Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[B J Hopkins]

that is sad- but you tried- i guess thats why i get a little uneasy letting mama back with the flock while the babies are real little- course now i am scraping to find places for the broodies! but it really is hard to know which way to go on it-



here is the latest-

nilly's first two are out, one more to go, the one on the right is a cochin/barredrock the black is a silky/cochin....

Silky/Cochin...Is the Cochin a Bantam? Otherwise I can't picture the mating?

 

[artsyrobin]

yep... my Captain is a bantam cochin, and has the attitude he is one of the big guys!

Quote:

 

[redstarmama]

Your red "shavers" look like a red sex link they call red star in my area. They are a RIR and White Leghorn cross. All the pullets are red. I have 20 and love them! They started laying at 17-18 weeeks. Our yearly average is 18 a day even through molt. I could be wrong but that's what they look like. And I am only 35 miles from Ontario so it kind of all fits...

 

[Miss Lydia]

So sorry for your loss myby, try again it's the only way. And robin those chicks are precious, love the Captain. I have a cochin batam roo who stands on his tippy toes when he crows. Congrats for the great hatch!!
I went to the Purina website and you can feed chicks from hatch on Flock Raiser. I like that. don't have to worry about trying to keep feed separate.

 

[bobbieschicks]

So sorry for your loss myby, try again it's the only way.  And robin those chicks are precious, love the Captain. I have a cochin batam roo who stands on his tippy toes when he crows. Congrats for the great hatch!! 

I went to the Purina website and you can feed chicks from hatch on Flock Raiser. I like that. don't have to worry about trying to keep feed separate. 

xs2!

 

[JodyJo]

I have 2 Australorps broody, one should hatch hers on Mother's Day...the other has just started...I am very excited, my first hens to go brrody, we will see what lessons I learn from all of this! Good Luck to you as well!

 

[countrygirl5]

So...my pekin ducks are doing wonderful. We finally moved them out of the dog crate and into the chicken coop at the end of April, and they are much cleaner and happier. But I'm pretty sure they're both drakes. (sad for the kids, but happy for me. duck for christmas!) My wyandotte broody should hatch her two eggs any day now. I'm not exactly sure the date cause I forgot to write it on the calendar. But I'm pretty sure that Sunday it'll be 3 weeks. My only concern is. . she is w/the other hens and gets off her nest once a day, pretty much. And there is almost always at least one other egg under her everyday. I have to pull all the eggs out she's got, and then put the two that i've marked back. My question is. . since it's getting close to hatch day, is it okay for me to keep pulling them out, even to the day they hatch, or should I just leave them alone now and when they hatch, then pull out the duds that got in there? Around the time she usually gets off, I'm too busy inside w/the kiddos to run out and check the nest, plus it's not exactly the same time everyday. This is my first broody that's actually lasted this long, so I'm really wanting this to go well. I haven't candled, I'm just letting nature takes it course.

HELP!!

 

[CALI CHICK]

Buffy hatched 2 of the 5 Trader Joe eggs. She got off the nest with the other chicks and got in a "different" nest box. (I think Miss Lydia said she might do this.) When I removed the 3 eggs, she got back in her original nest box. I didn't have the courage to do eggtopsies this time. I figured if Buffy didn't want them, they must be bad....and I wasn't going to incubate them for her like I'd done in the past.

I'm a little concerned with the White Leghorn chicks.....are all of them (pullets and cockerels) born with a little comb? I will ONLY keep girls for their eggs and I don't want any roosters.

Also, Buffy doesn't defend her baby chicks. The other hens have run up to the chicks and PECKED them really hard and Buffy does nothing! Fortunately, my son saw this and acted as rooster and tossed the other hens away from the babies. We keep Buffy and the babies secluded from the other chickens, but this is going to get time consuming and old acting as referee for the babies. I thought the Momma hen was supposed to protect her baby chicks!

We also gave Buffy a Welsummer chick from the feed store which she has accepted as her own. They are a cute little family. Here is a picture:

 

[chooniecat]

Suzette is at day 16 (as of this evening at dusk, I THINK) and won't count my chickens before they hatch(omg-love using that) but I hope at least ONE makes it. Tried candling again at day 12 and THOUGHT i saw movement and realized how hard it IS to see into a brown egg. So will go away and wait some more. She ate ONCE to my knowledge and her food is still full. Her drinking water is just evaporating I think. Don't even know exactly how many eggs shes sitting on. appx. 13?

 

[Zootopia]

So...my pekin ducks are doing wonderful. We finally moved them out of the dog crate and into the chicken coop at the end of April, and they are much cleaner and happier. But I'm pretty sure they're both drakes. (sad for the kids, but happy for me. duck for christmas!) My wyandotte broody should hatch her two eggs any day now. I'm not exactly sure the date cause I forgot to write it on the calendar. But I'm pretty sure that Sunday it'll be 3 weeks. My only concern is. . she is w/the other hens and gets off her nest once a day, pretty much. And there is almost always at least one other egg under her everyday. I have to pull all the eggs out she's got, and then put the two that i've marked back. My question is. . since it's getting close to hatch day, is it okay for me to keep pulling them out, even to the day they hatch, or should I just leave them alone now and when they hatch, then pull out the duds that got in there? Around the time she usually gets off, I'm too busy inside w/the kiddos to run out and check the nest, plus it's not exactly the same time everyday. This is my first broody that's actually lasted this long, so I'm really wanting this to go well. I haven't candled, I'm just letting nature takes it course.

HELP!!

I move my broodys as soon as I can into broody pens so the other hens can't bother them, but until I get a spot for them I always have to remove the new eggs the hens lay. Quick, calm, quiet my Granny always said. extra eggs can cause her eggs to be displaced, so I'd take them out whenever you go out to gather egg, no stress, no great hurry, no special trip. (Unless they are laying a bunch in there every day)