Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Johnn]

They won't be able to eat the pellets unless momma breaks them up for them. I'd not serve them layer feed until around week 16 due to potential problems with too much calcium. I serve non medicated grower crumbles to all of them until they are old enough to eat the layer. I'm not sure that corn would be so digestible to them? I've read it's good for filling their crop, but you want to do more than just fill them up, you want to provide a good diet. So maybe mix the corn with some grower?

I fed Asparagus and Bella mixed corn last year until they were 8 weeks old. I don't know if the growers pellets in my pet shop are medicated or not because it doesn't say so I don't really know what to do :/

 

[Johnn]

I think they did pretty well on corn considering I got them from this:



To this:

 

[write2caroline]

We just finished hatching. We had two eggs not hatched - one pipped but then nothing happened and the egg started to really stink. I had candled the last two eggs. No pipping in the end and no movement. Both were no longer viable. That was the sad news.....but the happy news is that

We have 10 gorgeous fluffy little fuzzy butts. I tried to dip their beaks but Momma showed them how to use her waterer - with a nipple and they took right to it. I also got them a special chick cake thing - smells like it has a little cinnamon - Momma and chicks love it love it love it.

For the most part, I had the broody in the nest box and she could come and go. Once the hatching started I blocked the entrance from the rest of the flock so it was a contained little brood box. with straw, water and food.

I was hatching them for my cousin Julie who just moved to her own 10 acre farm and she is hoping to be self contained and raise her own food for the most part. I think two might be roos and 8 are pullets. If I can tell by the wing feathers on the yellow chicks and the light colored tan chick who really seems rooish. They are mixed. My roos are Marans and a cream leg bar, oh, and I have a couple of very dedicated bantam easter eggers who try very hard to breed. The smaller one is more successful then the other. I have new hampshire reds, barnevelders, cream legbar, silver laced wyandotte, welsummer, leghorns, white rocks. So the chicks are a hodge podge, The chicks hatched are 4 black ones, three yellow ones, two chipmunk colored ones and a light tan chick. All pretty big so I don't think any of these display any bantam traits.

I have another chicken that sat with my White rock until the chicks hatched but then she started pecking at the chicks so I took her out. She is now sitting on some golf balls in another coop.

I really want my cream leg bar to go back to laying her nice little blue eggs because those are the ones I most want to hatch.





Good luck on your hatches! I think chicken keeping is great fun and I love hatching with broodies because it saves electricity.

Caroline

 

[Johnn]

We just finished hatching. We had two eggs not hatched - one pipped but then nothing happened and the egg started to really stink. I had candled the last two eggs. No pipping in the end and no movement. Both were no longer viable. That was the sad news.....but the happy news is that

We have 10 gorgeous fluffy little fuzzy butts. I tried to dip their beaks but Momma showed them how to use her waterer - with a nipple and they took right to it. I also got them a special chick cake thing - smells like it has a little cinnamon - Momma and chicks love it love it love it.

For the most part, I had the broody in the nest box and she could come and go. Once the hatching started I blocked the entrance from the rest of the flock so it was a contained little brood box. with straw, water and food.

I was hatching them for my cousin Julie who just moved to her own 10 acre farm and she is hoping to be self contained and raise her own food for the most part. I think two might be roos and 8 are pullets. If I can tell by the wing feathers on the yellow chicks and the light colored tan chick who really seems rooish. They are mixed. My roos are Marans and a cream leg bar, oh, and I have a couple of very dedicated bantam easter eggers who try very hard to breed. The smaller one is more successful then the other. I have new hampshire reds, barnevelders, cream legbar, silver laced wyandotte, welsummer, leghorns, white rocks. So the chicks are a hodge podge, The chicks hatched are 4 black ones, three yellow ones, two chipmunk colored ones and a light tan chick. All pretty big so I don't think any of these display any bantam traits.

I have another chicken that sat with my White rock until the chicks hatched but then she started pecking at the chicks so I took her out. She is now sitting on some golf balls in another coop.

I really want my cream leg bar to go back to laying her nice little blue eggs because those are the ones I most want to hatch.





Good luck on your hatches! I think chicken keeping is great fun and I love hatching with broodies because it saves electricity.

Caroline

So cute!

 

[essyd]

Hello

I'm new to this link! I have a 1yr old silkie bantam sitting on 6 fertile polish eggs we are on day 14, I've not candled the eggs and have everything crossed that they hatch

What's the hatching % for the natural way of hatching??

I have never hatched eggs before!!

 

[essyd]

Hello

I'm new to this link! I have a 1yr old silkie bantam sitting on 6 fertile polish eggs we are on day 14, I've not candled the eggs and have everything crossed that they hatch

What's the hatching % for the natural way of hatching??

I have never hatched eggs before!!

 

[Flowerbh]

Hello

I'm new to this link! I have a 1yr old silkie bantam sitting on 6 fertile polish eggs we are on day 14, I've not candled the eggs and have everything crossed that they hatch

What's the hatching % for the natural way of hatching??

I have never hatched eggs before!!

My first broody just hatched 6 out of 6 eggs from a friend of mine!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Hello

I'm new to this link! I have a 1yr old silkie bantam sitting on 6 fertile polish eggs we are on day 14, I've not candled the eggs and have everything crossed that they hatch

What's the hatching % for the natural way of hatching??

I have never hatched eggs before!!

I am no pro & new here too, but my first hatch was with shipped eggs, it was 8 for 8!
Second hatch was 7 for 9.
Tried an icy hatch, only got 1 for 7.
Broody is my preferred choice!!!!!

 

[dretd]

Hello

I'm new to this link! I have a 1yr old silkie bantam sitting on 6 fertile polish eggs we are on day 14, I've not candled the eggs and have everything crossed that they hatch

What's the hatching % for the natural way of hatching??

I have never hatched eggs before!!

Hi essyd and

!! Good luck on your hatch. I have done several shipments of eggs that turned out 1 out of over 40 that hatched in an incubator. I decided to let my broody hatch a batch last year and got 4 out of 8 but some of the older girls say 'no thank you' to the rooster so half may not have been fertile to start. One that hatched I pulled back out of my refrigerator since the broody wasn't sitting on any of her own eggies and I thought that was unfair. I loved watching her raise the babies--so much easier than hand-raising in a brooder!

 

[essyd]

Thank u all so much!! I'm very excited and scared lol

The last 14 days I had her in the main hen house and moved the other hens out, but that is not suitable for young chicks- did a very quick and smooth switch around- silkie and eggs are now in a rabbit hutch

silkie went straight back to sitting on them.

I quickly de-mited her as well before I let her back on them

Is there anything else I should do