Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[vpatt]

It really depends on the size of your waterers.  I don't use marbles because I use quail waterers for the first two weeks.  If the water is more than an inch deep, I think I would keep the marbles in.  If it isn't as deep, I'd probably take them out about now.

I think what I am using now is between one half to one inch deep. When they begin to go outside I will make sure it is not much deeper than an inch ...at least for a while. In another week and a half I think I will give her the option to take them outside as long as the weather cooperates.
Thank you.

 

[fisherlady]

sloshy is a good description...I've noted detached air cells on shipped eggs...I wonder if the egg didn't develop because the air cell was detached (which definitely complicates incubation and hatching if a chick develops) or if the air cell detaches as the embryo dies and the yolk begins to decompose....I've seen that dark blob/bubble too on failed eggs. And somebody probably has given it an official name...but sloshy works well for me.

Yes...I am looking forward to some brooding times soon.

I've got a long wish list for this spring...AND I hope to perfect fostering with feed store chicks, the planned purpose of those Cochins, as I need to replace some aging commercial RSL's and add some specialty breeds that none of the local breeders carry. I try to keep half my flock in the commercial GSL/RSL and the other half in the fun breeds...that way I get EGGS but still have fun....I am finding my fun breeds are fun, but so-so layers...and I have about 4 fat hens that are taking in the feed but not producing...so there will be a major shifting this spring. (I have a friend with a big farm that likes my older hens as she likes the larger size egg the mature hen lays...albeit less frequently...we call it retiring to the Happy Hen Home.)

I'm hoping to replace my Welsummers (one age rotated out, one died of heat this summer), add some Olive Eggers, swap out my EE's (unless they come off their molt and produce some decent quality eggs) and a Croad Langshan....I am really trying to get a Monet palette of colors for my egg basket to enjoy, sell, and give as house warming gifts...and do another Buckeye project to bring the roosters to a better meat weight (I had to process too early as I went back to TN for my daughter's new baby at the time I would have normally processed them.)

My dream basket, courtesy of BYC Member Ruth (who is an inspiration to me) from the Purple Egg thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/273406/purple-eggs/140

Now for somebody to go broody....waiting...waiting...waiting

Lady of McCamley

That is a beautiful basket.... I wish I could share a few hens long distance, in the past week we have had 2 Silver Pencil Hens, 1 Silkie mix and 1 barnyard mix all decide to go broody.... they must figure if the weather is too miserable to spend the day out in the woods and grass they might as well set on eggs!

I was really hoping to have a month off and then have hens 'in the mood' after we get some breeding pens set up so I can set my own purebred eggs.

 

[fisherlady]

I admire your desire to have the diversity in your flock that you have! I went the opposite way this year, after my flock was killed by dogs I went with strictly Brahmas. Dark and Gold Partridge. Not the best layers, and take forever to grow up, eat more than their fair share but are the most beautiful birds that I've ever seen. I wondered if I'd ever have another broody, since my silkie mix was in with the flock and was killed in the spring with everyone else. One of the brahma hens went broody in September and managed to hatch out one egg, which was a good experiment for me (I've heard over and over that brahmas are too large and tend to break their eggs and smother their chicks). She didn't break any, but being a first timer she didn't sit tight as much as she should have. So, she only hatched one out of 6 viable, but I was pleased with that.

One of the things that I am concerned with when it comes to breeding and hatching is that the chickens that I raise should be able to reproduce on their own, as that would ensure the continuation of the breed through natural methods. So many of our chickens are not able to reproduce as they were intended to, mainly through selective breeding to produce lots of eggs or to fatten up early for meat. So, it is one of my goals to ensure that my chickens can reproduce on their own (doesn't mean I won't incubate, just means that I want them to be able to reproduce without my interference as well).

So, with that said, I am sooooo happy to be part of a thread where the natural brooding of hens is encouraged. Also, this brahma mother still has her chick with her and he's probably 10 weeks old now, my silkie usually got rid of them when they were 4-6 weeks old. I'm actually going to have to take him away from her when I put him into the bachelor pad I think!

I also pay attention to the natural breeding ability.... I have some White Rocks which came from a very good source in the North East.... they are gorgeous birds but they are so large I am concerned about their natural reproductive abilities. They matured very slowly, just starting to act like adults well after 6 months and I will be separating them soon so I won't know how viable/fertile the eggs will be yet. I am hoping they will do well, but have my reservations. I don't hold out much hope that they will be broody but I have a lot of other large fowl broody hens to take care of that. If any of the WR hens do go broody I will be doing a happy dance all over the yard!
I am fortunate in that we have stumbled into a very broody prone strain of LF Silver Pencil Rocks and now have even had many of our barnyard mixes catch the bug and prove to be very, very good mothers despite their parent stock never showing signs of broodiness.
I have been in search of breeds who readily brood and are good sized enough that all of the spare roosters make good roasters and somewhere in our mix of White Rocks, Silver Pencils Rocks, Barred Rocks and Light Sussex I hope to find the right mix to keep a healthy, self-sustainable flock. I would still be tempted to get some Dorking, but am out of room at the moment so will watch for them in the future.... No matter how pretty a bird is I agree that they need to have a level of practicality also, so decent eggs and meat are even more important to me. Hopefully I will eventually have birds who are good examples of their breeds in appearance and be decent layers and hopefully at least some level of broodiness, but that may take me a few years and I am just getting started on setting up my own breeding, since the past few years have been geared toward finding good stock for our future wants.

I am not familiar with the brahmas, though I have heard they are good mothers... I do know that most of my hens stay much longer with their chicks in cold weather than they do in warmer months. My silkie Gracie just let her last batch go at 10 weeks and they were all nearly as big as she is!! She had 6 of them, and they are Large Fowl barnyard mixes, so they got very big, very fast but she still marched them around in a little group and kept them very much under her wing. Her Easter hatch she kicked loose by 5 weeks because it was warmer, and they were all fine amongst the flock. So I guess they do have a good idea of what they need.... though I do think some hens just love being in the mama role and often could let the chicks go a few weeks sooner than they do. My last barnyard mix broody kept her late summer hatch until 9 or 10 weeks also and I think she would have kept them longer but the chicks themselves started heading off to do their own thing and roosted among the flock at night despite her trying to keep them together so she finally gave up and went back to her older hen mates.... each bird just does it in their own way I guess.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I also pay attention to the natural breeding ability.... I have some White Rocks which came from a very good source in the North East.... they are gorgeous birds but they are so large I am concerned about their natural reproductive abilities. They matured very slowly, just starting to act like adults well after 6 months and I will be separating them soon so I won't know how viable/fertile the eggs will be yet. I am hoping they will do well, but have my reservations. I don't hold out much hope that they will be broody but I have a lot of other large fowl broody hens to take care of that. If any of the WR hens do go broody I will be doing a happy dance all over the yard!
I am fortunate in that we have stumbled into a very broody prone strain of LF Silver Pencil Rocks and now have even had many of our barnyard mixes catch the bug and prove to be very, very good mothers despite their parent stock never showing signs of broodiness.
I have been in search of breeds who readily brood and are good sized enough that all of the spare roosters make good roasters and somewhere in our mix of White Rocks, Silver Pencils Rocks, Barred Rocks and Light Sussex I hope to find the right mix to keep a healthy, self-sustainable flock. I would still be tempted to get some Dorking, but am out of room at the moment so will watch for them in the future.... No matter how pretty a bird is I agree that they need to have a level of practicality also, so decent eggs and meat are even more important to me. Hopefully I will eventually have birds who are good examples of their breeds in appearance and be decent layers and hopefully at least some level of broodiness, but that may take me a few years and I am just getting started on setting up my own breeding, since the past few years have been geared toward finding good stock for our future wants.

I am not familiar with the brahmas, though I have heard they are good mothers... I do know that most of my hens stay much longer with their chicks in cold weather than they do in warmer months. My silkie Gracie just let her last batch go at 10 weeks and they were all nearly as big as she is!! She had 6 of them, and they are Large Fowl barnyard mixes, so they got very big, very fast but she still marched them around in a little group and kept them very much under her wing. Her Easter hatch she kicked loose by 5 weeks because it was warmer, and they were all fine amongst the flock. So I guess they do have a good idea of what they need.... though I do think some hens just love being in the mama role and often could let the chicks go a few weeks sooner than they do. My last barnyard mix broody kept her late summer hatch until 9 or 10 weeks also and I think she would have kept them longer but the chicks themselves started heading off to do their own thing and roosted among the flock at night despite her trying to keep them together so she finally gave up and went back to her older hen mates.... each bird just does it in their own way I guess.

I wish the the greatest of success with your breeding program. (And send some of that broody magic my way)

I would like to start breeding, but would have to work out some political/legal issues of keeping a rooster first....legal here where I am, but not sure if it would go over well as this old farm area is encroached into suburbs...if it didn't go well (complaints), what would happen....so for now I must seek fertile hatching eggs of good quality utility stock as I am not interested in showing but having lovely eggs, some good broodies, some meat, and pleasant birds to look at and be around.

Have you ever had any experience with Buff Rocks? (I still think your SP Rocks especially lovely). I am going to pass along my Buff Wyandottes to my friends farm as they are simply too fat and lazy....I tried Buff Orps with the same conclusion (at least what I got)...I love the honey gold color in the chicken yard...so I've heard the Buff Rocks are a pleasant but productive bird. Have you tried them yet?

Lady of McCamley

 

[Lady of McCamley]

First off, I tossed two sloshy eggs last night, that leaves me with four left, all look very viable, however one egg is rather small so I'm praying the chick will be alright. They are due this weekend, staggered fri-sun.

Has anyone ever had a staggered hatch before or a chick hatch from a small egg? I'm out of my league with these things and could use some input for sure...

Now, those mauve eggs are AMAZING!!

The BYC member reports that those eggs came out of EE mom/BCM roo.

Also Croad Langshan are reported to often have a purplish egg.

I am attempting to create a rainbow basket from olive green, green/blue green, dark brown, lighter brown, tan, cream, white...and toss in some purple and pink.

I make up my cartons like this to sell now.

 

[bumpercarr]

I also pay attention to the natural breeding ability.... I have some White Rocks which came from a very good source in the North East.... they are gorgeous birds but they are so large I am concerned about their natural reproductive abilities. They matured very slowly, just starting to act like adults well after 6 months and I will be separating them soon so I won't know how viable/fertile the eggs will be yet. I am hoping they will do well, but have my reservations. I don't hold out much hope that they will be broody but I have a lot of other large fowl broody hens to take care of that. If any of the WR hens do go broody I will be doing a happy dance all over the yard!
I am fortunate in that we have stumbled into a very broody prone strain of LF Silver Pencil Rocks and now have even had many of our barnyard mixes catch the bug and prove to be very, very good mothers despite their parent stock never showing signs of broodiness.
I have been in search of breeds who readily brood and are good sized enough that all of the spare roosters make good roasters and somewhere in our mix of White Rocks, Silver Pencils Rocks, Barred Rocks and Light Sussex I hope to find the right mix to keep a healthy, self-sustainable flock. I would still be tempted to get some Dorking, but am out of room at the moment so will watch for them in the future.... No matter how pretty a bird is I agree that they need to have a level of practicality also, so decent eggs and meat are even more important to me. Hopefully I will eventually have birds who are good examples of their breeds in appearance and be decent layers and hopefully at least some level of broodiness, but that may take me a few years and I am just getting started on setting up my own breeding, since the past few years have been geared toward finding good stock for our future wants.

I am not familiar with the brahmas, though I have heard they are good mothers... I do know that most of my hens stay much longer with their chicks in cold weather than they do in warmer months. My silkie Gracie just let her last batch go at 10 weeks and they were all nearly as big as she is!! She had 6 of them, and they are Large Fowl barnyard mixes, so they got very big, very fast but she still marched them around in a little group and kept them very much under her wing. Her Easter hatch she kicked loose by 5 weeks because it was warmer, and they were all fine amongst the flock. So I guess they do have a good idea of what they need.... though I do think some hens just love being in the mama role and often could let the chicks go a few weeks sooner than they do. My last barnyard mix broody kept her late summer hatch until 9 or 10 weeks also and I think she would have kept them longer but the chicks themselves started heading off to do their own thing and roosted among the flock at night despite her trying to keep them together so she finally gave up and went back to her older hen mates.... each bird just does it in their own way I guess.

I know what you mean. Most of my brahmas are between 6-8 months old. Out of 12 pullets, I have two that are laying so far. The rest are still growing I guess. The males seem to mature, at least sexually a little earlier than the pullets, but still it is probably 7 months. I also seem to have a difference in maturity rate depending on the color. I have darks that are much smaller than the partridge, yet are about the same age and aren't even close to sexual maturity yet. Even my oldest pair of darks, about 8 months old, aren't laying yet or breeding, but the male looks like he's about ready to breed.

There are a couple of problems that you may (or may not) encounter with the larger breeds. One is that the male is so large that you don't want him near any of your other breeds of girls. That is part of the reason that I went strictly to brahmas, it was just too much work to try to keep the boys away from the smaller girls. Another problem (sometimes) tends to be fertility. I'm not sure if they are too big to do it right or if there is something else in the makeup that causes the problem. When I had rocks, RIRs and the silkie mix, I would have a very high fertility rate...almost every single egg would at least start. With these brahmas, I'm finding that my fertility rate is much lower, probably about 75%. It may improve when the rest of these guys grow up, the last time I did calculations was in spring when I had my old group of birds. Of course, then you have to worry about whether they are capable of actually sitting on a nest without breaking the eggs inside. Sigh.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I know what you mean. Most of my brahmas are between 6-8 months old. Out of 12 pullets, I have two that are laying so far. The rest are still growing I guess. The males seem to mature, at least sexually a little earlier than the pullets, but still it is probably 7 months. I also seem to have a difference in maturity rate depending on the color. I have darks that are much smaller than the partridge, yet are about the same age and aren't even close to sexual maturity yet. Even my oldest pair of darks, about 8 months old, aren't laying yet or breeding, but the male looks like he's about ready to breed.

There are a couple of problems that you may (or may not) encounter with the larger breeds. One is that the male is so large that you don't want him near any of your other breeds of girls. That is part of the reason that I went strictly to brahmas, it was just too much work to try to keep the boys away from the smaller girls. Another problem (sometimes) tends to be fertility. I'm not sure if they are too big to do it right or if there is something else in the makeup that causes the problem. When I had rocks, RIRs and the silkie mix, I would have a very high fertility rate...almost every single egg would at least start. With these brahmas, I'm finding that my fertility rate is much lower, probably about 75%. It may improve when the rest of these guys grow up, the last time I did calculations was in spring when I had my old group of birds. Of course, then you have to worry about whether they are capable of actually sitting on a nest without breaking the eggs inside. Sigh.

The fluffier breeds can have fertility problems if the hen as a lot of bum fluff....one reason why Wyandottes can have trouble, and Buff Orps too if I remember correctly. Overly large males can also cause issues just due to the mechanics of the hens being overwhelmed by the process.
Lady of McCamley

 

[fisherlady]

There is so much more to my idea of 'broody' and 'heritage' than just the surface definitions most use and it is great to have found others with the same ideas... my coop will never have a 'perfect' chicken maybe, but I hope to eventually have a few that are 'perfect' for me! LOL
my idea of a great hen.....

Willing to go broody at least once a year and maybe twice a year and able to hatch out and raise a clutch of 6 or so....
Willing and able to forage and teach the little ones to do the same....
Able to defend the little ones from normal dangers and teach them how to avoid them...
Able to lay eggs of decent size and amount over the course of a year (medium large to large works for my purposes)
Able to lay for a decent number of years, I would rather a hen lay 125- 150 eggs a year for 4 or 5 years than 200+ eggs/year for 2 years
Be relatively calm and cooperative about being handled, she doesn't need to be a lap chicken, but I don't like birds who run away if you come within 5 feet of them.

The traits are hard to find all rolled into one bird, but hoping it will happen for us.

 

[fisherlady]

I wish the the greatest of success with your breeding program. (And send some of that broody magic my way)

I would like to start breeding, but would have to work out some political/legal issues of keeping a rooster first....legal here where I am, but not sure if it would go over well as this old farm area is encroached into suburbs...if it didn't go well (complaints), what would happen....so for now I must seek fertile hatching eggs of good quality utility stock as I am not interested in showing but having lovely eggs, some good broodies, some meat, and pleasant birds to look at and be around.

Have you ever had any experience with Buff Rocks? (I still think your SP Rocks especially lovely). I am going to pass along my Buff Wyandottes to my friends farm as they are simply too fat and lazy....I tried Buff Orps with the same conclusion (at least what I got)...I love the honey gold color in the chicken yard...so I've heard the Buff Rocks are a pleasant but productive bird. Have you tried them yet?

Lady of McCamley

I have not had any personal experience with them, but have read good things about them on the Plymouth Rock Breeder's thread. I would give them a good long look if I decide to not continue with one of the rock breeds I have now... I know one of the things I need to work on with any of my stock of Rocks is to try to get tighter feathering (less butt and thigh fluff). As much as the 'fluffy butts' are cute it can actually be a detriment to fertility and with slow maturing birds to begin with I would rather my stock have a better 'self sustainability'. A fertility/hatch rate of 50% just isn't what I want and I don't want to have to shave feathers to get results.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I have not had any personal experience with them, but have read good things about them on the Plymouth Rock Breeder's thread. I would give them a good long look if I decide to not continue with one of the rock breeds I have now... I know one of the things I need to work on with any of my stock of Rocks is to try to get tighter feathering (less butt and thigh fluff). As much as the 'fluffy butts' are cute it can actually be a detriment to fertility and with slow maturing birds to begin with I would rather my stock have a better 'self sustainability'. A fertility/hatch rate of 50% just isn't what I want and I don't want to have to shave feathers to get results.

I'll wander over to the Plymoth Rock thread.

Yes...we all have better things to do with our time than shave chicken bums.

Lady of McCamley