Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

I've only had 100% success moving broodies when I've done it at night, with a towel over their heads, kept them totally in the dark, and by moving a portion of their old nests with them. Otherwise they just returned to the old spot. Sure you might occasionally get lucky and have one stay put where you moved them if you did it during the day, but the only sure fire way was my 100% night move method.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I've had success with shipped and my own eggs under broodies. But for shipped eggs it's meant getting them when the weather is cooperating and from a good source. Then let them rest for about half a day before putting them under the broody.

 

[Farmin Momma]

Quote:

Fingers are crossed for you!
This spring I hope to have my flock to primarily EE's ( I love that they can be any breeds mixed together with an EE, No specifics and of course the colored eggs) White Leghorns, Black Copper Marans and one other breed just not sure which yet. I was not planning on hatching any more mutts, but I can't tell my girls no they can't have babies.

how many eggs can a normal sized hen keep warm enough to hatch this time of year if she doesn't have to keep them warm until they are 6 weeks old (I can remove some and brood them in my house)

situation: I put 6 eggs under my broody. I broke another egg open to see if it was fertile and it wasn't so I paniced and had someone send me more eggs..which I put under her but then I candled and some of the first eggs are growing! so I have...like...12 eggs under her currently and I put a heat lamp in the coop so she didn't have to fight the cold too.

is that too many?

I am hoping I can find a bator by the time the first ones hatch and the second set I can finish out in the bator? does that sound like it'd work?

I wish another hen would go broody now!!!!

As long as she is a LF hen I would assume she can handle 12. I understand why you put the heat lamp in for her, but IMO you are doing more harm than good. Not only is it an extra fire hazard, but if your chickens get used to having a heat lamp to keep them warm then the power goes out they could die from the cold and the shock of the cold.

So she is finnly in the nest i cant see the eggs so i hope she is sitting on them but i know now i wont be able to isolate her she is to destreed being away from the others . what should i do?

Is there a way that you might be able to build something removable onto the front of the nest box that she is in? That way no one can go in and bother her, or lay more eggs in there. Also when the chicks are hatched you will know they are safe in there.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Anyone had experience putting chicks under a broody after a mostly failed hatch?

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

Anyone had experience putting chicks under a broody after a mostly failed hatch?

I put 5 chicks under a broody with just a few of her own.
I put 3 chicks the same breed/color as her own chicks and 2 chicks of a completely different breed under her. She made some really weird noises at the yellow chicks (hers were all BAs, and thus black and yellow), but within about 10 minutes she accepted them. She didn't peck them or act aggressively towards them, so I let things play out. She never even batted an eye at the additional 3 BAs.
I watched them very closely for a long time, but once she shoved them under her, she treated them all the same.
It is advised to do this at night, and to slip the other chicks directly under the hen. I did it in the mid afternoon (that's when I got home from the feed store with them, and didn't have a brooder set up at my house- the plan B was to take them to the neighbor's brooder, if the plan didn't work- it did), and it worked out fine.
My neighbor also put chicks under her BO broody. She only had one chick from her hatch. She placed an additional 17 chicks

in her pen with her. She put them in one at a time, and the hen accepted them all. Now this was late summer, and it wasn't cold in the coop, so there wasn't the danger of them getting too cold.
She added chicks of 3 different breeds. That hen never even noticed those chicks weren't the same color as her own chick.
Both of these hens were first-time broodies.
The chicks were 3 and 4 days old at the time. They were all already eating, so the adopted chicks already had a firm grip on eating and drinking and scratching and pecking. They took to being under a hen with amazing speed, even after spending the first few days under a light at the feed store. Within just a few minutes all the chicks knew to duck under Mum to get warm, like they had been doing it all along.

It seemed like the most important thing was the chicks were the same age as her own chicks. (The adopted ones were one day older)
Apparently hens can't count.
If I were you, I would get a few friends, the same age, for the chick and slip them directly under her. Then watch until you are certain they have been accepted. Also, have a plan B, already prepared, in case she does reject them.

 

[MSDeb]

I recently had a first time broody accept four mail order chicks and her bff also helped with the babies. Then a week or so later the original broody up and died and we were lucky that the bff took right over caring for the chicks. The chicks are now eight weeks old and you would never know the babies were not hatched by the hen. The rest of the flock has been surprisingly gently with the chicks. Maybe they were ready for babies.

 

[gabrielle1976]

She moved out of the nest box I made her some time during the night and Im guessing becuaes I coverd where she wanted to nest with the nest box she moved her eggs to right infront of the nest box.

why the three inches of movment was nesscary in her little hen mind I dont know but now she is right infront of the window they have and now is geting stepped on anytime the other hen decids she wants to pace back and forth and demand to get out.

 

[Leahs Mom]

My news: Mom is out of the nest today w/baby. My husb has been checking on them all day since I've been gone. Mom just hunkers down on baby every once in awhile to keep it warm.

Would y'all w/experience expect that mom will go back to the next box for the night or just hunker down in the litter?

PS: Where's Stony today?

 

[Rachel'sFlock]

My news: Mom is out of the nest today w/baby. My husb has been checking on them all day since I've been gone. Mom just hunkers down on baby every once in awhile to keep it warm.

Would y'all w/experience expect that mom will go back to the next box for the night or just hunker down in the litter?

PS: Where's Stony today?

My broodies have always gone back to the original nesting area to sleep, but only for a few days. Later, she goes to wherever she likes. Since she is a mobile brooder, it doesn't matter where they are!

 

[stonykill]

Anyone had experience putting chicks under a broody after a mostly failed hatch?

yes done it many times. Some take them like their own. Some kill the new ones. The later is much more rare. It is best to slip new chicks to her at night only a few days after the hatch