Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[SchellyMc]

My 9 month old broody Dollie. Just stuck her and her sisters eggs under her this morning. Please feel free to offer any advice. We are both first timers!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have 2 new setters over the last 3 days. I let 2 hatch out chicks, then broke the next 2 and now I'll let these 2 new ones hatch too.
Broody heaven here.

 

[poodlechicks]

I go to the coop just now to find that one fluffy, beautiful barred rock mix has hatched! I wish I could take a picture of her, but she scurried under momma's wing as soon as I reached in to remove the egg shells. I don't know if any more had hatched because momma is fierce and is making herself huge right now. I'll be peeking in from time to time and keep you guys posted.

I only have a bit of experience with vent sexing (which I'm not doing on MY chicks , but I think it's a girl.
She is very dark with black washed legs. Couldn't see if she has a dot on the head or what shape, though. Hope it holds true for Ameraucana x Barred Rock cross.

Does anybody here have experience with sex link characteristics? Thanks! I'm so excited!!!

 

[LisaLouHoo]

I go to the coop just now to find that one fluffy, beautiful barred rock mix has hatched! I wish I could take a picture of her, but she scurried under momma's wing as soon as I reached in to remove the egg shells. I don't know if any more had hatched because momma is fierce and is making herself huge right now. I'll be peeking in from time to time and keep you guys posted.

I only have a bit of experience with vent sexing (which I'm not doing on MY chicks , but I think it's a girl.
She is very dark with black washed legs. Couldn't see if she has a dot on the head or what shape, though. Hope it holds true for Ameraucana x Barred Rock cross.   Does anybody here have experience with sex link characteristics? Thanks! I'm so excited!!!

Congrats on the little one!

 

[poodlechicks]

Thank you!

 

[Sydney Acres]

I loved every minute of hand feeding my broody girl each morning (no syringe necessary, thank goodness), sometimes a high water content fresh fruit of veggie treat later in the day. You can put a small dish at the edge of the nest. She used a 1 liter bottle with a chicken nipple in the cap all day, every day & got up once a day to poo outside the brooder and maybe dust bathe & assert her fluffy dominance. She had two of the other hens who were allowed to sit her eggs when she was up for a few minutes each day. but post hatch tries to kill even her best friend hen for looking too long LOL. I was shocked when she actually attacked my husband for trying to grab a chick! She fluffs up and talks to me, watches carefully as I fondle all her squealing chicks, and never pecks!

Your poor husband, he must feel left out! But you put the work in, bonding with her and teaching her to trust you, so you get the rewards. It's only fair. It looks like you have a wonderfully protective broody.

 

[Sydney Acres]

My 9 month old broody Dollie. Just stuck her and her sisters eggs under her this morning. Please feel free to offer any advice. We are both first timers!

Most of the time the hen will do it all. Just be sure she has a comfortable, safe, and private nest (ideally, although some hens are fine in a coop, depending on the personality of the flock), enough room to leave the nest and poop, and food and water very close by. A close area to dustbathe is nice also. Don't let other hens lay additional eggs in her nest, since a staggered hatch is problematic. Be careful not to put too many eggs under a first time broody, so she can learn how to take care of them without being overwhelmed. I've been told 6-8, but it does depend on the size of the hen and her personality. Monitor her to be sure she's doing well, and if she's tame you can hand feed or water her if you think it's necessary, which it usually isn't but sometimes is. If you read back through this thread there are numerous subjects covered in depth, and they tend to repeat every few months, so you don't need to read all 2100 pages to get all the basics.

Welcome to the broody thread. Having a broody is wonderful. Hope she has a great hatch.

 

[Sydney Acres]

We also have a second hen that went broody about 2 weeks into the 1st sitting on her eggs. Currently she is sitting on a golf ball. Not sure how she will handle the chicks or how to break her of being broody.

Here's a cut and paste of a post I put on another thread several months ago, then have reposted several times. People have said they have had great results with this method, and it's easy. Good luck, and please let me know if this method works for you.


"The wire bottom cage is the best known gold standard for breaking a brood, but my main breed (Red Dorking) is a very heavy hen that broods frequently, so I didn't want them on wire. I tried many of the other well known techniques and nothing worked. Eventually I found a very reliable technique that doesn't require a wire bottom cage, but works just as well.

Build a small wire run. Mine is about 30" wide, 30" high, and 5' long. It is made out of 1X2" welded wire, just four side panels held together by cable ties (it could be made out of other materials, but this is very stable because of the frequent welds, and has lasted for almost 10 years). The top is divided into two parts. Half is attached by cable ties on the sides and one end. The other half is about 4" longer than the remaining opening on top. One end is cable tied onto the first half (the only remaining unattached edge of the top's first half, spanning across the center of the run), so that it can open and close like a hatch. The other end has the extra length bent down over the end side panel so that the hatch doesn't fall down into the run. I prevent the hatch from opening with a simple latch, which isn't usually necessary, but one hen years ago figured out that she could get out of the run by repeatedly flying up into the hatch until it opened. There is no bottom on the run. It is very lightweight, very secure, and easy to move. It was easy and cheap to build, and can be disassembled and stored flat when not in use, if desired.

My birds free range. I put the run somewhere on the property where the broody cannot see her nest, or anything near her nest. I chose an area that is protected from the weather so she won't get too hot, too cold, or wet, and is very safe from predators and harassment. There should ideally be some dirt to dustbathe, and some grass to graze, but that's not essential. What is absolutely necessary is that there not be anything on the ground that can be used to build a nest -- no leaves, no straw, no shavings, no dry grass, no bedding of any kind. Just food, water, plain ground or lawn to sit on, enough room to pace a little as the brood starts to transition out, and no reminder or sight of her nest or eggs. At night I put her in a pet carrier with cardboard on the bottom, covered with a towel, and put her in the garage (or barn, or coop, or spare bedroom -- just somewhere that is no where near her nest, and is 100% predator proof). I've had 100% success at breaking broods with this method, with 90% of hens taking 3-4 days, and the remaining hens taking either 2 or 5-6 days. And no wire pressed into the plucked, bare brood spot on their chest."

After that posted the first time, I got several PM's and one post on the thread saying that it worked perfectly. But it does take typically 3-4 days, and once up to 6 days, so don't give up too early. I once had a bird that had always taken 3 days to break her brood, but that time seemed to be done after the second day. So on day three I let her back with the flock instead of putting her in the run. She foraged and flocked with the other birds for almost the entire day, but by the evening she was back on her nest again. I put her back in the coop for the evening, and back in the broody breaking run the next day, expecting that one more day would do it. But apparently the clock gets reset the moment they see their nest, and she took 4 additional days in the run. So now I'm not anxious to get them out of the run. If there's even a hint of broodiness, they stay in. But it's a nice place for them, and it's not forever, so it's definitely worth making sure they're finished.

 

[Wishapup]

Moved my broody on Day 14 today. She did excellently. She now has her own large wire dog crate, covered entirely by a sheet, and with her own nestbox & waterer. She seems to be glad for the private room, as other hens were frequently coming in and laying or sitting during the day.

 

[chickenlisa]

Meanie hatched 9 chicks in all- she had 11 eggs, but 1 died in the shell after it zipped...1 didn't develop. Pretty good hatch rate I think. Better than in the incubator!
Here are a few pics I just took: