Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[delisha]

delisha, said

Usually if a chicken goes broody it is when they lay about 7-10 eggs in the same nest. They do not set the nest until the eggs all have been layed, some hens may lay during the first few days, but, usually not. All her egg laying energy goes into nesting. We, as egg collectors take eggs out of the nest daily to discourage a hen from going broody. Some go broody reguardless if we take the eggs or not."


THANK YOU!!!! I now have a couple more questions for you or anyone else out there

How does one check for fertility?

Do people just leave eggs in a nest for a week or more to encourage broodiness? Are they really fooled by the falsies? Is it usually free ranged hens then that hide eggs and then go broody with a nestfull of their own? I guess my confusion is this. If a person like me is out there collecting eggs a couple of times a day even a broody hen might not go broody because we are collecting the eggs and she never gets a clutch together.

I am getting a couple of hens Speckled Sussex and Dorkings specifically because the broodiness is still a part of their behavior. I want to encourage it in the best way so they will take care of hatching and brooding for me.

When the time is right,(weather-place-predator proof) and the hen is old enough, the best way is to set up a nest for her. Put in three golf balls. When the hen lays in the nest, take out the egg and put in another golf ball. Keep collecting the eggs and replacing with golf balls. Eventually some one is going to set that nest, especially with a Sussex or a Dorking.

Good luck

 

[Leahs Mom]

Quote:
So I have a question for you about that.

I purchased one of those to try out but mine was 250 watts. It is black. I liked the idea of having heat but not light.

When I tested it out (before putting it outside) it was SO HOT TO THE TOUCH that I was afraid one of the chicks or chickens would touch it by mistake - since there's no light indicator - and be burned. IT WAS SUPER CRAZY HOT. It you touched it you would be burned. It felt like it would be unsafe around animals.

I'm wondering what your experience with it has been. Do you feel that it is likely that they could come in contact with the ceramic heater and be burned? How do you have your installed...could you post a photo?

 

[Leahs Mom]

Also adding....even though it was extremely hot to touch, it did not emit heat very far so it seemed that I would have to keep is so close to the ground - or waterer or whatever I was going to heat - that it would be so low it would be within chicken / chick touch range. Very unlike a bulb that is raised high enough that they wouldn't come in contact w/it.

 

[fisherlady]

Also adding....even though it was extremely hot to touch, it did not emit heat very far so it seemed that I would have to keep is so close to the ground - or waterer or whatever I was going to heat - that it would be so low it would be within chicken / chick touch range. Very unlike a bulb that is raised high enough that they wouldn't come in contact w/it.

Ours is the 125 watt... and we placed it in a standard size 'heat lamp' shield, so it sets deeply into the shield. It is warm to the touch, but not really hot. We are just using it to keep her water thawed, so it is about a foot or so above and a foot or so to the front of her water fount, and angled toward it. It isn't really intended to heat the general area, though we did see an increase in temp of about 2 degrees in the box (totally open on one side, otherwise about 2x3 and 30" or so high. Not really a risk of Gracie touching it since she's so small, but might be within reach of a standard or taller hen.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Would you be willing to post or send by pm a photo?

 

[fisherlady]

Would you be willing to post or send by pm a photo?

OK... I'll see about getting one on the night check

 

[tommysgirl]

pysankgirl: Don't worry about the short answers. I appreciated all the info!

delisha: Thank you again too. I now have a broody plan

 

[CamiLynn]

If you are going to give her eggs decide how many you want, gather them over a day or two and keep them somewhere cool with pointed end down... when you have the right number collected then you can give them all to her at once to start the process.   If you add a couple eggs each day for two or three days to her you will cause a problem when it is time for them to hatch.... it will cause a 'staggered hatch', and the hen would have to decide to either stay on the eggs that still need to hatch and possibly neglect already hatched chicks, or take care of the hatched chicks and neglect the eggs still in the nest.
Not a good situation.  Spreading the hatch out is hard on someone... any way you look at it.
I kept my silkie on 'dummy eggs' for a while before I got the eggs that I wanted her to hatch out... then I swapped them for the dummy eggs... and now we wait!! 
Also, mark the eggs that you give her to sit on... the other hens will try to lay more eggs in with her if they can and you may have to remove extras each day!

Well poo!! After reading this I realized I have goofed! I have a broody hen that went broody the day before my shipped eggs arrive and was only sitting on 2 eggs (one which ended up being infertile) so I placed 4 shipped eggs under her and today is day 4. Upon candling her clutch 3/4 shipped have definite growth, but the same shipped eggs in my bator on day 4 I barely see anything. So, I thought since they were placed at the same time, to take some eggs from my bator and put under her. Did I really mess up?? Help!

 

[fisherlady]

Would you be willing to post or send by pm a photo?

The heat lamp in place, I can easily lay my hand flat on the heat deflector, the 'bulb' seats high up in it and the wire cage is in place. It is much less hot to touch than the 250 w red bulbs we have in our other lights.
The front of the cage is usually covered with a couple of old towels to reduce drafts, with the heat bulb in place it only raises the temp of her area about 2 or 3 degrees above coop temp, but has been just enough directional heat to keep her 1 qt dish from freezing. I would have rather had it over the water dish more, but the overhead cross braces aren't in the right place for that. If I swapped the water and food dispenser then I would have had to direct the heat practically onto Gracie and I didn't want to do that. It would have to be hung much closer to be effective if the temps in the coop were under 15 degrees or it was a larger water container.... but for what we needed it worked.

 

[gabrielle1976]

I am trying to get mini to accept the chick that hatched yesterday from her with egg that she gave up on when her other chicks hatched,as.she had swiped it from sweety pie about three days after she started setting. I just tucked it under her and as they are settling down for the night so far so good, do you think the chick remmbers minis noises from the egg? How long will i have to watch them to be sure mini accepts the chick