Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Penny Lane]

Is candling necessary only with incubators? I don't need to do it if I put eggs under my hen do I?

 

[PuffyChick]

OOOOHHH NOOOOO!!

I just called my local hatchery and they don't have any white Plymouth rock chicks!!! **scream cry wail**

I cant do eggs...I need chicks...Can you ship chicks in this heat?? OMG!! what a nightmare..this totally sucks

Edit to add, they have no white chicks...even white egg layers tho I prefer brown eggs..

We just wanted to make our little flock more diverse.

I am sooooo bummed.

 

[bboyd1]

Im gonna attempt to candel if mamma hen will allow me she's only sitting for the 2nd day so Im waiting till day 10, but I've got a couple dark brown eggs under her that I won't be able to see.... I've heard that if you leave the eggs, they can blow and kill the good eggs. I think* this can be somewhat avoided by using super fresh fertilized eggs, my hen is sitting on the eggs we got the same day she wanted to brood, Im not sure the roo got to all the hens (7 not counting broody) so I really wanna pull any bad eggs myself. I'd rather have 3-4 hatch out than have a rotten egg in a nest of 9 blow and kill the good eggs.

 

[sharol]

I dont' know where you are, but here in Kansas the local farm stores usually have chicks about now or a little later. You might call TSC or whatever is in your area and see if they will be getting any in.

OOOOHHH NOOOOO!!

I just called my local hatchery and they don't have any white Plymouth rock chicks!!! **scream cry wail**

I cant do eggs...I need chicks...Can you ship chicks in this heat?? OMG!! what a nightmare..this totally sucks

Edit to add, they have no white chicks...even white egg layers tho I prefer brown eggs..

We just wanted to make our little flock more diverse.

I am sooooo bummed.

 

[chickydee64]

Good Grief,
I need to send my brain to the dry cleaners to get a fresh start.............
I forgot I just put eggs in the incubator a few days ago......soo can give my latest broody hen some of those.........
Spent about 2 hours last night looking for Buff Orpington eggs before I remembered...................I have Buff eggs.....
Anyway, should be a busy week here.......... Good Luck to everyone.

 

[chickydee64]

Is candling necessary only with incubators? I don't need to do it if I put eggs under my hen do I?

Hi, My experience has been that the hen will kick the eggs out of the nest if they are bad..................
I have never candled a broody's.. After reading here that someone had an egg explode............makes me a little nervous.
I have only had one bad egg a long time ago, that was in the incubator. Took it out with my hand wrapped in a Zip lock bag.
Wish I could be more help ,just my experience......................I don't think I will candle though.
Trusting the hen has worked for me so far..................

 

[chickydee64]

For those of you experienced with this Broody thing...

If I take my girl off the nest ( I had to roll her off the nest she refused to budge that much LOL) and she sat there thinking what she was going to do now?
Until she saw the other 2 girls going for a fat juicy bug and then she was off in a flash.

Now, the other day I did this, same way but because we had just built her a new little hatching coop I "put" her back on the nest,
so she would know where it was.

What if she doesn't go back on the nest on her own? I mean after about 2-3 hours or more.
Does this mean she would "forget" about having chicks if I graft some to her? Even tho she stays on the nest once I put her on it?

If she stays setting on her eggs...it should be fine..........I have a really large wire dog kennel for my broodys........and I lock them in for a day or so if I have to move them.
Although, some are so off in the their hypnotic state, they do not mind being moved.
The biggest mistake I have seen is to try to graft to soon........I do mine as close to hatch date as possible.
Other folks may have different experiences...........( which is what makes these hatch a longs so beneficial )
Also transferring at night seems to be the best way................Good Luck to you...............

 

[McCaskill]

Day 4 of broody girl:
Didn't move her off the nest yesterday just let her set but moved her off today she didn't run around so much and I took her a bit to get back ( tho it's pretty hot here this time of year so not to worried) love watching her run with her feathers all puffed out might try and candle the eggs not sure if I do it will be late this weekend day 8-9 tall ppl to you later to give an update BYE FOR NOW

 

[MumsyII]

I never candle broody eggs. I keep a couple crayons in the barn. I mark the eggs as they are laid each day date and number of order laid.. Collect those for the house and leave only a couple marked ones in the nest. I keep the ones I want hatched clean in a tray in the barn and rotate them to keep the yolks from sticking to the side of the shell. When I have six to eight eggs and no hen has gone broody, I take half those first eggs laid to the house. And keep collecting and marking until there is another eight. Once a hen is broody and serious about it, I give her the freshest eight eggs. They are all marked. I know for sure there are no bad eggs in the nest. If any hens slips one into the nest on the sly, I take it out because it is the unmarked egg. Never had an egg explode in the nest or the incubator by following this procedure. If you mark your eggs with a date, you know exactly how old those eggs are at all times. This is how breeders do it. Eggs are also kept clean this way. Dirty eggs go bad faster.

 

[bumpercarr]

So, had 2 hatch out of 2 last Monday (of course, I was out of town). It was this broody's first time. She abandoned one of the chicks, and despite our valiant efforts to try to save it, it died last night. The other broody was sitting on 5 eggs, 2 hatched yesterday and last night and she left the nest today. I put the other 3 in the bator, hoping that these will hatch. I'll give them a few days, then I'll give up on them. Has anyone had success with eggs hatching in the bator after the broody quit? I'm really hoping because I lost two of these eggs to a juvenile that she hatched out last time and only had 5 left. I ordered these eggs hoping to start a flock of Brahmas, which was the breed I originally wanted to have. We played broody fight over whose nest was whose for a few days after the eggs were placed, so the eggs got cold in the middle of sitting while they were working it out.