Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

Moving my broody hen Magellan seemed to go well last night. She settled into her nest. But this morning she is frantically pacing the run. Should I give her another day to possibly settle down? It looks like she tried sitting on the nest. The dummie eggs were neatly gathered and it looks like she pulled out some breast feathers. I was sad to see her out of the coop this morning.

I don't know the size of the run area you have, but if possible covering it with a sheet to minimize visibility may help calm her. Give her a day or so to see if she settles and returns to nesting mode.

 

[fisherlady]

I have eight Red Dorkings, seven hens and one rooster. They are almost 2 years old. I have decided I would like to breed them, and would like to use broody hens for incubation and rearing. One of the hens is excellent quality, and two others are good quality. I had planned on brooding eggs from only one hen at a time, but I didn't start saving eggs soon enough and my best hen just went broody earlier than expected, and has been brooding for 2 days now. I only have four eggs from her, three that were saved specifically for incubation, and one that had been in the refrigerator for several day before I pulled it out. I also have 5 eggs from one of the good quality hens, two saved for incubation and three pulled out after a short time in the refridge.

I am thinking of putting all nine eggs under this broody to hatch out at the same time. However, I need to be able to tell which chicks came from which hen so that I can keep genetic records for my breeding program. The eggs are marked, and I can put leg bands or other identification on the chicks once they hatch. My problem is how to tell which chick came from which egg if they all hatch on the same day, and I'm not there at the exact time of hatch to check the egg mark and immediately put ID on the chick. If I were using an incubator I could use a pedigree cage, but are there any techniques for natural brooding?? I've heard that the colored Easter chicks (that are dyed pink or green or some other non-chick color) are created by injecting food coloring into the egg at a certain time of development, but I'm a bit concerned about introducing contamination into the egg with injections, plus I'm not even sure that really how they color the chicks. Is there anything else that can be done to differentiate between chicks hatched in the same clutch that are from different look-a-like hens?? I hate having such a great quality hen go through a brood for just 4 eggs, but even if I break her brood now she still won't be back to laying eggs for another 4-8 weeks, which puts those chicks later in the season, with no guarantee that there will be a broody available at the right time. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Short of IDing them as they hatch (which would be nearly impossible to do) you have me stumped. You may try a search on the site to see if anyone else has done this and what technique they used. Otherwise the only sure way is giving her just eggs from one hen.
Other option though.... give her all of her eggs... take the other hen's eggs and hatch those in an incubator. Since they should hatch at the same time if they are set at the same time you can mark the ones which hatch in the incubator and then graft them back to the broody. Most likely she will adopt them without a problem. Marked ones are the other hen's and non marked are hers... and all are broody raised from birth..

 

[mommasgirls]

I'm curious. I will be picking up day old BCMs next week and if they're that easy to sex, I don't want to come home with 3 roosters. How do you tell which is which?

 

[mommasgirls]

Have you ever seen the YouTube of Mike Rowes Dirty Jobs-sexing chickens? Hilarious but informative. Maybe this could help you out.

 

[fisherlady]

We had a 'beautiful' day here Friday (compared to recent history, at least!).... it was 42 and sunny... and Rosie took advantage and had her chicks out roaming around for much of the afternoon. I snapped a couple of pictures for DH since he was at work....

Chicks were 3 weeks on Friday also...

digging for scratch in the run area before heading out into the yard.

Taking a break from roaming to sun themselves on the coop porch...

 

[fisherlady]

Well... we have more broody news....

we have a total of 5 broodies right now... Rosie has her 3 week olds... Frannie is due next week... Gracie is waiting for eggs and Connie and Bess hatched Friday night to Saturday morning.

Fertility was a major issue with the breeder's eggs I had gotten for Connie and Bess (he is replacing them for me though when we get more broodies, so all is good).... so they each hatched 2 Silver Pencil Rocks and 1 black mix.

Connie and Bess were raised in the same clutch by one of our broodies last year. They were only 8.5 months old when they went broody themselves... Bess first, then Connie a week or so later. We gave them their eggs at the same time though and set them into their own little area...

This little corner allowed them more quiet time than the main coop area, but they shared it with Rosie and her chicks and the other birds would frequently visit to see what goodies the broodies were hoarding.

Eventually we had hatching and of course they were adorable...
Connie

Bess

As you can tell from the picture above the hens were close together and frequently we heard them 'chatting' back and forth during their brooding time...
Connie's little ones were a few hours ahead of Bess's and hopped out of the nest on their own a bit early to explore.


I guess the little blonde chipmunk figured she'd head to the neighbors to see if they had better snacks...
. Bess was happy to share... and the little black chick was trying to figure out if it was OK to play or not...

DH and I were glad to see the lack of aggression and lack of 'freaking out' with the hens... we knew both were calm birds... but broody hormones aren't to be underestimated.... their tolerance of each other's chicks was making it look like coop accommodations would be easier to figure out.

So... DH went out to open the coop this morning and check on the babies... and came rushing back in asking for the camera... so back out we went, camera in hand while he is telling me about finding.... this....

. I guess the easiest way to handle chicks roaming back and forth between nests is to just join nests!!
They were happy as can be with the chicks running around between the two of them!
But their area really wasn't very large, and since Rosie moved to the main coop area with her little ones we decided to move Connie and Bess to the broody hut. Thankfully these two hens are very cooperative and used to us silly humans doing things... so we moved them and all of the babies into the broody hut and within a few minutes we had this...







and now... hours later... they are still happy as can be... though Mindy is a bit bummed because her view isn't nearly as good now!

and DH says... 'if I'd known they were going to do this I would have gone to Tractor Supply and gotten them more chicks!'....

 

[TeaChick]

Hi, all!
My BCF just started laying.
I thought she was already laying, so I cooped her; being Cochin, I didn't want her to go broody in the woods.
The first egg I got (Friday) has some blood on it, and the second one (she laid it today) has just a smidge of blood on it; I'm thinking these are her first two eggs.
(They're so cute and tiny!!!)
I need to move her nesting bucket out of my juvenile pen b/c I need the brooder (where my juvies are now) for much smaller chicks. (more Cochin chicks) =D
She's right at a year old.
I know the eggs are fertilized. (I watched her and my rooster mate the other day and I'm reasonably certain that my cockerel has mated with her as well.)
I want her to go broody; what should I do?
(I know that moving her isn't the best idea for her specifically, but I have to think of all my chickens that's the least stressful adjustment.)
Advice, please.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Well... we have more broody news.... we have a total of 5 broodies right now... Rosie has her 3 week olds... Frannie is due next week... Gracie is waiting for eggs and Connie and Bess hatched Friday night to Saturday morning. Fertility was a major issue with the breeder's eggs I had gotten for Connie and Bess (he is replacing them for me though when we get more broodies, so all is good).... so they each hatched 2 Silver Pencil Rocks and 1 black mix. Connie and Bess were raised in the same clutch by one of our broodies last year. They were only 8.5 months old when they went broody themselves... Bess first, then Connie a week or so later. We gave them their eggs at the same time though and set them into their own little area... This little corner allowed them more quiet time than the main coop area, but they shared it with Rosie and her chicks and the other birds would frequently visit to see what goodies the broodies were hoarding. Eventually we had hatching and of course they were adorable... Connie Bess As you can tell from the picture above the hens were close together and frequently we heard them 'chatting' back and forth during their brooding time... Connie's little ones were a few hours ahead of Bess's and hopped out of the nest on their own a bit early to explore. I guess the little blonde chipmunk figured she'd head to the neighbors to see if they had better snacks... . Bess was happy to share... and the little black chick was trying to figure out if it was OK to play or not... DH and I were glad to see the lack of aggression and lack of 'freaking out' with the hens... we knew both were calm birds... but broody hormones aren't to be underestimated.... their tolerance of each other's chicks was making it look like coop accommodations would be easier to figure out. So... DH went out to open the coop this morning and check on the babies... and came rushing back in asking for the camera... so back out we went, camera in hand while he is telling me about finding.... this.... . I guess the easiest way to handle chicks roaming back and forth between nests is to just join nests!! They were happy as can be with the chicks running around between the two of them! But their area really wasn't very large, and since Rosie moved to the main coop area with her little ones we decided to move Connie and Bess to the broody hut. Thankfully these two hens are very cooperative and used to us silly humans doing things... so we moved them and all of the babies into the broody hut and within a few minutes we had this... and now... hours later... they are still happy as can be... though Mindy is a bit bummed because her view isn't nearly as good now! and DH says... 'if I'd known they were going to do this I would have gone to Tractor Supply and gotten them more chicks!'....

Oh my goodness! I could die from the sweetness! What good broody sisters they are!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Incubating the eggs from the other hen is a great idea. I hadn't thought of that. I'd prefer to have them all broody incubated, but sometimes you have to pick you priorities!

Your broody pictures are ADORABLE!!!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hi, all!
My BCF just started laying.
I thought she was already laying, so I cooped her; being Cochin, I didn't want her to go broody in the woods.
The first egg I got (Friday) has some blood on it, and the second one (she laid it today) has just a smidge of blood on it; I'm thinking these are her first two eggs.
(They're so cute and tiny!!!)
I need to move her nesting bucket out of my juvenile pen b/c I need the brooder (where my juvies are now) for much smaller chicks. (more Cochin chicks) =D
She's right at a year old.
I know the eggs are fertilized. (I watched her and my rooster mate the other day and I'm reasonably certain that my cockerel has mated with her as well.)
I want her to go broody; what should I do?
(I know that moving her isn't the best idea for her specifically, but I have to think of all my chickens that's the least stressful adjustment.)
Advice, please.

If I am understanding you, she is not broody yet, just beginning to lay...and is a Cochin, which is a breed highly prone to brooding.

If that is the case, I would use this time to set up the broody hutch/run now, and move her into it so she gets used to it before she goes into brood mode. It is often harder to move them once they are brooding as some hens resist leaving the original nest and are frantic to get back to it. (See a post above about just that situation).

I find I have much greater success in hatching chicks with broodies when they broody has her own area safe from other intruders, including bossy hens. Fisherlady has great success with community brooding...but she still has all her broodies in one area away from the non-brooding flock, and these broody girls have been raised together and are very laid back type hens. Non-broodies and broodies generally don't mix well as they vie for the nests which means the incubating eggs get stepped on, kicked out, and left in the cold, or fresh eggs are drawn in later. Not great conditions for good hatches.

You will obviously have to give her free range access to the roosters, or the roosters access to her...although eggs laid by a hen are fertile up to 21 days after having mated. However, I would not set any of her first laid eggs. Those are "teen" eggs and generally do not develop well into chicks.

As to making her go broody. There is nothing you can do to make her go broody. (And I would not try to encourage her until she is laying better eggs). You can help along a highly prone bird who already possesses the genetics and is already "hormonal" to brood by placing them in a quiet, dark, cushy nest with about 6 eggs or dummies, away from others, away from drafts, and fairly warm. This often helps kick in the natural process. Several factors are at work here. The pressure of the eggs (a certain amount is needed) will press against a spot on her breast to trigger the brooding hormone...you have to have enough eggs in order to do this....how many depends on the bird. The dark will quiet her and the warmth will raise her body temperature and help her broody hormones kick in.

Then cross your fingers. If she is close, you often can trigger a good brood that way. Wait and watch. You'll recognize a good brood...she will sit and sit, barely getting up for a quick nibble, sip of water, and one big poo...then will be back onto the nest into a trance like stare growling at anything that attempts to come near her.

Good luck. Post pics when she goes broody for you.

Lady of McCamley