Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

My goodness, you had quite a night. It sounds like you got home just in time. Hopefully Little Runt will do well through the night and grow into a beautiful red bird.

Where did you get your Buckeye eggs from?

A farm in Kentucky...so the eggs were shipped all across the states first.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Little Runt appears alive and well this morning

...although still a bit slower than the siblings...which I think should be expected due to hatch time difference and a rough start...but he/she was tucked safely under Momma Silkie on AM check, and ran around with the others when I lifted Momma.

However, upon looking under Momma, the egg that was partially hatched yesterday, and which she was SO protective of yesterday, was still only partially hatched, peeping less vigorously, and mom seemed less concerned... even getting up to check me for treats and kicking dust shavings into the partially hatched egg.

Oh boy...I hate these types of decisions...since I've had lousy luck with late hatchers once the older siblings start to move around, I took that egg and brought it into the house. The membranes were dry and the chick about 1/4 to 1/2 exposed but appeared glued to the shell and membrane...fearing a shrink wrap situation arising, I threw caution to the wind (believing it had better luck with me than back with mom and the awakening siblings) and helped a bit more with the egg and the chick. I gently kept chipping dry glue away, with the chick pushing and peeping, checking to make sure no veins were live (which they weren't...it was all dry). I eventually got it out, for better or worse of me.

However, while the yolk sac was completely absorbed, and that area looks pretty good, the chick does have a sealed but protuding naval which was stuck to very dry umbilical....so I doused the naval area with Chlorhexiderm and put this baby in the mini-incubator to dry. I fear I may have rushed things a bit for it...or not....but I've simply not had good luck with chicks if they don't hatch with the others but linger in the shells half hatched for more than half a day...to date I've lost every one of those "late bloomers" so I decided to be more aggressive with this one....hopefully I've helped and not hindered....Now I've set myself up to figure out what to do with a chick with a protuding naval...hopefully upon drying the neval will completely recede or dry and fall off like a human's. (Guess I'll find out).

@Sydney Acres you've done a lot of hatching with broodies and incubators with a hands on approach...what are your experiences with an assisted hatch like this?

So...the saga continues....as of the moment 3 hatched and looking good and with Momma, 1 drying in the mini-incubator, and 1 egg in another mini-incubator that had movement last night but no more progression or movement this morning.

Whew...all to get a breed I can't get here locally. I've NEVER had this much problem with locally supplied eggs...I wonder if it is just the luck of the draw or the effects of eggs being shook across country? Or genetics of the line? Hmmmmm.

I'll post hopefully good news and pics soon.

Lady of McCamley

 

[Lenka]

How easy is it to stick chicks under a broody with chicks of her own? Im hoping to stick the eggs that are currently in the incubator under her when the chicks hatch. I don't want to stick them under her at the moment because she already has 9 eggs that shes sitting on (that will hopefully hatch sometime next week). I ready that you should do it at night, stick one baby under her and then check in an hour, if all goes well, then stick another and so forth. Id that the best method? 1 chick an hour until they're all under her? How many chicks could a hen take care of? My broody is a golden laced wyandotte, so not a small girl, and im planning on keeping her separate from the rest of the flock until the babies are a few weeks old.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

How easy is it to stick chicks under a broody with chicks of her own? Im hoping to stick the eggs that are currently in the incubator under her when the chicks hatch. I don't want to stick them under her at the moment because she already has 9 eggs that shes sitting on (that will hopefully hatch sometime next week). I ready that you should do it at night, stick one baby under her and then check in an hour, if all goes well, then stick another and so forth. Id that the best method? 1 chick an hour until they're all under her? How many chicks could a hen take care of? My broody is a golden laced wyandotte, so not a small girl, and im planning on keeping her separate from the rest of the flock until the babies are a few weeks old.

It depends upon how close in age the chicks are as you are actually also talking about an integrated brood rather than just swapping out dummy eggs (or non hatched eggs) for incubator hatched chicks.

Sticking chicks under a broody hen is easy...wait for them to dry from the brooder (and up on their legs) and take them to her...night time can be best, but I find if the mom is truly broody she'll accept them no matter what time it is. Just be sure to work from behind her as she may lash out to peck you and get the chick, which can make them fearful.

I also recommend placing the chicks within the first day of their life as they bond better with mom. Delayed placing makes it harder for the chicks to adjust to mom as their source of comfort. They are also less likely to obey her voice clucks.

If you try to integrate chicks from a brooder to a hen that has chicks already hatched...that can be trickier especially if the chicks are different ages. I think it is best to place chicks that are within a day of age, 2 at most, as mom is still in the "infant" mode and sitting a lot...otherwise she gets up to tend to the growing chicks, teaching them to scratch, and the little babies get kicked around too much as they want to snuggle and sleep. It can work with the right hen, but it can be trickier.

My suggestions.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Dumb Kluck]

I successfully moved the broody hen & eggs (just a couple of feet from where she wanted to nest on the floor of the secure run) into a 2x4x3 crate type cage that is nestled into a corner of the secure run. I lined the bottom with cardboard & 10" up the sides with shade screen to keep baby birdies we're expecting from venturing out. It has a door that can be left open until the babies are big enough to hop in & out on their own, or kept closed if the other girls get too pecky. Mama & chicks can stay in the broody pen for a couple of weeks after the hatch, then they will have the secure run (6'x12') to themselves in the afternoons while the big girls use the day-run (10'x100'). That way I can feed separately so I'm not dumping chick starter down my laying hens gullets Just have to compose an alternate entrance to the hen house for my layers, or toss a nest box in the day run... except one of the girls is very particular and will squawk & screech at the garden gate until someone lets her out & she hightails it straight to the hen house to lay in her favorite spot LOL.

 

[Tabatha]

Just received my phoenix eggs from @rambob59. So excited to put them under my broody orpie, Janet. Wish me luck and lots of chicks!♡♡♡

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Little Shrink Wrap (or Saran) is drying nicely and very vigorously chirping and moving about. I'm watching the naval (actually umbilical cord stub), which appears to be nicely drying and receding too...reading more on it, I read that naval protrudes which only involve the umbilical stem and not the actual yolk sac, with an enclosed abdomen, should just dry and drop off. The risk is during the drying process as bacteria can enter the raw cord area...so treating it with Chlorhexiderm and giving it a more sanitary location to dry off was probably the best thing to do as mom was shifting about with the older 3 kicking shavings dust into the open egg shell...hopefully my gut instincts were right then to assist hatch as those membranes were getting tougher by the second for a bird that wasn't looking like it was going to break through the glue. We've had some goofy weather changes with hot one day and pouring rain the next...unclosed, unhealed navals, and shrink wrapping are caused by differing humidity and heat conditions...sounds about right. Hopefully that was all it was.

Here's a photo of Saran in the mini-incubator stretching its legs and vigorously chirping. Saran should be ready for return to Momma soon!

A cautiously but very hopeful Lady of McCamley

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Just received my phoenix eggs from @rambob59 . So excited to put them under my broody orpie, Janet. Wish me luck and lots of chicks!♡♡♡

Wishing much luck (and less obstacles than I've had) for you!
Lady of McCamley

 

[Sydney Acres]

I successfully moved the broody hen & eggs (just a couple of feet from where she wanted to nest on the floor of the secure run) into a 2x4x3 crate type cage that is nestled into a corner of the secure run. I lined the bottom with cardboard & 10" up the sides with shade screen to keep baby birdies we're expecting from venturing out. It has a door that can be left open until the babies are big enough to hop in & out on their own, or kept closed if the other girls get too pecky. Mama & chicks can stay in the broody pen for a couple of weeks after the hatch, then they will have the secure run (6'x12') to themselves in the afternoons while the big girls use the day-run (10'x100'). That way I can feed separately so I'm not dumping chick starter down my laying hens gullets Just have to compose an alternate entrance to the hen house for my layers, or toss a nest box in the day run... except one of the girls is very particular and will squawk & screech at the garden gate until someone lets her out & she hightails it straight to the hen house to lay in her favorite spot LOL.

It sounds like you've thought this out well. If the broody hen gets upset about being within sight of the other birds, you can always place a sight barrier around the crate. I do have a few concerns about the details that you may have already taken care of, but didn't mention in your post.

First, is the crate in an area where other birds can jump on top of it? Chickens like to jump up on things, and the hen might get very stressed out about that. If needed, you can just secure a cardboard box to the top, modified to have a very slanted top, like an A-frame shape, but high enough that they can't roost on the peak.

Second, is the weave of the shade screen of a size that the chicks could get their toes caught in it? I am always amazed at what chicks get toes and toenails caught on. I put a tee-shirt in a brooder once and a chick got its toenail caught on a seam thread -- almost lost the whole toe to infection!! Luckily, the antibiotics worked well, but the nail is still a little twisted and has to be trimmed every month. Even if the screen is only on the sides, if it goes all the way to the bottom a chick will find a way to injure itself. You could probably just attach a 2" high layer of cardboard around the bottom edge to prevent any problems. Make sure that the chicks can't get between the cardboard and the screening and get stuck.

Third is the cardboard on the floor of the crate. I assume that was just to cover the bottom grate, and that you'd be putting some kind of absorbent bedding down, but just wanted to be sure. Cardboard might be too slippery for young chicks. They are so susceptible to splay leg when first hatched, and it is vital to keep them on a surface with good traction. There's lots of options, just as long as it's not slippery, toxic, itchy, cold, bad smelling, and they don't eat it.

Enjoy your chicks and broody.

 

[LisaLouHoo]

[COLOR=333333]Little Shrink Wrap (or Saran) is drying nicely and very vigorously chirping and moving about. I'm watching the naval (actually umbilical cord stub), which appears to be nicely drying and receding too...reading more on it, I read that naval protrudes which only involve the umbilical stem and not the actual yolk sac, with an enclosed abdomen, should just dry and drop off. The risk is during the drying process as bacteria can enter the raw cord area...so treating it with Chlorhexiderm and giving it a more sanitary location to dry off was probably the best thing to do as mom was shifting about with the older 3 kicking shavings dust into the open egg shell...hopefully my gut instincts were right then to assist hatch as those membranes were getting tougher by the second for a bird that wasn't looking like it was going to break through the glue. We've had some goofy weather changes with hot one day and pouring rain the next...unclosed, unhealed navals, and shrink wrapping are caused by differing humidity and heat conditions...sounds about right. Hopefully that was all it was.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Here's a photo of Saran in the mini-incubator stretching its legs and vigorously chirping. Saran should be ready for return to Momma soon! [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]A cautiously but very hopeful Lady of McCamley[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

Isn't it great to have confirmation that you "done good?" If it would have gone the other way, you'd be beating yourself up, right?