Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[CAjerseychick]

I think we are on lockdown! My broody hasn't left her nest since yesterday morning and we are expecting chicks Sundayish. So excited!!!!!

Good luck it is such an exciting time.... Hope you have better luck than we did (1/ 6 hatched, the 5 eggs were eaten in an untimely manner)...

 

[PuffyChick]

Well, My little "Pepper"" is a proud Momma.

She is taking the chicks just fine and she is super sweet with them.

She lets me pet her (even tho she fluffs up all cute like) and she let me show them all how the nipple bottle works.

Then at the end of the day once it had cooled down I put a little chick feed in her nest and the babies went mental pecking it LOL

I dribbled a little water on the feed so I made sue they got both and they all liked that.


So there we go.
My other 2 girls are hanging around the coop listening in to the babies trying to figure out what the heck.


They miss Pepper (she is the lead hen)

Now just to wait to see what color these 2 turn out to be....so exciting! Feather watch!!

 

[OHfarmerswife]

Hey please let me know how it goes if you introduce you bator chicks to the broody hen.
I have hen that just went broody with no eggs to sit on. She was laying good but then we lost our rooster and two other hens to coyotes (one of several assults)  and I just moved the coop from our friends to our new place. it still needs work, a run etc.ANYWAY... I just ordered some new chicks (15) that should be ariving in a couple weeks. this would be very close to the 3 week incubation time. should I let her brood and then try to put her with the new chicks as mama? is that dangerous (of course it is, and needs to be supervised) but could that work? how would I orchestrate that arrival? would I put them all in a brooder box or a separate part of the run? I only have her and one other hen. Coyotes got the rest me flock.

I have a first time broody hen, no eggs, put my incy chicks under her & a few chicks I ordered. The incy chicks were 4 days old. Mom & chicks are great, climbing all over her. She had no idea she was on wooden eggs.

 

[elmtree]

[COLOR=008080]Sweet picture...................not much to do.. except be sure she and her eggs are safe . Also, if you have other hens laying. mark the ones she is setting on.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008080]The other hens will likely lay their eggs in her nest...or mine do anyway...............[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008080]She will eat and drink as she needs it......my broody's are a little sneaky because I rarely see them do that.................I do see them[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008080]go out and stretch their legs every few days............Then just trust her. You may want to think about moving her nest to the floor before..no rush.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008080]Good luck and have fun[/COLOR]

Thanks a bunch! I know there isn't much I can do, I just worry lol. I haven't marked eggs. Oops. I guess if there are still only 3 eggs in there I'm ok. My little spitzhauben doesn't lay yet so I don't have to worry about that lol.

 

[sharol]

I am concerned that she already has 3 chicks and I'll be adding (as it turns out) 3 more. They hatched through the day yesterday, and I put them in a temp brooder to learn to eat and drink (and check for pasty butt) through the day today. I think I'll try to give them to her tomorrow morning before the sun comes up. I can't leave them out there all night because if she rejects them, they would get too cold (yeah, in August in Kansas -- talk about weird weather).

Marlena had her 3 out bright and early (68 degrees), but took them back in after a few minutes. Last night I couldn't see them anywhere, and when I was petting her, I found them up high under her wings. Ahhh. Cute.

I'll post back how it goes.

Oh, yes, and added to the chaos -- I have 2, 4 week old EE crosses that I desperately need to get outside. I'm going to try to introduce them to the little family, too. Maybe next week if all goes well. They really need more room.

I have a first time broody hen, no eggs, put my incy chicks under her & a few chicks I ordered. The incy chicks were 4 days old. Mom & chicks are great, climbing all over her. She had no idea she was on wooden eggs.

 

[elliechooks]

Chickens can't count Sharol! My mama hen hatched 4 of her own and I added 6 from the incubator, 2 at a time over a day, she took them really well. Just do it at a time when you can watch just in case she does reject them.

 

[lawatt]

just chiming in here, my two broodies (a cuckoo marans and a light sussex) are each in the process of hatching up to five eggs, all silver campines -- they started yesterday, and so far each has two hatched, three unhatched -- will keep watching today to see if any more eggs get into action! in the meantime, here are some pictures:


the two in the cuckoo marans nest -- i love how they already seem to be sharing secrets


jane the light sussex & one of her two hatchlings

and in the meantime, two MORE girls have gone broody -- one, an SPPR, is a repeat from earlier this spring. this means, that of my original flock of 2 (all just a year old this summer), 8 have gone broody, only four have not (yet?). *phew*!

 

[hiltopsassafras]

Hi everyone,
I was given a flock of chickens by one of my dear clients and I just LOVE them. These were all adult laying chickens and too many Roosters at first, but we sold all the Roo's and now have 1 Barred Rock Rooster...he is a STUD!.. I just love him, what a beauty! and good to the girls.

We have 1 Cinnamon Queen, 3 barred rock (hens) and 2 fighting cock game bird hens. One of the fighting cock game bird hens is CRAZY. She is on her own schedule. She has taken up and sleeps in the woods and comes to the coop once a day to lay an egg and then she is gone. She is my only rebel.

My other fighting cock game hen is BROODY....and MEAN. She went broody when we brought in 4 one year old sex links to add to the flock. My husband is itching to incubate eggs and hatch...eeehemm...that means I will incubate and hatch. Well, I do not have the time nor do I have the time to deal with babies so I decided to let "Slim Sue" sit and hatch. I put 3 more eggs the other girls layed under her too. Is this okay and if it is how many can I stuff under her? I want as many hatched babies as possible and think it would be great to have babies from my other girls in the flock...they are sweet and very pretty...plus did I mention that my Roo is a STUD!! lol.

Also is there any hard fast rule to moving the eggs when I move them to put them under her?

Thanks ahead for any replies...I am sooo excited!

Sassy

 

[lilliesanchicks]

Hi everyone,
I was given a flock of chickens by one of my dear clients and I just LOVE them. These were all adult laying chickens and too many Roosters at first, but we sold all the Roo's and now have 1 Barred Rock Rooster...he is a STUD!.. I just love him, what a beauty! and good to the girls.

We have 1 Cinnamon Queen, 3 barred rock (hens) and 2 fighting cock game bird hens. One of the fighting cock game bird hens is CRAZY. She is on her own schedule. She has taken up and sleeps in the woods and comes to the coop once a day to lay an egg and then she is gone. She is my only rebel.

My other fighting cock game hen is BROODY....and MEAN. She went broody when we brought in 4 one year old sex links to add to the flock. My husband is itching to incubate eggs and hatch...eeehemm...that means I will incubate and hatch. Well, I do not have the time nor do I have the time to deal with babies so I decided to let "Slim Sue" sit and hatch. I put 3 more eggs the other girls layed under her too. Is this okay and if it is how many can I stuff under her? I want as many hatched babies as possible and think it would be great to have babies from my other girls in the flock...they are sweet and very pretty...plus did I mention that my Roo is a STUD!! lol.

Also is there any hard fast rule to moving the eggs when I move them to put them under her?

Thanks ahead for any replies...I am sooo excited!

Sassy

Well hopefully the eggs are put under about the same time or she will leave the nest after a few have hatched (about 2 days) so they can eat and drink leaving the rest of the eggs.
Normally they are just called game hens.

 

[hiltopsassafras]

Thanks for the reply LillieSan,

I put 3 extra egss under her within 2 days of her laying 1. Timing should be right. The game hens I have don't look anything like "game hens" I have seen on the internet. The people we got the birds from said they were related to feral birds. There neck is much longer and bodies much slimmer. When I looked up "fighting cock game hens" on the internet I found them. That is why I called them that but I will use game hen unless this type of bird has another name...anyone know?.

Sassy