Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

Gloria's still on the nest this morning! So tonight I'll slip the newly hatched chicks under her. We still have only 4, the 5th one that has been zipped since yesterday morning is still breathing but hasn't progressed any overnight. I think 4-5 chicks would be a good number to start with.

Keep us posted on how it goes, she'll be 1 happy mama.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Good morning all, I have a question, if I put eggs under my girl in the evening 7:00pm, what day do I begin lockdown ? Not removing her from the nest to go potty? And what day do you think they will start hatching ? I really want to be here for her and the chicks. Can I take her out side once there born so she can go potty, or should. I leave her alone . The nest box with her and the eggs are in a large hutch, on my front porch. We have been taking her out side to poop and eat each day as she will not leave her newt to eat I the hutch other wise.we are hoping to move her with in the next 10 days when the new pen and larger coop is finished. My coop is to small for her to be in there, the nest box is way to high and the coop is big enough for 6 birds, I'm having the coop enlarged and the pen, but for now she is left to the hutch until its done. The nest boxes will be lowered way down in case she sits on more eggs later on.

I would leave her alone on the nest starting the evening of the 17th day since she started to sit on her clutch and stopped laying eggs. They may hatch on the 19th day. Leave her alone after that until you let her and the chicks out on the 2nd day after everyone has hatched.

Let us know how things go!

 

[Miss Lydia]

How about videos? Mama is very tolerant of me.


Mama talks to a pipped chick:


Visiting time is over:

 

[stonykill]

to cute this morning, before the rain started. 3 Mama hens out with their fuzzy butts, all in the same general area of the lawn. I really need a good small camera. My small one takes awful pictures.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Went to check on Topsy after church and found she's laid another egg, now that brings her silkie total to five eggs. Plus she had the Lavender Orpington and now a White Leghorn egg under her. I took the WL egg as we use those all the time for meals. The LO eggs are still pullet or slightly bigger sized so I'm okay with wasting those.

It's pouring down rain, which we need, but that means I am not going to setup a new spot and move her today. She will have to stay longer where she is and hopefully the others will work around her. I'm trying to decide what to do with her. Smokey spent her time in the main coop, but she was wired off from the others. But I've removed that wire because the babies were flying up under it and getting caught on the wrong side. So I have to figure something else out.

I'm wondering how many more eggs she will lay before stopping to "sit" now that she's started her broody process. Looks like she's gathering quite a clutch. 5 bantam and 1 LF so far. Do you think if I put the WL egg back under her she will consider her clutch ready and stop laying? Hmmm. Maybe I'll give that a try.

I'd love to get some hatching eggs to put under her.

 

[Zootopia]

Good morning all, I have a question, if I put eggs under my girl in the evening 7:00pm, what day do I begin lockdown ? Not removing her from the nest to go potty? And what day do you think they will start hatching ? I really want to be here for her and the chicks. Can I take her out side once there born so she can go potty, or should. I leave her alone . The nest box with her and the eggs are in a large hutch, on my front porch. We have been taking her out side to poop and eat each day as she will not leave her newt to eat I the hutch other wise.we are hoping to move her with in the next 10 days when the new pen and larger coop is finished. My coop is to small for her to be in there, the nest box is way to high and the coop is big enough for 6 birds, I'm having the coop enlarged and the pen, but for now she is left to the hutch until its done. The nest boxes will be lowered way down in case she sits on more eggs later on.

Honestly, they will not starve themselves to death, it would be counter productive.. Put the food and water right outside the nest and leave her alone. she will come out to eat, drink and poop when she needs to and when she feels safe and comfortable. In other words give her some privacy. If you MUST move her do it at night and make sure she is shut in to her "area" to encourage her to stay. I have never had a broody who was penned (after showing she was TRUELY broody by setting tight for at least 2-3 days and being growley) come off the nest. I have had broodys get bullied off or frequently go to the wrong nest when they were left in the communal nest area.

 

[stonykill]

Honestly, they will not starve themselves to death, it would be counter productive.. Put the food and water right outside the nest and leave her alone. she will come out to eat, drink and poop when she needs to and when she feels safe and comfortable. In other words give her some privacy. If you MUST move her do it at night and make sure she is shut in to her "area" to encourage her to stay. I have never had a broody who was penned (after showing she was TRUELY broody by setting tight for at least 2-3 days and being growley) come off the nest. I have had broodys get bullied off or frequently go to the wrong nest when they were left in the communal nest area.

very good advise! Always remember chickens survived 10,000 years without any human help. If anything we have weakened them with coddling. Mama's instinctually know what to do.

 

[karlamaria]

Quote:
Honestly, they will not starve themselves to death, it would be counter productive.. Put the food and water right outside the nest and leave her alone. she will come out to eat, drink and poop when she needs to and when she feels safe and comfortable. In other words give her some privacy. If you MUST move her do it at night and make sure she is shut in to her "area" to encourage her to stay. I have never had a broody who was penned (after showing she was TRUELY broody by setting tight for at least 2-3 days and being growley) come off the nest. I have had broodys get bullied off or frequently go to the wrong nest when they were left in the communal nest area.

her food is by her nest, so is the water she eats none of it. We let her go three days and she still would not et off the nest to eat. We finally lifted her off the nest ,took her out side and she went potty, ate well and drank a ton. We put her right back on the nest, 2 days later the same thing, she drank nothing or ate nothing. So we lifted her off, fed her gave her fresh water and again she pooped and we set her back on the nest. She will not leave that nest for any reason. When she has these babies, I'm carrying the hutch with her nest out to the new pen and she can go in and out at will. She is one die hard broody girl!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Quote:
Honestly, they will not starve themselves to death, it would be counter productive.. Put the food and water right outside the nest and leave her alone. she will come out to eat, drink and poop when she needs to and when she feels safe and comfortable. In other words give her some privacy. If you MUST move her do it at night and make sure she is shut in to her "area" to encourage her to stay. I have never had a broody who was penned (after showing she was TRUELY broody by setting tight for at least 2-3 days and being growley) come off the nest. I have had broodys get bullied off or frequently go to the wrong nest when they were left in the communal nest area.

her food is by her nest, so is the water she eats none of it. We let her go three days and she still would not et off the nest to eat. We finally lifted her off the nest ,took her out side and she went potty, ate well and drank a ton. We put her right back on the nest, 2 days later the same thing, she drank nothing or ate nothing. So we lifted her off, fed her gave her fresh water and again she pooped and we set her back on the nest. She will not leave that nest for any reason. When she has these babies, I'm carrying the hutch with her nest out to the new pen and she can go in and out at will. She is one die hard broody girl!

Smokey never seemed to leave her nest either. I put her on the ground every day at least once to eat, drink & poop because I didn't think she was moving. I'm still not convinced she did move voluntarily. However, I do know that she ate and drank because the food dish was disturbed and she was the only one in that area. So even if it doesn't look like she moves, she moves. But if it eases your mind go ahead and move her each day. That's what I did and I'm sure Smokey was fine with it.

 

[Tripp16]

to cute this morning, before the rain started. 3 Mama hens out with their fuzzy butts, all in the same general area of the lawn. I really need a good small camera. My small one takes awful pictures.

Stony I meant to ask you. Do you use incubators? If so what kind? Or what kind do you prefer. You seem like you have a good bit of knowledge about all this.