Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[calichicken]

Anything happen?

Not so far! I think early baby was placed in with my other eggs by mistake and was not an 8/12 due date. I believe the other 2 eggs are and my amazing first time broody is determined to sit and hatch those eggs while caring for her chick...still isn't budging and since I do think these eggs are actually due to hatch in 6 days I don't want to make her move if she is able to care for baby and sit. She has her own broody area and food and water are right there for her and baby. She only gets up once for maybe 5 minutes to poop and back to nest and baby.

I have 2 eggs in my bator that are due to go into lockdown on Friday so I am wondering if I can slip those under my broody to hatch or if I should leave them in the bator to hatch and then try to sneak the chicks under her at night? Eggs in my bator are shipped and had loose aircells so I put them in the bator so they would remain fat end up and stabilize the air cells and all looks good now.

Thoughts? I am thinking since she is still waiting for eggs to hatch and hasn't abandoned the effort she may accept the eggs or chicks? First time with a broody though...so all new to me

 

[bobbieschicks]

Not so far! I think early baby was placed in with my other eggs by mistake and was not an 8/12 due date. I believe the other 2 eggs are and my amazing first time broody is determined to sit and hatch those eggs while caring for her chick...still isn't budging and since I do think these eggs are actually due to hatch in 6 days I don't want to make her move if she is able to care for baby and sit. She has her own broody area and food and water are right there for her and baby. She only gets up once for maybe 5 minutes to poop and back to nest and baby.

I have 2 eggs in my bator that are due to go into lockdown on Friday so I am wondering if I can slip those under my broody to hatch or if I should leave them in the bator to hatch and then try to sneak the chicks under her at night? Eggs in my bator are shipped and had loose aircells so I put them in the bator so they would remain fat end up and stabilize the air cells and all looks good now.

Thoughts? I am thinking since she is still waiting for eggs to hatch and hasn't abandoned the effort she may accept the eggs or chicks? First time with a broody though...so all new to me

That's great she's still sitting. Sounds like she might not care either way. Putting the eggs under her now gives her a chance to chat with the chicks and help them hatch if needed.

 

[calichicken]

That's great she's still sitting. Sounds like she might not care either way. Putting the eggs under her now gives her a chance to chat with the chicks and help them hatch if needed.

That would be good! When I ordered eggs the plan was for her to hatch them all but then the aircells were loose and I wanted them to have a good chance at hatching so I set them up in my bator(only 2 of 6 have made it). I then got some local eggs and the hatch dates were supposed to be 3 days after my shipped eggs...but first baby hatched 10 days early so I think they mixed up their eggs they gave me..now I have no clue when the other 2 under broody may actually hatch! But since she is still sitting I think I may slip the other 2 eggs under her so she can hatch and mother them. I like her being able to chat with them before they hatch, rather than trying to slip the hatched chicks under her and hoping she accepts them.

 

[darkbluespace]

I have a broody hen question... I have a trio of Seramas in one enclosure. Frizzle has gone broody and is sitting on three eggs that Anna laid and they are developing. Anna gets on the nest to lay her eggs when Frizzle gets up. They are pretty sweet how they swap sitting on the nest! I marked the eggs so that I can tell which eggs are freshly laid.

I want to collect the fresh eggs to incubate at some point, how quickly do I need to get them out of the nest before they start developing?

I am also still trying to figure out egg storage. It is quite warm in my house in the Summer, I have no basement or any place with cooler temps besides the fridge. All the eggs I had originally collected quit.. still not sure if it was nutritional, as I have not had these birds long and they were broody when I got them... or if it has to do with egg storage.
Maybe I could find an inexpensive wine fridge?

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

I've been following this thread for a while and a few posts by calichicken have make me question what I thought I knew......

It's the issue of hatch dates and some eggs hatching before others.

What I thought was, eggs don't have a hatch date until the broody hen starts sitting on them, Once she is sitting tight and you give her your hatching eggs, the clock starts for all the eggs at that point for pretty much 21 days regardless of when they were laid.

For instance, my broody made a sneaky nest up in the rafters and laid 14 eggs in it over a 3 week period. She didn't seem to be missing at all during that time, so she was just laying an egg and then leaving the nest. Then one night she didn't come in to roost and the next day I found her on the nest sitting tight. I moved her and the eggs to a more convenient (for me) location and she continued to sit tight for exactly 21 days and all 14 eggs hatched within 16 hours of each other, but the first of those eggs had in fact been laid 42 days previous.

If the clocker is sitting on some eggs and then another hen comes and lays into the nest, then I can understand that causing a potentially significant difference in hatch dates as those egg weren't started at the same time. From what I understood though, it is the constant heat from the broody's body that activates the eggs and starts the clock ticking. I guess another cause of spread hatch dates would be if the broody wasn't fully committed to sitting when she was given the eggs and was on and off the nest a lot for the first few days or if one or two eggs got rolled out of the nest and were then put back in.

I'm not intending to challenge calichicken's knowledge because she/he seems to know a lot more about hatching than I do and I've either misunderstood their posts or indeed the hatching process, so I would be obliged if someone could clarify the situation for me as I would hate to remain misinformed about such a basic process, especially as my second broody has just set and is on day 4.

Many thanks

Barbara

 

[bobbieschicks]

I have a broody hen question...  I have a trio of Seramas in one enclosure.   Frizzle has gone broody and is sitting on three eggs that Anna laid and they are developing.  Anna gets on the nest to lay her eggs when Frizzle gets up.  They are pretty sweet how they swap sitting on the nest!    I marked the eggs so that I can tell which eggs are freshly laid.

  I want to collect the fresh eggs to incubate at some point, how quickly do I need to get them out of the nest before they start developing?    

I am also still trying to figure out egg storage.  It is quite warm in my house in the Summer, I have no basement or any place with cooler temps besides the fridge.  All the eggs I had originally collected quit.. still not sure if it was nutritional, as I have not had these birds long and they were broody when I got them... or if it has to do with egg storage. 
Maybe I could find an inexpensive wine fridge?

I take it one of the trio is a rooster?

Don't store them in the fridge unless the temps are around 65F. It will be too cold for the eggs to develop. Find a dark spot, a closet perhaps? Under a bed?

I keep my eggs in a carton on my kitchen shelf out of direct sunlight. We have Andersen windows that block UV rays so it stays relatively cool there. I've kept shipped eggs in my spare bedroom but only for a day or so. Our house temps are set for 72F but of course fluctuate slightly. Eggs stored will degrade in fertilization over time. I've hatched two week old eggs from my kitchen countertop when my pullet suddenly died and I wanted to hatch her eggs. But fresh eggs are more likely to hatch then stored eggs.

My broodies will collect eggs for several days in hidden clutches before going broody and sitting on them. I think that's what I'm seeing when they linger in the nest without any eggs under them and don't lay. That's probably why sometimes I get their hatch dates wrong.

As far as developing goes, if it's hot enough outside I collect eggs several times a day otherwise some industrious broody might claim them and start sitting. You can see the blood veins and tiny dot of a chick formed by Day 3. We did a project for homeschool and watched our WLs develop, that's how we got started with chickens.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Hi

I've been following this thread for a while and a few posts by calichicken have make me question what I thought I knew......

It's the issue of hatch dates and some eggs hatching before others.

What I thought was, eggs don't have a hatch date until the broody hen starts sitting on them, Once she is sitting tight and you give her your hatching eggs, the clock starts for all the eggs at that point for pretty much 21 days regardless of when they were laid.

For instance, my broody made a sneaky nest up in the rafters and laid 14 eggs in it over a 3 week period. She didn't seem to be missing at all during that time, so she was just laying an egg and then leaving the nest. Then one night she didn't come in to roost and the next day I found her on the nest sitting tight. I moved her and the eggs to a more convenient (for me) location and she continued to sit tight for exactly 21 days and all 14 eggs hatched within 16 hours of each other, but the first of those eggs had in fact been laid 42 days previous.

If the clocker is sitting on some eggs and then another hen comes and lays into the nest, then I can understand that causing a potentially significant difference in hatch dates as those egg weren't started at the same time. From what I understood though, it is the constant heat from the broody's body that activates the eggs and starts the clock ticking. I guess another cause of spread hatch dates would be if the broody wasn't fully committed to sitting when she was given the eggs and was on and off the nest a lot for the first few days or if one or two eggs got rolled out of the nest and were then put back in.

I'm not intending to challenge calichicken's knowledge because she/he seems to know a lot more about hatching than I do and I've either misunderstood their posts or indeed the hatching process, so I would be obliged if someone could clarify the situation for me as I would hate to remain misinformed about such a basic process, especially as my second broody has just set and is on day 4.

Many thanks

Barbara

You are correct about the clutch being gathered and then hen starts the clock by sitting on them and heating them up with her bare breast. When she does all the work there's not much differential in hatch dates. Maybe a few will be a day early or late, but most will hatch within the same 24 hour period.

When humans get involved in putting eggs under a broody at varying times we interfere in the natural cycle she's created and get mixed results. No idea how she would have a later added egg hatch before an earlier egg, except to offer that perhaps the earlier eggs were either not initially developing but started once the hen cranked up the heat for this chick to hatch or they are no longer developing. That can sometimes be confirmed by seeing the blood veins coursing inside the egg,but not necessarily easy to see in a dark egg.

 

[calichicken]

Hi

I've been following this thread for a while and a few posts by calichicken have make me question what I thought I knew......

It's the issue of hatch dates and some eggs hatching before others.

What I thought was, eggs don't have a hatch date until the broody hen starts sitting on them, Once she is sitting tight and you give her your hatching eggs, the clock starts for all the eggs at that point for pretty much 21 days regardless of when they were laid.

For instance, my broody made a sneaky nest up in the rafters and laid 14 eggs in it over a 3 week period. She didn't seem to be missing at all during that time, so she was just laying an egg and then leaving the nest. Then one night she didn't come in to roost and the next day I found her on the nest sitting tight. I moved her and the eggs to a more convenient (for me) location and she continued to sit tight for exactly 21 days and all 14 eggs hatched within 16 hours of each other, but the first of those eggs had in fact been laid 42 days previous.

If the clocker is sitting on some eggs and then another hen comes and lays into the nest, then I can understand that causing a potentially significant difference in hatch dates as those egg weren't started at the same time. From what I understood though, it is the constant heat from the broody's body that activates the eggs and starts the clock ticking. I guess another cause of spread hatch dates would be if the broody wasn't fully committed to sitting when she was given the eggs and was on and off the nest a lot for the first few days or if one or two eggs got rolled out of the nest and were then put back in.

I'm not intending to challenge calichicken's knowledge because she/he seems to know a lot more about hatching than I do and I've either misunderstood their posts or indeed the hatching process, so I would be obliged if someone could clarify the situation for me as I would hate to remain misinformed about such a basic process, especially as my second broody has just set and is on day 4.

Many thanks

Barbara

Hi!
Yes you are correct. My situation is occurring because I got my eggs from an 3rd party...I have no rooster so no fertile eggs here! The person I received eggs from told me the date they were collected, I placed them under my broody and then started the count from there. Well, from this count they are supposed to hatch this weekend and I had just one egg under her hatch 4 days ago...meaning that this egg must have already been in the process of developing because that made it 10 days early. She still has the rest of the eggs under her now...which I assume are due to hatch this weekend. But given the situation, I am not sure of anything at this point. I am just waiting to see what happens as I do not want to disturb broody and new baby at this point. This is how I ended up with the less than ideal situation of eggs hatching so far apart

But since she is still sitting and taking care of baby, I am just waiting to see what happens.

I also have eggs in the bator from a different person that are also due this weekend and those are the eggs I am questioning about placing with my broody to complete their hatch. These were shipped with loose aircells and I wanted to make sure the air cells were stable before I placed them under her.

All VERY confusing...I know! Ideal situation...hatching fertile eggs of your own with a broody!

And this is my first time trying with a broody(have always used a bator) so I am learning about this broody process as I go

 

[rebrascora]

Hi calichicken

Thanks for explaining more. I'm still not sure I understand how this has happened unless perhaps the supplier had a broody that had been sitting on the eggs for several days before she collected them and sent them to you.

You are right though, it is definitely much simpler having your own cockerel, but then of course you are limited to one breed. Or you have several cockerels.... like I am ending up with..... It started out as a bit of fun but the "chicken math" is getting out of control rapidly!

Thanks bobbieschicks for confirming that what I thought was correct. I'm still very new to rearing chickens and would hate to think I had the wrong end of the stick on something so important.
So relieved that my broodies seem to know what they are doing and I just need to watch and learn and try not to meddle too much.

Something else you mentioned begs another question.... about the broodies bare breast heating the eggs, which reminds me of something I read about broodies plucking their breasts. Neither of my 2 broodies have shown any obvious sign of this. Is it really noticeable and do all broodies do this or have a misunderstood again?

Thanks

Barbara

 

[mylittlehippie]