Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

Silky had her 3 OE girls up on the roost to practice last night before bed time. They will be 3 weeks old on Monday.

The Maran had her 4 EE girls in the coop too. She has been teaching them to go up on the roost since they were under two weeks old.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Haven't been on here for a bit!

[COLOR=141823]It's nice that Bella's mother has took her two old chicks back, but her baby one is scared of the two big ones so is getting pushed out from food and I bet when she calls it for treats the big ones get them! Just wish she would look after her little one more.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=141823]Bella and her chick don't approve of this weather...[/COLOR]

Awh!

 

[bobbieschicks]

She is very much a spoiled chicken. I take her out daily for a "walk". She does her busines, plays in the dirt and then back into the nest box. I check on her 3 to 4 times a day. She is a happy spoiled little turd. I have a mixed flock so I wasn't sure how the others would react to the chicks. I wanted to wait till they were a few days old before I let her walk them around with the full flock. She did peck at my Lab pup last night when he got to close so that gave me some confidence she will be pretty protective. She has never pecked at anything before.

I forgot to encourage you about this post.

A broody I had an Arucana named Smokey was so tiny and quiet and let everyone near her and her new chicks the day they hatched. I worried about her ability to protect them. Then the WL roo walked over to one welsummer chick, picked it up, and flung it a bit. It turned out to be a rooster so maybe he knew that early he'd have competition. At any rate Smokey jumped up and attacked that rooster and made such a fuss he stayed clear away from her. And nobody went near her or her chicks without retribution. I didn't worry about her anymore.

I had a broody named Topsy who was the tiniest silky and last in the pecking order. I worried about her until I noticed her teaching her chicks how to avoid the larger higher ranking girls. She did defend her babies a couple of times, but overall her strategy was avoidance and it worked well. So I quit worrying about her.

Those two broodies are now in chicken Heaven, but they taught me that I can trust the protective instincts of the broody momma.

 

[lablover]

How do you candle eggs when using a broody? Just pick her up at night and take a few? I have 11 under one, so I don't plan on disturbing her to look at all of them... Also, for future knowledge, can the hen be on medicated chick feed?

 

[bobbieschicks]

How do you candle eggs when using a broody? Just pick her up at night and take a few? I have 11 under one, so I don't plan on disturbing her to look at all of them... Also, for future knowledge, can the hen be on medicated chick feed?

Medicated chick starter won't harm the broody. I usually feed that for about a week because I can get a small bag and store it until the eggs hatch. Once I run out of that I like to switch to nonmedicated crumbles like Flockstarter, that everyone can eat.

Yes. Go out at night and pick her up. I just set them on the ground nearby and they usually don't move. But you could cover her head with a hand towel or dish towel so she can't see you. Then I candle the eggs. You can mark them with a permanent pen so you know which ones you've candled. I gather the duds and dispose of them. If you leave the duds she will most likely break them open and eat them, shell and all perhaps, though usually mine leave the shells. Then when you've finished candling put them all back and return her to her nest and remove her covering.

I'd candle them all because I like to have a good idea of how many potential chicks to expect. I candle on days 3, 7, 14, and then 25 if they don't hatch.

 

[lablover]

Medicated chick starter won't harm the broody. I usually feed that for about a week because I can get a small bag and store it until the eggs hatch. Once I run out of that I like to switch to nonmedicated crumbles like Flockstarter, that everyone can eat.

Yes. Go out at night and pick her up. I just set them on the ground nearby and they usually don't move. But you could cover her head with a hand towel or dish towel so she can't see you. Then I candle the eggs. You can mark them with a permanent pen so you know which ones you've candled. I gather the duds and dispose of them. If you leave the duds she will most likely break them open and eat them, shell and all perhaps, though usually mine leave the shells. Then when you've finished candling put them all back and return her to her nest and remove her covering.

I'd candle them all because I like to have a good idea of how many potential chicks to expect. I candle on days 3, 7, 14, and then 25 if they don't hatch.

Thank you!
I worry about taking her off of the nest because how well will she be able to see to get back on them properly? The nest is a bucket cut in half, so it's a bit hard for her to ease down on them because she slips. I will be changing this once she's done with the eggs. Maybe I'm just worrying too much lol!

 

[Matt98]

How can you prevent hens from crushing eggs? This morning I checked my buff orp and she had a crushed egg on her leg with some blood on her toes. We were both heart broken :'( The egg was only under her eight days, and now she only has six eggs left

 

[bobbieschicks]

How can you prevent hens from crushing eggs? This morning I checked my buff orp and she had a crushed egg on her leg with some blood on her toes. We were both heart broken :'( The egg was only under her eight days, and now she only has six eggs left

You really can't prevent them from crushing eggs, especially the larger girls like Buffs. Sometimes they crush them because the egg shell was already fragile and any weight would cause it to crush. Sometimes they crush because others sit on the nest too and the extra weight and movement causes them to crush. But what I've noticed is usually when they crush them it's because the chick either wasn't developing or wouldn't hatch. I know it's disappointing to see them crush some of the eggs, and even to eat some, but it's normal.

Congrats on the broody!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thank you!
I worry about taking her off of the nest because how well will she be able to see to get back on them properly? The nest is a bucket cut in half, so it's a bit hard for her to ease down on them because she slips. I will be changing this once she's done with the eggs. Maybe I'm just worrying too much lol!

You could put her back in the nest first and then carefully cup the eggs and slip them under her. She will settle back down and move them around.

Or you could just leave the eggs alone without candling and let her eliminate them as needed. My RIR got rid of her duds and non hatching eggs herself. I went from 18 shipped eggs spread between three broodies to just letting her have the rest of the remaining 7 eggs. Just before hatch she was down to 5 eggs. She managed to hatch out 3 chicks. Of the other two eggs, one she crushed that wasn't developing and the other had a chick that either wasn't going to hatch and she crushed it open or it hatched but died shortly after.

Congrats on the broody!

 

[Matt98]

@bobbieschicks from the 18th to 20th now, hopefully the other eggs will make it