Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[poodlechicks]

I sad to say that little chicky didn't make it.

I stayed up with her but I really think she was just too tired to fight..

So sorry about your loss! It is tense to assist a hatch, especially if the chick is your own. You tried so hard to save her

 

[poodlechicks]

As far as the hatching... if you sit very quietly near the hen for a while you may hear her 'talking' to her eggs, and they may answer her back! My dog is always the first to know (except for the hen herself! LOL) when the eggs are pipping. If Mindy runs into the coop and parks herself in front of the broody then I know something is happening! Sometimes I can hear the chicks also, but only after Mindy alerts me to listen.
Mindy on peep alert mode...

A wider view to show what she is so intent on...

Love your dog!!! Can I keep her?

 

[poodlechicks]

Result of my broody bantam's first hatch: sadly, nothing.

She is a year old and went broody around 3.5 weeks ago. I originally put 4 EE eggs for her mother to sit on in one of the nest boxes, but she adopted them instead. Occasionally other hens entered and sat.

On Day 13, another hen broke open an egg and created a mess (it was developing). Another egg got hairline cracks but I left it in (shouldn't have).

On Day 14, broody was moved to private quarters. She sat well on her 3 eggs.

Today, Day 21, the cracked egg was oozing stuff all over the nest/other eggs/hen. I removed the rotten egg, then did the float test, broke open the other 2 rotten eggs.

Not entirely sure what went wrong. I know the eggs were fertile; I hatched 2 of these eggs in the incubator in May.

I want to try again but I don't think my hen is in good enough condition. Plus the smell - mess- the experience has not been positive.

Sorry it didn't go well for you. Maybe you'll have better luck with an older, more experienced hen.

 

[ChickieKat]

So glad to have found this thread. I posted over in another part of the forum and haven't received any replies yet. I have a broody hen that hatched out a chick nearly 2 weeks ago now that has done fabulously as a mother so far, but now I have a couple of questions. She was in a cat carrier/nest box as she sat on two eggs (one did not develop, and I removed it after the lone chick hatched). After the chick hatched, I put the carrier into a large dog kennel over on one side of the coop so the hen and chick would still be with the other adults (6 other hens and a rooster) to keep the chick safe. We ordered 9 new egg chicks back in January, and hadn't planned to have a broody hen and new chick at the same time, so we now have 9 chicks that are 5 weeks old, a new peep that will be 2 weeks old on Friday and 8 adult birds not including the broody hen.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been putting the egg chicks into a pen outside near the coop for everyone to get used to each other. The egg chicks spend the night inside in a Rubbermaid tote, which is getting WAY too small for them, but they are only there at night, so are still doing ok. There is no cover on the pen, so today when I woke up to heavy rain, I realized they were not going to be able to go in the pen. I decided to put the egg chicks in the dog kennel in the coop and move the broody hen and her chick out into the main coop. I sat and watched how she would do and she successfully guarded her chick from three adult hens who wanted to get a closer look at her peep, but here is where the problem lies....

As I sat and watched the hen and her chick, she scratched around, ate, drank, and then went to the ramp door and hopped outside. Her chick started peeping wildly and loudly. The chick didn't follow her outside, and a large adult hen was actually standing in between the chick and the door. The mama hen was not reacting at all to her chick peeping at all. The other adult hen took a pretty good peck at the baby and at that point, I went and retrieved the mama and put her back in the coop. She went straight to her baby, and started cooing and sitting with the chick, but then a few minutes later went out again and left the chick screeching. I had to go retrieve her again and at that point, locked her up in the coop with the baby. This obviously is not a workable solution long term, as the adults can't get in and out to lay, and I can't be there all day to babysit her to make sure she stays with her baby.

This is her first time raising a chick, so I don't know if it is inexperience, or if she went a little stir crazy being locked in the dog kennel for 2 weeks, but I am really at a loss on what to do now. I would love to keep the egg chicks in the kennel to get them used to the coop, I don't have another kennel to put in the coop (not that it would even fit), but I really don't want to lose the 2 week old chick.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

 

[poodlechicks]

Beautiful mama and chicks. You and Summer did great!!

Oh, thank you Sydney Acres! For the compliment and for the help.
And thanks to all who helped me through this journey.
Now, to find homes for the chicks when they are fully feathered... Anyone?

 

[Wishapup]

I had difficulty moving a broody once, and posted the details here. People came up with some innovative ideas, and it worked great. Sometimes it takes more than one try, and some customization. Please let us know if we can help.

Thank you! I believe these hens are too old/nervous to adjust to being confined somewhere else. I believe I had posted about this on another thread. I moved them at night and tried about 3 times during one month. Fortunately, the younger hen was calm enough to be moved.

Later, one of these broodies broke open the younger hen's incubating egg -- so I don't plan to use her again.

 

[Wishapup]

Sorry it didn't go well for you. Maybe you'll have better luck with an older, more experienced hen.

If I had an experienced hen, I would use her. I really don't think the younger hen did anything wrong, though--she stayed on the nest, only getting off once every day or two, tucked the eggs underneath her, plucked her feathers, "hid" herself with straw, etc. I think it may have been the cracked rotting egg the other hen broke that made the others rot, but I'm not sure.

 

[poodlechicks]

So glad to have found this thread. I posted over in another part of the forum and haven't received any replies yet. I have a broody hen that hatched out a chick nearly 2 weeks ago now that has done fabulously as a mother so far, but now I have a couple of questions. She was in a cat carrier/nest box as she sat on two eggs (one did not develop, and I removed it after the lone chick hatched). After the chick hatched, I put the carrier into a large dog kennel over on one side of the coop so the hen and chick would still be with the other adults (6 other hens and a rooster) to keep the chick safe. We ordered 9 new egg chicks back in January, and hadn't planned to have a broody hen and new chick at the same time, so we now have 9 chicks that are 5 weeks old, a new peep that will be 2 weeks old on Friday and 8 adult birds not including the broody hen.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been putting the egg chicks into a pen outside near the coop for everyone to get used to each other. The egg chicks spend the night inside in a Rubbermaid tote, which is getting WAY too small for them, but they are only there at night, so are still doing ok. There is no cover on the pen, so today when I woke up to heavy rain, I realized they were not going to be able to go in the pen. I decided to put the egg chicks in the dog kennel in the coop and move the broody hen and her chick out into the main coop. I sat and watched how she would do and she successfully guarded her chick from three adult hens who wanted to get a closer look at her peep, but here is where the problem lies....

As I sat and watched the hen and her chick, she scratched around, ate, drank, and then went to the ramp door and hopped outside. Her chick started peeping wildly and loudly. The chick didn't follow her outside, and a large adult hen was actually standing in between the chick and the door. The mama hen was not reacting at all to her chick peeping at all. The other adult hen took a pretty good peck at the baby and at that point, I went and retrieved the mama and put her back in the coop. She went straight to her baby, and started cooing and sitting with the chick, but then a few minutes later went out again and left the chick screeching. I had to go retrieve her again and at that point, locked her up in the coop with the baby. This obviously is not a workable solution long term, as the adults can't get in and out to lay, and I can't be there all day to babysit her to make sure she stays with her baby.

This is her first time raising a chick, so I don't know if it is inexperience, or if she went a little stir crazy being locked in the dog kennel for 2 weeks, but I am really at a loss on what to do now. I would love to keep the egg chicks in the kennel to get them used to the coop, I don't have another kennel to put in the coop (not that it would even fit), but I really don't want to lose the 2 week old chick.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Hi! I am a total newbie in backyard chicken behavior, but I had a set up that resembled yours. Maybe I could help by telling you what I did. I had a dog carrier inside the tiny run of my tiny coop with the hen and her 4 chicks. Of course, they grew a little bigger, so I decided to do a makeshift run for them. I had a dog exercise pen laying around (no pun intended, so I covered it in hardware cloth to keep the chicks from going through. I then placed the dog carrier inside the pen and covered it with plastic vegetable garden fence (the size is between hardware cloth and chicken wire, but cheaper). If you shape the exercise pen into a rectangle, you'll be able to make it look like a run with a gate entrance on the smaller side. I closed mine with wire ties, so I can remove them as needed if I have to get in. They have shelter at night and room to run during the day. I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[poodlechicks]

If I had an experienced hen, I would use her. I really don't think the younger hen did anything wrong, though--she stayed on the nest, only getting off once every day or two, tucked the eggs underneath her, plucked her feathers, "hid" herself with straw, etc. I think it may have been the cracked rotting egg the other hen broke that made the others rot, but I'm not sure.

Could have been the egg, could have been they weren't fertilized in the first place? So hard to know... Best of luck on your next try!

 

[Wishapup]

Could have been the egg, could have been they weren't fertilized in the first place? So hard to know... Best of luck on your next try!

I considered that, but out of 4 eggs: one was broken on Day 13 (developing). When I removed the 3 remaining rotten ones, I broke open 2 (didn't fully open the 3rd) and there were sadly quarter sized embryos in each. Oh, and I also thought they would be safe to put under her because I just hatched 2 EEs in my incubator (eggs from the same hen).

I feel like maybe when one of the eggs cracked, it made the other 2 go bad as well...