Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Angelpoo]

I put 10 eggs under my broody silkie cross last year. That was my first time hatching anything. /img/smilies/love.gif


It was such fun that I have just ordered 10 Buff Sussex eggs for her. They should be here by Wednesday. Can't WAIT!!!! /img/smilies/jumpy.gif


Has anyone tried leaving their broody hen with the flock? I would be worried that the other birds might kill the little chicks. I'd love to hear! /img/smilies/thumbsup.gif

I ways leave my chicks with my flock... Keep in mind you should only have 3-4 chicks so that the mom can protect them all. My mommy hen is super protective... Some mothers are not. You can always try, and just keep an eye on them for awhile

 

[CoopChick719]

Sorry to hear the rooster worries about the Pom... but it may get better with time/exposure. Our chickens are used to spending a lot of time with Mindy, the adult birds walk around, under or over her without a care. Frequent, controlled exposures should help make your birds a bit more comfortable. Though they may always be nervous when babies are involved. Much depends on personalities of both the chickens and the dogs.

On our Meal worms... we don't separate them. It seemed like it took forever to really 'get going', and we saw nothing but beetles for a few weeks, then finally noticed tiny, tiny worms starting to move around. Some were so small you really didn't see the individual worms, you saw the bedding moving instead. We just kept replacing our apples slices every few days, made sure we had a water dish with a wet paper towel crumpled up in it for humidity and 2 or 3 pieces of crumpled up newspaper for the beetles to crawl around in and eventually we started finding larger and larger worms. We clean out clumped bedding every couple of weeks and now it is to the point where I can easily take out a 3 or 4 cups worth of worms/bedding a week without problem.
When the bedding gets low or seems to be getting clumpy or smelly we sift out the whole box, dispose of the soiled bedding and make a new bedding mix and just dumpt the beetles and worms back into the fresh stuff. We will sometimes take the old bedding and set it aside in another container (with wet paper towels for moisture) in about 2 wks then we resift and get another 2 or 3 hundred meal worms that were small enough they missed the first sifting. These get placed back into one of our regular farm boxes and the old bedding then gets thrown out.

It is great to be able to get a scoop or two of worms to scatter in the coop for the chickens to all dig for. I don't worry about any being missed with the cold temps, anything that somehow is missed by the chickens won't grow or repopulate now. In the summer I won't have any need to scatter them in the coop area since the birds will be outside finding their own bugs.
I also toss some of the beetles to the chicks, Gracie then gets to show the little ones how to catch and kill bugs. She only had to show them once! Now they all pounce as soon as they see any beetles in the stuff I scatter!

Thanks for the good info on the worms! Will just have to be patient, I guess. DH bought some dried mealworms for treats. Momma calls & the chicks come running. It is so cute! Of course the big girls want some too so I feed them away from the chicks so they don't steal all of them.

I put 10 eggs under my broody silkie cross last year. That was my first time hatching anything.

It was such fun that I have just ordered 10 Buff Sussex eggs for her. They should be here by Wednesday. Can't WAIT!!!!

Has anyone tried leaving their broody hen with the flock? I would be worried that the other birds might kill the little chicks. I'd love to hear!

Originally Posted by Angelpoo

I ways leave my chicks with my flock... Keep in mind you should only have 3-4 chicks so that the mom can protect them all. My mommy hen is super protective... Some mothers are not. You can always try, and just keep an eye on them for awhile

My 4 chicks are with the flock too. Everyone in my area said "Oh, you can't leave them in the coop! You'll have to bring them inside where it's warm & away from the others." They looked at me like I was crazy when I said "Nope, leaving them with their momma in the coop." Even hubby was leary of leaving them in the coop. Co-workers (who've had chickens for years) told him "you can't do that! They need to be kept at 95 degrees for a week .....blah...blah...blah." I researched this thread to death before I made the decision to let them stay put! The backup plan was to bring them into the garage, if necessary. So far it has not been necessary.

Originally I was going to section off an area in the main coop for them so everyone could meet each other. I did make a small area with a cardboard box & a hay bale just so Momma could keep the kids contained while she was waiting for the others to hatch. I was only worried about 1 of my hens hurting the chicks but she's been fine. Maybe Momma went all broody hen/Mama bear on the rest of the flock when I wasn't looking because no one messes with the chicks. Mom is fine with us picking them up but they don't like it. Even the rooster lets out a warning if I'm picking up a chick & it's peeping like crazy. I've tried to explain to them that I'm not hurting anyone just trying to check them over.

I do watch the big girls when I'm in the coop. They seem uninterested in the chicks. I say try it, keep an eye on them and have a back plan in place if necessary. Best wishes!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thanks for the good info on the worms!  Will just have to be patient, I guess. DH bought some dried mealworms for treats. Momma calls & the chicks come running. It is so cute! Of course the big girls want some too so I feed them away from the chicks so they don't steal all of them.


My 4 chicks are with the flock too. Everyone in my area said "Oh, you can't leave them in the coop! You'll have to bring them inside where it's warm & away from the others." They looked at me like I was crazy when I said "Nope, leaving them with their momma in the coop." Even hubby was leary of leaving them in the coop. Co-workers (who've had chickens for years) told him "you can't do that! They need to be kept at 95 degrees for a week .....blah...blah...blah."  I researched this thread to death before I made the decision to let them stay put! The backup plan was to bring them into the garage, if necessary. So far it has not been necessary.

Originally I was going to section off an area in the main coop for them so everyone could meet each other. I did make a small area with a cardboard box & a hay bale just so Momma could keep the kids contained while she was waiting for the others to hatch. I was only worried about 1 of my hens hurting the chicks but she's been fine. Maybe Momma went all broody hen/Mama bear on the rest of the flock when I wasn't looking because no one messes with the chicks. Mom is fine with us picking them up but they don't like it. Even the rooster lets out a warning if I'm picking up a chick & it's peeping like crazy. I've tried to explain to them that I'm not hurting anyone just trying to check them over.  I do watch the big girls when I'm in the coop. They seem uninterested in the chicks. I say try it, keep an eye on them and have a back plan in place if necessary.  Best wishes!

You were wise to leave them and let the momma do the work. She will keep them warm, teach them to find food & water, teach them to dust bathe, teach them how to roost, and keep them safe. They will grow up hardier and feather in just fine. Then when she leaves them to the roost at night they will have a place in the pecking order and get along easier then trying to introduce new young chickens into an existing flock. The babies knew the older ones all along and will know whom to avoid and you will have fewer pecking order problems.

 

[luvmychicken]

I bought some new chicks. I was wandering if my broody that has 5 more day would leave the nest if I put the babies with her now or should I wait till it is closer to hatch day

 

[bobbieschicks]

I bought some new chicks. I was wandering if my broody that has 5 more day would leave the nest if I put the babies with her now or should I wait till it is closer to hatch day

You will be taking a risk either way. Waiting to put week olds in with day olds is risky. Putting the new chicks under could cause her to abandon the eggs.

Are you certain the eggs were fertile and growing? If Yes, and I were in your shoes I'd brood the new chicks and attempt the integration after the chicks in the eggs hatch. But be prepared to brood them if they reject hen.

If after candling the eggs and finding clear or no growth, I would put the new chicks under her right away.

 

[chooniecat]

Am praying my Speckled Sussex, Lacey, goes broody. She hasn't really exhibted much broody behavior and I have a "stand in" thats proven to go broody(but isn't currently broody) from last may, Suzette a 3 1/2 yo Salmon Faverolles hen, and will try her setting on some fake eggs,real eggs soon. Takes more thought than I can handle!!!!! Will have to wait for all the breeds that I want eggs from to get their systems "cleaned out" of the wrong roos swimmers.Top pic is Lacey,SS hen. 2nd pic Suzette, SF hen that brooded/hatched 10 eggs in may12. "her chix" are appx.6 wks. old in pic.

 

[Phoenix Farms]

Had a nice surprise today! I went out to check on birds and found one of my Phoenix hens hidden on top of the hay bales. I lifted her up and she was sitting on 10 Phoenix eggs! There were 3 brown ones and 7 white. Two of my hens lay brownish eggs and the other 3 lay white. Currently one of my brown egg layers is broody, so is a white egg layer, so that explains why there are only 3 brown ones (I currently have 4 that lay so i can't imagine how long it took them to get up to 10 eggs). I had been wondering why I haven't been getting any Phoenix eggs for a while.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Had a nice surprise today! I went out to check on birds and found one of my Phoenix hens hidden on top of the hay bales. I lifted her up and she was sitting on 10 Phoenix eggs! There were 3 brown ones and 7 white. Two of my hens lay brownish eggs and the other 3 lay white. Currently one of my brown egg layers is broody, so is a white egg layer, so that explains why there are only 3 brown ones (I currently have 4 that lay so i can't imagine how long it took them to get up to 10 eggs). I had been wondering why I haven't been getting any Phoenix eggs for a while.

Congrats on the broody. They are sneaky like that when they want to hatch.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Am praying my Speckled Sussex, Lacey, goes broody. She hasn't really exhibted much broody behavior and I have a "stand in" thats proven to go broody(but isn't currently broody) from last may, Suzette a 3 1/2 yo Salmon Faverolles hen, and will try her setting on some fake eggs,real eggs soon. Takes more thought than I can handle!!!!! Will have to wait for all the breeds that I want eggs from to get their systems "cleaned out" of the wrong roos swimmers.Top pic is Lacey,SS hen. 2nd pic Suzette, SF hen that brooded/hatched 10 eggs in may12. "her chix" are appx.6 wks. old in pic.

Lacey sure is pretty and so is Suzette.

 

[JanaBanana1]

My broodies usually take their chicks out of the nest and make a new nest on the coop floor somewhere. They stay there until about four weeks old. The mom usually teaches them to roost around that time and then abandons them. I let my broodies do whatever they please since I figure they know best. Also, I don't heat my coop. My broodies have had babies in 20F coop without needing a heat lamp. But our temps don't stay that low for long. I wouldn't add extra heat unless temps drop below 20F for extended periods. The broody will warm the babies.

Thank you!! That is what my hens have done. We put some new buckets in there on and laid them on their sides but so far the hens only want to use the floor. I just hope none of the other hens kill the babies.