched. She'll leave and they'll follow her. If they get too far away she'll cluck them back to her. And she will protect them. Smokey seemed like it didn't bother her to have anyone else around - until the rooster grabbed one of the chicks and flung it. Boy, Smokey went crazy! She attacked the rooster and from that day on she pecked anyone that got within two feet of the babies. A fierce momma to be reckoned with!

Update (for bobbieschicks too)-- she took a break this morning and meandered about too long, and the eggs cooled off again. As soon as I put her back in the coop and she saw them, she was like, "oh, right, those..." and sat once again. But considering it's day 16, I don't want her to abandon them. So I fenced her in. Kinda tight quarters, but she can stand and stretch, and has water and mash. I guess I get to clean the poo out

but best I can do. There are rocks filling up the space between the nest boxes, and shavings over that. Chicken wire with hardware cloth on the bottom 6". Do you see anything I should change?

Questions: How long should I keep her and the (hopefully) chicks in there? Should I let them out soon-ish and provide a ramp so they integrate with the rest? If she leaves the coop, will they follow her? Mine have been ramp-less for a while to keep other critters out. I should re-attach it, yes?

Thanks for all of your help!

 

[bobbieschicks]

That patina comes eventually. I had a pretty clean coop until someone got bloody one night and apparently flung it all over the place. It looked like a CSI scene with blood splattered everywhere. As soon as it's warm enough I plan to repaint if the blood won't wash off.

They will learn the ramp - usually by the 1st week. You may have to help them learn, but if you don't they'll figure it out on their own eventually.

Really?

Thanks! I've only had the coop and the chickens for a year, so give it time... I'm sure it'll get that nice patina that you all's have.

So, reading your post, they learned how to walk up the ramp and follow their mother? How old were they when they started to do that? Mine is only brooding two eggs, but it would still be cute to see... Hope they make it and looking forward

 

[bobbieschicks]

Sounds like you've got your hands full with all those broodies! Let us know how things go.

Alright, time for an update. First 3 of my 12 hens/pullets went broody. 2 of them had their eggs hatch already, 4 chicks total, 2 EE and 2 Ameraucanas. But after losing one Am chick (somehow) overnight I decided to take their chicks and put them in the brooder with the ones I hatched about a week ago. One of the mommas went and sat on her pen-mates eggs...which are due in about a week, so I went ahead and gave the other one *more* eggs. lol Poor thing wanted babies so bad and I took them away after only two days with them, I think she's determined to hatch more.

My silkie also went broody yesterday, so I gave her EE 5 eggs. So I think I have about 18 eggs under 3 broodies. My silkie is so sweet, she doesn't even care that I reach into her cage to pet her, she's in my spare bedroom (she usually sleeps in there anyway). I AM running out of places to separate broodies, thank goodness none of my EE have decided to follow the broody trend!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I opened the door on day 1 after they hatched and the rooster hopped inside and attacked one of the babies. So I kicked out the rooster and closed the door until day 3. Smokey and the babies were ready to get out then. They all came out of the coop while everyone else was out freeranging - I have a ramp on the side for her to get them in/out. They figured it out pretty quick and were on the ground with Smokey in no time.

I was worried about the rooster attacking them again so I kept her and the babies in that side of the coop for about a week and let them out when the others were gone. After a few days I decided to try letting Smokey be in charge of the babies and let them out when the others were nearby. Smokey attacked both roosters and a few of the other pullets - but she kept her babies safe. One of the other pullets tried to attack Smokey, but not her babies.

It was a little bit of drama - but it was over pretty quick. After that Smokey worked to integrate the babies and I kept hands off. They started sleeping in the main coop on the floor for a few days. Eventually she moved them up into a nest box. And now at 5 weeks old they are sleeping on the roost with momma.

Okay, cool! Never done this sort of thing, so thanks for the reassurance. So, a couple of weeks? Let them out and supervise, then back in? No trouble getting momma back in? Sorry, lol... questions, questions. My Partridge Rock is just so big. I don't want her getting too restless or anything. When can you fully integrate?

And thanks!

You, too!