Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[maranfarmer563]

My silky with 15 chicks is confined in an old horse trough until chicks get their wings. Then I tip it on its side and let them run around. They return every night to sleep in the trough

 

[ochochicas]

Pictures of my set up. I have an insulated hen house inside the coop that has 6 nest boxes in it. No one uses it, so I moved both broodies inside with their eggs. They have little food and water bowls.




After the eggs hatched, I moved the hens and chicks into a horse stall. There is a small chicken ladder, multiple feeders, bales of hay, and each hen has her own kennel to sleep in at night.



Eventually I had to move one hen to a different stall since the more aggressive broody kept stealing her chicks and the babies were totally confused as to which mom to go to. The horses were not happy about being locked out, but at least it was summer time so they didn't need to be inside.

 

[cwrite]

Can I see pics of everyones chick set ups? For those that let broody mama tend them in the coop? I should probably move her to the floor?

My hens chose to only lay in the dog box in the run. Seeing as it is spring & really hot already here in Queensland, I fenced off that section of the run & my broody leghorn cross has been quite happy where she is. When the chicks arrive they will also live outside in the run & sleep in the dog box. I cut down some branches that I've put behind the (currently unused) perch to provide more shade from the afternoon sun. The run is roofed over & rain comes from the direction of the far side of the run so it's very dry even in a heavy downpour.
I would recommend leaving your broody where she is & moving her after the chicks arrive.
Please note that the chicken wire is used only internally inside the run. I have mouse & snake wire on the run.

 

[JaceAgain]

Thanks! I put a tub with a cut out on one side and some hay in it inside the coop, are 1 day old chicks very mobile? I won't be able to check on her often, once in the morning and again in the evening really.

 

[ochochicas]

Thanks! I put a tub with a cut out on one side and some hay in it inside the coop, are 1 day old chicks very mobile? I won't be able to check on her often, once in the morning and again in the evening really.

They are pretty mobile, however they do stay pretty close to mom for the first week or so and don't really go too far. I had one that like to jump right from the start. Fortunately they can't get too far since they don't have much in the way of wing feathers for the first couple of weeks.

 

[mordred25]

Spring has sprung in Tasmania over the past few weeks. After last years hatch with my first incubator bringing out 7 hens and a rooster from 12, and the second "got some new chooks and their eggs are fertile for the next few weeks, let's try some with a broody and some in the incubator" (incubator had three hatch of 6,two of which died and the third had major leg problem and was euthanised three month later, but the broody 3 all survived with one rooster) I thought let's have another go.

During this one of the hens went broody so I stuck some eggs under her. She lasted 2 weeks then lost interest. After rehoming the older rooster, I started collecting eggs and building a new incubator. Unbeknownst to me one of the hens had hid herself in the bushes and one afternoon I heard cheeping and went to investigate. She managed to have three,but there were 8 other eggs laid at various times by others and she gave up before they got much further. Finished the incubator and set 16 and we are now about 1/2 way through, with another broody ready to take over in the next few days, when I am sure she has set.

That bring me to today. I have had another hen go missing and been unable to find her, until yesterday evening when I found a lone chick in the middle of our neighbours lawn without a hen any where in sight. Searched for an hour, but nothing so I put him under the other mum with the now 3 week old chicks for the night.

I got up at dawn and searched the area again, and just as I was about to give up heard clucking further up my neighbours yard. New mum with 4 chicks hidden the grass. Picked them all up and put them in the special pen with the orphan. Settled them all in and was just about to leave for work, when I just thought I would go and check where I found them and sure enough there was one more cheeping away. So we ended up with 6.

Another week or so and we will see how we go with the next lot.

It always seems incredible to me that broodies are amazingly capable of making it all happen, especially considering these are all first year hens that were incubated and brought up by me and have not really seen a mother hen at work.

Mother Nature is a wonderful thing.

Adrian

 

[cwrite]

It always seems incredible to me that broodies are amazingly capable of making it all happen, especially considering these are all first year hens that were incubated and brought up by me and have not really seen a mother hen at work.

Mother Nature is a wonderful thing.

Adrian

It sure is Adrian!

If you haven't found it already come & have a look at the Australian thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-that-funny-little-island/15910#post_14154777

 

[KV Silkies]

Ok, it is go time!!!

Day 19, did our day 18 candle last night and little "Cloudy" our first time broody is doing great! all four of her eggs are going strong, saw movement in everyone. two of the eggs are a couple days older than the other two so firing up my bator tonight just in case....

BIG question: Cloudy is in one of my nest boxes, attached to our coop, do I just let her be after they hatch or should I build a little enclosure around her?? The coop contains 4 other silkie hens, (one who has tried a couple times to be broody but has no clue as she mainly sits on nothing and sits in random places....) our silkie roo and another full size roo (not sure on the breed) who my son got at a chicken chase about a month ago.... I just don't want anyone to hurt the chicks after making it this far!!

should I build the enclosure tomorrow just in case??? and there is a little lip and roost to get into the nest box, I worry about the chicks getting out of that as well.... do I just build a ramp for them or should I just go crazy with wood chips? (doing final cleaning prior to hatch tomorrow too)....

Any feedback is great as I want these guys to make it, my 6 year old is soooo excited and has been helping me candle.

 

[fisherlady]

Ok, it is go time!!!

Day 19, did our day 18 candle last night and little "Cloudy" our first time broody is doing great! all four of her eggs are going strong, saw movement in everyone. two of the eggs are a couple days older than the other two so firing up my bator tonight just in case....

BIG question: Cloudy is in one of my nest boxes, attached to our coop, do I just let her be after they hatch or should I build a little enclosure around her?? The coop contains 4 other silkie hens, (one who has tried a couple times to be broody but has no clue as she mainly sits on nothing and sits in random places....) our silkie roo and another full size roo (not sure on the breed) who my son got at a chicken chase about a month ago.... I just don't want anyone to hurt the chicks after making it this far!!

should I build the enclosure tomorrow just in case??? and there is a little lip and roost to get into the nest box, I worry about the chicks getting out of that as well.... do I just build a ramp for them or should I just go crazy with wood chips? (doing final cleaning prior to hatch tomorrow too)....

Any feedback is great as I want these guys to make it, my 6 year old is soooo excited and has been helping me candle.

Congrats on the broody...

There are no 'absolutes' when it comes to dealing with broodies, it is very flock and coop dependent. With that being said I can offer some insight from our experiences. Hens can raise chicks very well within the coop and flock if all members of the flock are 'chick friendly' and/or if the broody is large enough and protective enough to take care of pushy flock members. Now you say yours is a first timer, so you have a lot of 'unknowns' to deal with.

My suggestion would be to prepare a small wire barrier to provide the mama hen and her little ones a bit of privacy for the first 2 or 3 days. It can be a simple length of hardware cloth bent in a bow in front of her nest with another piece of wire over the top to prevent 'fly in' visitors. This with allow the mama and chicks time to get used to each other, the chicks will become familiar with the broody's vocalizations and the rest of the flock will get used to seeing and hearing the chicks. It will allow you to observe behaviors for potential problems and you can always open the wire up on day two or three to allow an hour or so of 'supervised visitation' with the other flock members. If all seems low key and no outward aggression issues are noted you can allow more mingling time free range time until you are comfortable with the flock dynamics. Remember there will often be minor pecking from hens who are just trying to tell little ones they aren't supposed to be pushy with other flock members... in particular around food or water sources, that is normal, and shouldn't be confused with the really pushy or aggressive behavior of hens or roosters who just simply don't tolerate chicks.

Within the little broody area you can set up a chick waterer and chick feed also, this will allow the new family a few days of getting used to everything without worrying about food competition with the flock. You can fabricate a simple ramp or even just place a single brick or a piece of scrap wood in front of the nest box to act as a step for the little ones, that is what we do, it is easy to mix and match the height of the step when you have a handful of scrap wood pieces around. We also put our chick waterers up on a piece of 1" or so scrap wood with the wood being a decent bit larger than the base of the waterer. This helps keep the waterer up just a bit out of the bedding to reduce it's frequency of being filled with wood chips or hay from the broody scratching and the little ones just hop up onto the piece of scrap wood and use it as a place to stand while they drink.

 

[KV Silkies]

Thank you so much @fisherlady ! I would rather error on the side of caution so think I will do that tomorrow.... I had one set up similar for my brooder when we hatched our own this spring, just need to incorporate the nest box with it.

I am sooo crazy excited! I hope our little Cloudy's eggs do ok, she has been doing amazing and she's a tiny little silkie, altho she seems smaller now that she's been broody, I saw her off the nest once and you can sure tell she hasn't been eating like she used to. She is so adorable when she puffs up when I peak in on her, I will try and take pics prior to hatch day. I have tomorrow off so will be busy with chick prep! Her tiny size makes me worry that someone would bully her, but have heard the little mamas are pretty tough. Still having her separate and taking things easy for a few days will make me feel better too.

thank you!!!!!