Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[ParadiseHens]

Thank you, TeaChick for the conversation. I currently have a maternity coop ready in the main coop for when I need it. I'm inclined to leave her alone. The front of the box is about 4-6 inches so the chicks should stay in there at first. I'm imagining moving them after they hatch.
I'm really excited! I am sitting in the coop often to watch and see when Val gets off of her nest so I can check to see if any other eggs have been laid by others or if she has pooped in there. I did see one hen try to get I. There with her today for a little while.
How many times have you experienced eggs hatching naturally?
Hope you have a wonderful evening.
Aloha,
PC

 

[TeaChick]

Thank you, TeaChick for the conversation. I currently have a maternity coop ready in the main coop for when I need it. I'm inclined to leave her alone. The front of the box is about 4-6 inches so the chicks should stay in there at first. I'm imagining moving them after they hatch.
I'm really excited! I am sitting in the coop often to watch and see when Val gets off of her nest so I can check to see if any other eggs have been laid by others or if she has pooped in there. I did see one hen try to get I. There with her today for a little while.
How many times have you experienced eggs hatching naturally?
Hope you have a wonderful evening.
Aloha,
PC

Aloha! (I like saying that.) =)
I enjoy chatting. It's even better when we can learn and teach (IMO).
Oh, I think the maternity coop is a great idea; I'm thinking about doing that for mine (when I have materials....and time lol).
I'm sure there's someone on this thread who could tell you the best time to move a broody.
I know what you mean about being excited! =) I will be too; I'll probably sit with my broody as much as I can too. lol
I haven't had a broody at all. I just started keeping chickens last March and my little Cochin isn't even laying yet. Well, she might be laying; I saw her waiting for the nesting box today, but I only saw the eggs I have always gotten from my Comets and Leghorns.
Thanks. I hope you have a great day!!!
Tea Chick

 

[TeaChick]

BTW, ParadiseHens, you can PM me if you ever wanted to talk about anything off topic. =)

 

[fisherlady]

Aloha,
I am in a similar position with my boxes about 3 feet off of the ground. I am inclined not to move my hen and her eggs. I am concerned about the nest height after the chicks hatch. My hen has been sitting for about 4 days. This is my first experience. the laying boxes are about 3 feet off of the ground. We have a roo and 14 hens. I believe my brooder is a black breed (maybe a Australorp or Batam-Cochin??). I have seen her get off the nest once, and I marked the eggs (11 eggs). The boxes all have fronts to contain the nests that are about 4 inches high. We have about 16 boxes. the entire coop is about 10X 0 with multiple roosts and feed bowls.

The other hens and roo seem to be leaving her alone. I am hoping to be able to check her nest soon to see if there are any other eggs or if it needs to be cleaned. Should I move her off to check? I also have feed and water up near her, but I only saw her eat a couple of days ago. After reading on this site, I realized that all of her eggs have been in there for a different amount of time. Is this going to be a large problem?

After the hatch, how will the chicks get out of the nest? The walk around the lay boxes is about a foot wide and there is a central ramp to the ground. I was thinking about building a railing around the section the nest is in to make sure the chicks do not fall off. I do have a closed in small day coop in the larger coop that I can move the chicks and mama in if need. Am I unrealistic to think that the chicks and the rest of the flock could stay integrated the entire process?
I appreciate any advice anyone has to share.
Mahalo,

Nest height, is fine for first day but you will have to come up with a long term plan. Chicks are incredibly nimble, but it is very easy for them to get out of a nest... but not as easy to get back in and with cold temps it could be a disaster. We fashioned a 'porch' for a hen who was in an elevated box, it provided her and the babies with a veranda so they could move around safely for a couple of days, we then moved her to a spot on the floor in a comfy pile of hay.... it worked about perfect for our situation.
Pidgy sitting on a late hatcher while teaching the early ones about scrambled egg goodies on the porch we built.

Mindy on hatch watch... note we used chicken wire as our safety fence, if you are hatching bantam breeds I would go with smaller spaced wire such as hardware cloth

We have a roost bar on the front of our boxes that the back edge of the porch rested on (was screwed on for safety) and a kick stand on the front edge for stability. Pidgy decided she wanted to brood in the meat bird pen, so they weren't able to jump up and bother her, but this type set up should be able to work in front of about any elevated nest for the first couple of days. After that you need to figure out a ramp system or move them to a floor nest (my preference).

Moving her to check eggs... it depends on the broody. If she tends to be a calm and people friendly bird you can probably pick her up off of the nest and softly set her on the floor. She will set there in a daze for a few minutes and then probably scratch for goodies and get a drink. She may panic and try to get back in the nest quickly though, so do your checking quick! If the bird is flighty or scared easily then you may have to wait for her to get up herself. I rarely bother my hens on the nest if I don't need to.

Eggs are different ages... this may cause problems with a staggered hatch. The hen can stay on the nest 48-72 hours after the first egg hatches because the chicks can wait for food and water, after that though the hen either neglects the new babies or the unhatched eggs. You may buy yourself an extra day by having food and water close, but it is far from ideal. I would pull any unhatched eggs after the 3rd day. If you have an incubator just have it ready to go in case you need it or have alternative plans for the eggs.

Some hens and chicks do fine being left in with the flock, but others don't. Much depends on the status of the hen and her experience as a broody. The lower she is in the pecking order the more likely she is to have trouble. If your flock is easy going and your hen is in the top of the pecking order she may be just fine. I like to give our broodies at least a few days to get bonded with the babies, then integration can start on a supervised basis, her and the babies can stay in the main part of the coop after we see how everyone is behaving. If you don't have the time to monitor what is going on then err on the side of caution... but I strongly feel the broody and babies should be left within sight and sound of the rest of the flock. In our situation it has always seemed to make it easy to add them into the main flock at a very young age with basically no drama.

Hope this helps... Everyone's flock dynamics are different though... experiment and observe... you will figure out what works best for your gang in no time.

 

[fisherlady]

A couple of new pics from the broody hatch on the 14th... coop temp today was about 24-26 degrees F when I got the pics... babies were running around all over the place for a bit, then dive under mama and warm up, then back out to explore some more. They are busy little buggers for sure!

 

[fisherlady]

Broody flu is in full swing... Rosie's chicks hatched on the 14th, we now have 2 hens setting on eggs due in about 16 days, hen #3 waiting for eggs which we will give her Saturday.... and hen #4 and #5 making broody noises and staying in the nest boxes, both with their chest's plucked already... but I'm not ready to diagnose #4 and #5 broody quite yet, they have to stick in nests overnight for multiple days for that.

What is really dumbfounding me is that all 6 of these hens are under 1 yr old, 5 of them are 9 months, Rosie is 11 months now, though she went broody at just before 10 months... all but Rosie were broody raised, so that may have some impact I guess.

 

[silkieluv23]

My hen is on day 23 and there is still no sound from any of the eggs. If they don't hatch by the weekend I'm going to switch them for some fresh eggs.
THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

 

[Betty1]

My silkie went broody yesterday, I spent all day trying to get her to stop and then realised she could actually hatch some eggs!

It was so funny though, wherever I put her down outside she just settled down and fluffed herself up, and ignored everything around her! I thought she was fluffy before, but now she is an actual fluff-ball!!

This is a picture of her, surrounded by her friends who suddenly wanted to kill her

and with my dog right next to her(you can see his shadow)

 

[Betty1]

Is this a good coop for a broody to hatch her chicks in? They would also have a run thats about a metre and a half squared.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RABBIT-HU...Pet_Supplies_Poultry&var=&hash=item5404f24861

 

[silkieluv23]

I candled my silkie's eggs today and they all seem well developed, day 24