Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[elsfieldchickens]

my Broody and her adopted chicks sadly we lost 2

 

[Scrambles55]

my Broody and her adopted chicks sadly we lost 2

I lost 2 of mine also. Hatchery RSLs. Must have been a bad batch. The BSL and Golden SL are healthy as can be and her Lav Ameraucana chicks are feisty and a handful!!

 

[ChickiesNSA]

Thank you for the replies, mama bird does currently have food and water available to her. Once the chicks hatch I will remove the blue bin she is siting in so the chicks will be able to move around. I think we decided to close the gate to the crate once the eggs start to peep (this way no curious flock members disrupt the process) and leave her in with the babies till they are all hatched, then we will open the gate and let nature run its course. I am surprised she even went broody, but very excited to see the outcome! My roosters are black Silkie's so expecting some cute chicks. I will definitely post pics as soon as they hatch!

 

[K Epp]

My broody Mamas and their babies. So far they have 4 ducklings. Waiting on 2 more ducks and 6 turkeys.

 

[Sydney Acres]

My broody Mamas and their babies. So far they have 4 ducklings. Waiting on 2 more ducks and 6 turkeys.

That sleeping baby is too precious!!!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Wow, that's a huge difference between the cheap and expensive incubators. Which "expensive" incubators were used in the study? I want to use broody hens as much as possible, but need an incubator for chicks of different parents to hatch out in pedigree cages and be leg banded before being put with a broody. My first experience with a borrowed styrofoam still-air incubator had a 0% hatch, so I'm looking to upgrade!

First, I'm sorry but I can't find the article that mentioned typical artificial incubators run at 50% efficiency unless a top of the line incubator is used which runs around 100%..I will keep looking for that but apparently mis-filed that article link...I do know it wasn't a study but an article, but my memory was it was a good source...just can't remember where I put it. It however did not give which incubators were better. I think the idea behind it is the more expensive ones take out some of the guess work alleviating some of the risk because of failure to accomplish all the necessary procedures if you have to manually turn, adjust temperature, etc.

My original post's intent was to compare brooding hens to artificial incubators, as the post I was responding to was concerned about using a broody for shipped eggs, so my research study links were geared towards that (and see those below).

I agree a LOT of variables come into play as to individual results as there are so many different factors from different environments, fertility of eggs, and behaviors of hens as well as the differences in the ability of owners running the incubators.

With that in mind, here are my links:

The studies that show hens repeatedly out perform artificial incubators (Go girls!)

Here's one link to a study done comparing number of eggs under smaller hens vs. larger hens, and the overall efficiency of broodies was determined at 87.4%. Amazingly, the smaller hens overall did better at brooding than the larger ones
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd17/2/azha17019.htm

And another that summerizes (without listing sources) the overall hatchability rates of hens is around 80%
http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/y5169e/y5169e06.htm

And a study that compared brooding hens to a 'rice husk incubator' and a conventional electric...hens came out at 92% hatchability, and the incubators were at 88 to 89%...the study believed this to be a mathematically significant difference.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/al675e/al675e00.pdf go to page 15

And finally an old (1909) book on poultry that lists a table of studies that directly compare broodies at 50 to 83% and incubators at 32% to 77% ranges.
See page 38 (search for "comparative efficiency of incubators and hens"). While truly old stuff...it holds up to modern research rates.
http://books.google.com/books?id=Vx...ng artificial incubators for chickens&f=false


Lady of McCamley

EDITED for clarity and better content flow

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

I didn't read thru the articles but saw a couple dates. 1 Idea that pops to mind is the technology advances. Not just incubators. Temp controlled rooms would be a massive improvement from 1909. Things like that.
Not saying Broody hens are not great. Just having 1 in almost 8 years is all I have experienced. Still air and the cooler-bator I have a lengthy track record with though. From 0-100% and everthing in between. Duck/chicken/guinea shipped non breeder eggs and BYM. Even poultry auction eggs, where I know they were not handled with care. My numbers, IF I do my job correct are more often then not 75+%. But everyone is different. And so is every incubator.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I didn't read thru the articles but saw a couple dates. 1 Idea that pops to mind is the technology advances. Not just incubators. Temp controlled rooms would be a massive improvement from 1909. Things like that.
Not saying Broody hens are not great. Just having 1 in almost 8 years is all I have experienced. Still air and the cooler-bator I have a lengthy track record with though. From 0-100% and everthing in between. Duck/chicken/guinea shipped non breeder eggs and BYM. Even poultry auction eggs, where I know they were not handled with care. My numbers, IF I do my job correct are more often then not 75+%. But everyone is different. And so is every incubator.

Yes, I am aware of that and flagged that quote as such...only that one is older...the rest are very new and still show hens typically do a better job...although incubators have closed the gap better; however, it still requires a skilled and careful incubator manager.

I'm still looking for the (modern) article that rated typical incubators at 50% and top of the line at 100%...again not a study...and again I think the idea is that it takes into consideration the human factor...those incubators that do all the work automatically will be more efficient than those that require manual adjusting (and thus more likely to incur human error).

Edited to add...and remember I was not intending ever to rate incubators or berate the use of them...just encourage a poster that using a broody for shipped eggs was not necessarily a bad idea, especially if it is a skilled broody (remember we are on the broody thread).

Lady of McCamley

 

[daniellea2912]

Hope this isn't too off topic for this thread, but it does involve a chick raised by a broody... And I figure you all have good chick experience
I picked up my 2 week old EE chick and noticed her upper beak looks longer than the other chicks of the same age

Could it be the beginnings of a cross beak? the bottom part may be off the teeniest bit sometimes when I look at it (like in the pic from below) but then other times I look and it seems centered. Would you all be concerned?
Should I start trimming it? or see if learns to hone it down on her own soon?? I did add a piece of a cinder block in their pen so they have something to rub their beaks on.

I should add she is broody raised, her 4 same-age siblings are in a brooder with no mama hen. She seems to be leaps and bounds ahead of them-she flies and eats better than the others and seems more feathered out than them also....

ETA 3rd picture

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Long ago in another life I worked for the Post Office as a contract carrier in a small northwest town.
The problem with shipping via Post Office is that the packages are all nearly all sorted by machines. They can go along conveyor belts and then drop some distance into big sorting bins, and then of course, more packages fall on top.

For things like books, clothing, and mom's cookies, that's not generally a big deal. Eggs? I'm surprised any hatch after a long trip through the Post Office. And I wouldn't expect any other carrier to be any better.

If you can get eggs that are hand carried from point A to point B you'd probably have better luck. But that's a big if.

I've seen the conveyors. If the bins are full, the packages don't drop very far. If they're empty, they'll fall 4' farther. It's luck. The tumbling is fairly gentle though so well packaged eggs can make it.

Quote: Those that have broody hens on eggs now, what day are they due?
I have some due in about 9 days.