Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[farmer boy]

day 5 for my broody hen i hope it goes okay since this is my first hatch in winter and second hatch ever with the same hen only one lived last time and it was summer time .. two got big but a big hen killed the other chick by giving it a heart attack .. but i hope these 3 eggs hatch and grow up and im hoping they are hens. i had no problems with any predators yet in the winter time so far hope nothing decides to try out my hens and roos and ducks

 

[riversedgefarm]

Hi y'all I'm new to the broody hen I put some basque eggs under a cochin and she is hatching them today. I heard peeping coming from under her I was planing on taking away the baby chicks after they hatch don't have the set up to let cochin raise them really. My question is can I put eggs back up under the cochin and she will hatch them out again or is that to hard on the hen?

 

[farmer boy]

Hi y'all I'm new to the broody hen I put some basque eggs under a cochin and she is hatching them today. I heard peeping coming from under her I was planing on taking away the baby chicks after they hatch don't have the set up to let cochin raise them really. My question is can I put eggs back up under the cochin and she will hatch them out again or is that to hard on the hen?

she will not hatch more after she just hatchs the chicks because once they hatch she will try to raise them you don't really need a set up for a hen to raise chicks she just needs a nest and she will keep them warm she will show them how to scratch up seeds or bugs etc and to show them where the water is or where the feed is when they are around 3 days old she will take them out and teach them the basics .. like if there is a bird above she will run for cover and the chicks will learn to hide when they see the birds stuff like that she should be fine if you let her keep the chicks

 

[LolaBlue]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this thread, but we have a broody SLW and I'm hoping to slip some fertile eggs under her and see how it goes. Just wondering if there is a certain way to go about getting them under her?
Should I wait until it's dark? Does that matter?

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this thread, but we have a broody SLW and I'm hoping to slip some fertile eggs under her and see how it goes. Just wondering if there is a certain way to go about getting them under her?

Should I wait until it's dark? Does that matter?

My recommendation, if there are infertile eggs under her you need to remove and she is a grouchy broody, do it at night to avoid loosing fingers! If she is mellowed about it, take the old eggs out during the day then just set the fertile eggs in front of her one by one. She should just tuck them under her. The third option is to kick her out for some sunshine and a poop and swap the eggs before she comes back.

 

[Haloclimb]

I was able to catch all six of the chicks today- the temperature climbing, so they're stepping out from under their mama to cool off!
I tossed them (not literally!) into the little rabbit hutch just so I could get a nice group shot without them all scattering. It kind of worked!


It's so hot mom has even stepped off the eggs so they don't overheat(I think!), they're still quite warm! If worst comes to worst and she dumps them I'll pop them into the incubator, though I'm going to candle them tonight to see if anythings happening.



And now I'm already planning what eggs to get next to set in the incubator! Someone needs to take these guys away from me xD

 

[LolaBlue]

My recommendation, if there are infertile eggs under her you need to remove and she is a grouchy broody, do it at night to avoid loosing fingers! If she is mellowed about it, take the old eggs out during the day then just set the fertile eggs in front of her one by one. She should just tuck them under her.

The third option is to kick her out for some sunshine and a poop and swap the eggs before she comes back.

Thanks so much!
It's quite hot here today, so the man I bought them from recommended waiting until this evening when it's a bit cooler.
We got quite the mixture!
2 x Barnevelder
2 x Feverolle
2 x Light Sussex
2 x Coronation Sussex
3 x Silver Spangled Hamburg
1 x Australorp

Super excited to give this a try!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks so much!
It's quite hot here today, so the man I bought them from recommended waiting until this evening when it's a bit cooler.
We got quite the mixture!
2 x Barnevelder
2 x Feverolle
2 x Light Sussex
2 x Coronation Sussex
3 x Silver Spangled Hamburg
1 x Australorp

Super excited to give this a try!

Keep us updated!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I was able to catch all six of the chicks today- the temperature climbing, so they're stepping out from under their mama to cool off!
I tossed them (not literally!) into the little rabbit hutch just so I could get a nice group shot without them all scattering. It kind of worked!


It's so hot mom has even stepped off the eggs so they don't overheat(I think!), they're still quite warm! If worst comes to worst and she dumps them I'll pop them into the incubator, though I'm going to candle them tonight to see if anythings happening.



And now I'm already planning what eggs to get next to set in the incubator! Someone needs to take these guys away from me xD

It's addicting!! and they are lil cuties...

 

[Haloclimb]

It's addicting!! and they are lil cuties...

Thank you! It looks like those are it for now, I candled the remaining three eggs and one is a dud, the other looks like it died a week in and the last one I'm thinking might have been slipped in by a hen at some point in the incubation-regardless, it's in the incubator so I'll check on it when the two eggs in the incubator hatch!

And you'll have to take lots and lots of pictures of yours when they hatch Lola, pure breeds are always so adorable, especially when so many different ones are hatched at once!