Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[karlamaria]

I. Would not bother her now, and I would wait a few more days. Next time she goes broody put her in a carrier and let her out to eat and drink and poop then back in. If she is truly broody you can try again. You can in the mean time buy a new better flashlight. Make sure the room is totally dark. good luck.

 

[karlamaria]

I'm pretty amazed my broody who is not the best sitter, nor the best mama pulled it off this time. She is doing great with the 6 chicks she got and there eating well and growing!

We candled the other broody's eggs last night, every egg is with a nice live chick! These will be interesting. Father is auracana , moms are barred rocks, RIR's and ameracauna and a few auracana's .should be very interesting to say the least. She is not moving a hair, nothing will get her to move. I have had to feed her as she will not leave the eggs. She may be my best broody yet! And at only 1 year old as of last month.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I had one due to hatch on Wednesday... we heard it moving around on Wednesday, but it didn't hatch.

Oh so sorry.

 

[karlamaria]

Double post sorry

 

[chickenmomma16]

Has anyone been around a broody turkey? I checked my Bronze Turkey hen's "hidden" nest today (to make sure all she had was her own eggs and not any chicken) and she was already on it. She has been spending most of the day and nights on her nest. All I can say is she takes the broody attitude to a different level. I got hissed at and if looks could kill I would have been dead on the spot. She was NOT a happy camper because I was looking at her eggs! lol

 

[Pennoppom]

This is my first time with a broody. Today is day 21 but I'm not sure things are looking good. She started out with 7 eggs. 3barred rock/EE and 4 EE eggs. At day 7 one of the EE eggs was kinda smashed and cracked. Day 14 one of the bown eggs was cracked and made a huge mess in the nest box. it looked like she had eaten most of the contents. she had red goop on her beak. Last night i deciced to check on her. She is still with the rest of the flock and I hadn't collected the extras in about 2 days since i didn't want to distrub her so close to hatch date. Well, i found a fully fomed dead chick. no shell anywhere to be found. it stunk real bad and i had smelled something the day before but i couldn't figure out what it was. Anyway, the chick was spread out straight and looked like it was wet when it died. I don't know if it hatched or if the egg was broken first. Only a couple shell chips stuck to its head. I still have 4 eggs under her and I'm going to move her to a dog pen tomorrow. Do I give up on this batch and give here a few new one? What could have happened to the chick? I tried candeling the eggs but my flashlight just isn't bright enough. I can see the air space but can't tell if there is any movement or not. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

Hey there, just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain! I haven't had any dead chicks (though I've been dreaming about that), but I'm also on Day 21 and wasn't able to see anything when I candled. I don't think it was the light, I think there just isn't anything in my eggs (mail order). I really hope you get some live chicks and that the rest goes well.

Everyone say a little prayer for me to have some hatch, if you don't mind! Thanks!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Hey there, just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain!  I haven't had any dead chicks (though I've been dreaming about that), but I'm also on Day 21 and wasn't able to see anything when I candled.  I don't think it was the light, I think there just isn't anything in my eggs (mail order).  I really hope you get some live chicks and that the rest goes well.   

Everyone say a little prayer for me to have some hatch, if you don't mind!  Thanks!

fingers crossed for you!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

I'm pretty amazed my broody who is not the best sitter, nor the best mama pulled it off this time. She is doing great with the 6 chicks she got and there eating well and growing!

We candled the other broody's eggs last night, every egg is with a nice live chick! These will be interesting. Father is auracana , moms are barred rocks, RIR's and ameracauna and a few auracana's .should be very interesting to say the least. She is not moving a hair, nothing will get her to move. I have had to feed her as she will not leave the eggs. She may be my best broody yet! And at only 1 year old as of last month.

I removed my broody twice a day to eat & drink. She hatched all 8!

My second broody is just starting, using the same routine.....she is sitting on 9.....hope it works again.

 

[lawatt]

hooray, the box of hatching eggs (mostly isbars) finally arrived today, after being lost by the post office for two days -- such a relief! i'm letting them rest a bit before putting them under my last broody.


and another question, for those of you who've had broodies that you HAVEN'T moved to their own separate nesting area -- how do you make sure the chicks, once they hatch, are getting their chick starter crumbles & the big chickens don't eat it all? (the layer feed will be in a feeder that's too tall for the chicks to reach) and if the broody is keeping her chicks in a nest that the other big girls are still trying to lay in, will there be trouble?

thanks!!!

 

[kannna]

A lot of people put the chick food under a stool or something similar so only the chicks can reach it.

I switch everyone to grower and provide a separate bowl for calcium.

The problem with the first method is that the mother hen has a tendency to provide pieces of food for the babies and break them up for them. What if she feeds them the layer? Then the babies are getting too much calcium which can cause developmental issues.

If everyone had grower, they can all eat the same food.