Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Yoyo with chick]

I have broody CCL raising 6 SFH that she hatched. They will be 4 weeks tomorrow. Lady week I noticed tiny droppings on the poop board. Tonight I noticed that she had them all up on the roost. Of course I didn't have my phone with me.


I have never had a broody teach them so young!

I notice each broody teaches them at different ages, but even a single broody will teach them at different times depending on weather and chick development.  Our faithful silkie mix broody, Gracie, will keep her cold weather chicks till they are 7 or even 8 weeks old, and start 'roosting' them when they are about 6 weeks... but summer chicks get taken to the roost at about 3 weeks and she usually leaves them between 4 and 5 weeks.  They always do fine, so I guess mama knows best, but it is always strange to see 4 week olds running around without adult supervision! LOL

so I know this isn't a broody question but how do you teach them how to roost if they aren't under a broody?

 

[chippysmom327]

I have broody CCL raising 6 SFH that she hatched. They will be 4 weeks tomorrow. Lady week I noticed tiny droppings on the poop board. Tonight I noticed that she had them all up on the roost. Of course I didn't have my phone with me.


I have never had a broody teach them so young!

I notice each broody teaches them at different ages, but even a single broody will teach them at different times depending on weather and chick development.  Our faithful silkie mix broody, Gracie, will keep her cold weather chicks till they are 7 or even 8 weeks old, and start 'roosting' them when they are about 6 weeks... but summer chicks get taken to the roost at about 3 weeks and she usually leaves them between 4 and 5 weeks.  They always do fine, so I guess mama knows best, but it is always strange to see 4 week olds running around without adult supervision! LOL

My broody thought that it would be good to teach the 4 day olds today. She was up on the 3 foot high roost that they obviously couldn't get up on looking at them like "Well, what are you waiting for?" so I put her down.

 

[ochochicas]

so I know this isn't a broody question but how do you teach them how to roost if they aren't under a broody?

I started my chicks out with rocks and some little branches when they were 10 days old. They learned to navigate over them and pretty soon they were perching on the rocks and their feeder. Then I gave them some 2 x 4s and some larger branches. At three weeks I elevated the branches an inch or two off the floor. By the time they were 4 weeks old they were climbing around and starting to perch when they slept. When I moved them outside they had a small, chick sized chicken ladder. One of them is always more adventurous than the others. That chick started hopping on the ladder and pretty soon they were all doing it. The chicks are 4 months old now and still sleep on the ground sometimes, but always roost on the chicken ladder with the other hens.

At 7 weeks they were roosting on the fence together.

 

[bumpercarr]

so I know this isn't a broody question but how do you teach them how to roost if they aren't under a broody?

Mine do it by instinct. They have a roost available, usually once they are able to get onto it they will start roosting.

 

[poodlechicks]

Mine do it by instinct. They have a roost available, usually once they are able to get onto it they will start roosting.

x2. Never taught my chicks how to roost. They did it by themselves.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Sydney, would you post the method for freezing eggs, please? Thanks!

Yes, I chose BOs and now I have to live with their broodiness, but I don't mind b/c I really like how manageable they are. My broodies so far have been very good to me (not to the other chickens, though. I can pick them up and move them around with no problem. My fridge is full of eggs, so If I can learn to freeze them, I'll be good for the winter.

Here it is:

I've been freezing my extra eggs for a few years now, and it works great. I found this technique in a very old book, published in the 1950s, when absolutely everything on the farm was used or saved. The only thing new is the ziplock bags, which weren't around in the 1950s.

If storing egg whites alone, they don't need a stabilizer. If storing yolks alone, or whole eggs, they need a stabilizer or they become hard and pasty when thawing. To stabilize, I use 1 teaspoon honey per cup of yolks (about 12 average chicken yolks/cup) or per cup of whole eggs (about 5 average chicken eggs per cup, or 4 average turkey eggs). The yolks must be broken and the honey stirred in well with a fork. They don't have to be thoroughly whipped, as that adds too much air, which increases freezer damage to food. You can also strain the whole eggs through a strainer with large holes and then gently stir, which adds no air at all. I haven't tried this last method, as I've been happy with my current method of stirring with a fork, which adds a little air but not too much. It is easiest if the eggs are room temperature, as honey hardens when it's mixed into cold things, and becomes harder to mix. I have read that you can also use the same volume of either sugar or salt instead of honey and get the same results, but I have not tried that as I have my own bee hives. I would not recommend multiplying out the recipe and mixing large batches, especially if using honey, as honey does not mix thoroughly, and you might end up with some really sweet portions, and some really gummy portions.

After I mix up a cup, I put it in a one quart ziplock freezer bag. remove all the air from the bag, seal, and lay the bag flat on a cookie sheet. After the cookie sheet is covered, I put it in the freezer. Do not stack multiple layers. The purpose of the single, flat, thin bags on the cookie sheet is that the eggs will freeze very fast. That minimizes freezer damage, so the eggs taste better. They also freeze in a very flat, equal shape, which makes storage easier. After the bags are frozen solid, I remove them and stand them upright in a box that is the perfect height and width, kind of like 4X6" cards in an old fashioned recipe box. That stores the eggs very efficiently, taking up a minimum of space in the freezer, and allows you to easily "file" them with the oldest in front and the newest in back for appropriate rotation of food. Different sources say that eggs can be stored this way for either 6 months or 1 year, but it may be longer. I use them for omelets and cooking, where large numbers of eggs are required. I put the frozen bag in a bowl of cool water for 20 minutes to thaw, then cut the corner off the plastic bag and squeeze the contents into a bowl. Easy, and no mess.

You can also freeze the whole, stabilized, well mixed eggs in an ice cube tray. Spray the tray with Pam first to make the cubes slide out easily. After they're frozen solid, put the cubes in a plastic bag and remove as much air as possible. Each average sized cube equals approximately one egg, so that can be very handy for cooking when you don't need a large number of eggs.

One important detail -- be sure to label the bag with what type of stabilizer you use, as the extra honey, salt, or sugar could significantly affect the flavor of your food, depending on what you're cooking. I haven't tried the salt option yet, but the honey option works great for omelets -- not at all overly sweet or weird tasting.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Thank you. I have it. Sylvia

 

[bobbieschicks]

Wow. My WL chicks are already two weeks old and feathering in nicely. Their little tail feathers are showing. I should know by eight weeks if they will be roosters.

My EE and OE are a week old and flying around now with little wing feathers. Looking forward to seeing their egg colors.

My oldest son wanted to hold a chick until the broody rushed him. Lol

 

[ChickyChickens]

I feel your pain!! Sydney explained it very well... broodiness just seems to be very contagious! I have 23 adult layers, since the first hatch in February it has been non-stop with as many as 10 in some stage of broodiness at one time. We are on broody hatch #19 with 11 hens... and at least 2 more hens who should brood again before fall.

I always wanted broodies... but the phrase 'be careful what you wish for, you may just get it ' comes to mind when trying to tend 10 tempermental hens in one coop!!!!

X2 broodiness is very contagious...! I have sooo many broodies! One goes broody then the next...then the next...then the next and so fourth!!!

 

[ChickyChickens]

Wow. My WL chicks are already two weeks old and feathering in nicely. Their little tail feathers are showing. I should know by eight weeks if they will be roosters.

My EE and OE are a week old and flying around now with little wing feathers. Looking forward to seeing their egg colors.

My oldest son wanted to hold a chick until the broody rushed him. Lol

I have a hen that looks exactly like her! Is she a silkie??? My hen that looks like her name is Millie