Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[calichicken]

I was able to find bantam Cochin chick s and will be sneaking them under her tomorrow note..picking them up tomorrow morning. Can you advise best way to sneak the under my broody? She is on her nest now with infertile eggs. Thanks!

 

[bobbieschicks]

I was able to find bantam Cochin chick s and will be sneaking them under her tomorrow note..picking them up tomorrow morning. Can you advise best way to sneak the under my broody? She is on her nest now with infertile eggs. Thanks!

I just did that with my two broodies. The silky had no problems accepting the four chicks when I tucked them under her. She didn't peck me or the chicks. I removed the eggs first then put in the chicks. I had previously made sure they both only had two eggs under them so it would be easy to get rid of the eggs.

The Maran was another story. The second I attempted to place one of the chicks in with her she freaked and rushed out of the nest. So I thought for sure it was over and I just put those four chicks with the rest of the chicks under the silky who was happy to have as many chicks as possible.

A little while later I noticed the Maran back on her nest. This time I didn't let her see the chicks. I slipped them under her quickly and she started to protest, but then settled back down on her babies. I removed the two eggs from under her after putting all the babies in there.

The difference is that the Maran is high strung and the silky, well, silkies are big momma machines and don't let anything get in their way of being a momma. So if your girl is docile, you can slip them in under her during daylight and pretty much not have problems. I'd still cup my hand over the chick so if she pecks you get it but not the chick. You could wait until closer to dusk and out them in under cover of darkness, but I like to be able to make sure everyone is getting along and feed them a little bit of food in the nest to get them to talk to each other.

Hope it all works out.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Is there anyway to coax a hen back onto eggs? My broody also decided to sleep in her run with her chicks instead of bringing them back into the nest. Is this normal? The run is fully enclosed but i worry about the temp...

I forgot to add to my other post, once it turns dusk you can always scoop up momma and babies and move them to the old nest area. But I think you'll find she will leave it again and sit on the babies wherever she goes. She will keep them plenty warm and they will be much hardier then brooder raised chicks.

 

[mylittlehippie]

I forgot to add to my other post, once it turns dusk you can always scoop up momma and babies and move them to the old nest area. But I think you'll find she will leave it again and sit on the babies wherever she goes. She will keep them plenty warm and they will be much hardier then brooder raised chicks.

Thanks! I decided to just let her make her own choices and mama and babies did just fine all night.

 

[calichicken]

I just did that with my two broodies. The silky had no problems accepting the four chicks when I tucked them under her. She didn't peck me or the chicks. I removed the eggs first then put in the chicks. I had previously made sure they both only had two eggs under them so it would be easy to get rid of the eggs.

The Maran was another story. The second I attempted to place one of the chicks in with her she freaked and rushed out of the nest. So I thought for sure it was over and I just put those four chicks with the rest of the chicks under the silky who was happy to have as many chicks as possible.

A little while later I noticed the Maran back on her nest. This time I didn't let her see the chicks. I slipped them under her quickly and she started to protest, but then settled back down on her babies. I removed the two eggs from under her after putting all the babies in there.

The difference is that the Maran is high strung and the silky, well, silkies are big momma machines and don't let anything get in their way of being a momma. So if your girl is docile, you can slip them in under her during daylight and pretty much not have problems. I'd still cup my hand over the chick so if she pecks you get it but not the chick. You could wait until closer to dusk and out them in under cover of darkness, but I like to be able to make sure everyone is getting along and feed them a little bit of food in the nest to get them to talk to each other.

Hope it all works out.

Thank you!!! She is a bantam cochin and totally set on being a momma! Hoping this works and my girl can get on with being a momma

 

[QueenofKings]

So, I have been very busy over the past week and been neglecting my egg collection duties. Anyway, I went in and saw my hen sitting there with the eggs underneath her. Which explained the eggs in the run. She's a very tough hen -- so she must have chased everyone else away. I will keep you all updated on her progress! Especially since its my first time with a broody! Hopefully this will be a successful first hatch!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi QueenofKings and congrats on your broody.
The first one is just so exciting! I hope you have as much beginners luck as I did (100% hatch rate). What breed is your broody lady and how many eggs is she sitting on? Will they be pure breed chicks or farmyard mongrels like my first brood? Sounds like you need to make a new nest box for your other girls.

My second broody has been sitting for a week and all is going well so far. I've chosen the eggs I want her to hatch, so it's not completely natural this time, although I have left her one of her own eggs. She only gets off every other day for a quick run around and poop, but has food and water within reach. I have her in an old sideboard with the door shut when I'm not there so that the other hens can't bully her, because she is bottom of the pecking order. She was making the strangest noise today and I can't decide if she was snoring or singing her eggs a lullaby. It was a very nasal, quite high pitched warbling/humming sound almost like someone learning to play the oboe but quite quietly, not loud and unpleasant, just strange!. The other hens were very unsure about it and stood listening for quite some time.....as I did!
My first broody whose chicks are now 10 weeks, began laying again 5 weeks after they hatched and was using the proper nest boxes until a week ago. I checked her old (sneaky) broody nest up in the rafters today, where she laid her first clutch (a ladder and crawl board job for me), and sure enough, she has stashed another 5 eggs in that nest, so my guess is that she is going to go broody again in another week or so. I am rapidly getting overrun with chickens!!! Loving it though!

Anyway, keep us posted on how it all goes. Your chicks should be due just a few days after mine.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[sahmhomesteader]

5-7 days left. I am so proud of her!! Question, she has been so committed to her babies I have had to pick her up off of the nest once a day to make her eat, drink, and relieve herself. As hatch day approaches, should I stop doing this? 5-7 days is my estimate, but I don't know for sure...

 

[QueenofKings]

I went in to check on her just now. The hens each have their own nest box (it's a very big, communal nest box?) On the edges, they have milk crates and the center is big enough for two more but we opted to keep it open since our rooster likes hanging around down there and sitting with this hens. Our broody elected for the center, so there is plenty of room for placing a watered down there with her and a feed bowl.

She is a RIR/Production Red.I'm not entirely sure which of those, since she was sold as an RIR but she has lighter coloring so I'm assuming she's a Production Red. She's sitting on about 8-10 (I removed 5 eggs from her just now) and will mark her eggs later tonight when I can go into the coop without too much trouble. There's this weird crawlspace that you have to use to get from the coop to the run. (The run is where they have their nest boxes and poop shelf)

The other hens still have nest boxes but I have two new layers and the other one is easily frightened, so I imagine that seeing their flockmate go broody that made them below the roost. (I said run in my other post, but I meant below the roost. Oops.)

'farmyard mongrels' -- I like that much better than mutts! Hopefully I get plenty of hens and roos from this batch. The peeps in my house have been hankering for another round of roo stew.

 

[bobbieschicks]

5-7 days left. I am so proud of her!! Question, she has been so committed to her babies I have had to pick her up off of the nest once a day to make her eat, drink, and relieve herself. As hatch day approaches, should I stop doing this? 5-7 days is my estimate, but I don't know for sure...

Perhaps she was getting off the nest when you weren't around. Yes, you should leave her alone by day 17 so she can get the eggs ready to hatch with proper humidity levels. If you are really concerned about her you can feed her some treats on the nest. I give my girls scrambled eggs and dried meal worms sometimes while they sit. Must be close to hatch date, looking forward to some pics of your new chicks!