Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[AnneInTheBurbs]

yay I just candled the eggs and I think we may have two eggs to hatch  one I think for sure is going to hatch when I candled the eggs the chick was all but dancing on the inside  but the other 6 are no good; clear as the day she started laying on them. it sucks cause the only reason I let 3 roosters run with my 9 hens is that I was hoping for at least 90% of the eggs to be fertile I guess those stupid roosters only went after the smaller easy hens its freezer camp for them as soon as I can afford a new ax

Yay! Isn't it awesome to see? Poor Roos...

Super late response, sorry AnneInTheBurbs - My gal is still on the nest, yes! She's so stuck to it that I have to remove her from it by hand to make sure she eats, drinks and poops. Otherwise she won't get up at all! Luckily once she is removed, it just takes a few seconds for her to snap out of it and start hurrying through her self care. Pepper's always in a rush to get it over with and get back to her babies. She is very determined. Candling is going to be tomorrow, I'm hoping any at all are developing!

I've built a little tent for her by tossing a blanket over the chair for privacy. It isn't a very traditional setup, but she's right by me all day, and I can hear her stand up and talk to the eggs while she turns them from time to time. I miss spending time with her, but she's doing well at playing the mommy part so far and I'm very proud of her

Glad to hear it! That must be fun to watch and hear her everyday. I go outside and peek at my broody everyday, a few times a day (as if she needs my help, Ha!). Traditional? Sounds like your hen is a modern girl.

@ChickenLady2014. Thanks, good to know about multiple Roos for the future.

 

[winteree]

Yay! Isn't it awesome to see? Poor Roos...

Glad to hear it! That must be fun to watch and hear her everyday. I go outside and peek at my broody everyday, a few times a day (as if she needs my help, Ha!). Traditional? Sounds like your hen is a modern girl.

@ChickenLady2014 . Thanks, good to know about multiple Roos for the future.

yeah I wish my camera was working one make an internal pip in the last few hours

 

[winteree]

Sorry to hear about your clears, I myself have had a lot of those with this hatch. I set 36 of my own as a test hatch on my new flocks fertility. They are all from this Springs hatch & some from a hatchery. I have 2 roosters with 24 hens. Tonight 12/21/14 will be day 18 for 13/36 eggs I set. And I will possibly have another 6 go into lockdown in a couple of days. The other 17 were duds. 15 of them were clear and 2 were early quitters. But to finally get to my point, upon searching I've learned that sometimes having multiple roosters can promote less egg fertility because the roosters can be competing to get the same girl, but not be getting the job done.

well that defiantly would explain a lot. sucks about the clears my grams said the best roosters where Rhode island reds but I heard they can be super aggressive so I think I be going with leggerns

 

[Skink]

Aw, my poor gal! Out of her 6, only 1 was developing. I took that one and used it to replace the blood ring egg in my incubator. Since I don't have the dosh for more eggs and wouldn't want her sitting a week over anyway, I think I'm going to try and snap her out of it... but for tonight, she can sit on her clears. She was distressed enough about me candling them without taking them away right now! Someday she'll hatch babies, but not this time.

 

[winteree]

Aw, my poor gal! Out of her 6, only 1 was developing. I took that one and used it to replace the blood ring egg in my incubator. Since I don't have the dosh for more eggs and wouldn't want her sitting a week over anyway, I think I'm going to try and snap her out of it... but for tonight, she can sit on her clears. She was distressed enough about me candling them without taking them away right now! Someday she'll hatch babies, but not this time.

yeah my hen is sitting on 8 eggs but only two are fertile and looking like they will hatch so I'm going to let her sit on the remaining eggs then tomorrow im going to my feed store in the morning and I'm going to get her 6 chicks and pull a bait and switch on her

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Aw, my poor gal! Out of her 6, only 1 was developing. I took that one and used it to replace the blood ring egg in my incubator. Since I don't have the dosh for more eggs and wouldn't want her sitting a week over anyway, I think I'm going to try and snap her out of it... but for tonight, she can sit on her clears. She was distressed enough about me candling them without taking them away right now! Someday she'll hatch babies, but not this time.

Poor girl, she'll get her chance someday...

 

[vpatt]

Olivia and her chicks are great...they were three weeks old yesterday.....I don't know the sexes....I guess eventually I will find out.

I have another question. Jessica is trying to sit on eggs again. If she persists....I know where I can get chicks but not eggs. The problem is I think the chicks are already about two weeks old. Can this work?
Thnx for your help.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Olivia and her chicks are great...they were three weeks old yesterday.....I don't know the sexes....I guess eventually I will find out.

I have another question. Jessica is trying to sit on eggs again. If she persists....I know where I can get chicks but not eggs. The problem is I think the chicks are already about two weeks old. Can this work?
Thnx for your help.

So glad to hear Olivia and her chicks are doing great.

As to your question, totally depends on the hen. Some hens will take whatever is chick like at any time. Some have to be sitting and brooding for several weeks before you can foster a young chick of a day or two old. Two weeks is getting a little older, so that is dicier. I was not successful with 4 week chicks...I was hoping a really broody, but untried, gal would sit with 4 week olds just to keep them a bit warmer when mum decided to cut them loose and it was really, really cold...The new broody sat with them one night but then she would have nothing of it...but this hen though having pouted in a brood for several weeks turned out to be a gal I chose to never use to brood as she was fickle...but she was the only one in a deep brood that wasn't being used at the time so I gave it a shot.

You could try it, if you want more chicks, but be prepared to heat lamp brood them if she is not willing to mother them. Also, I find it harder to foster heat lamp brooded chicks, especially older chicks, as they may have lost the ability to imprint with the hen. In colder weather, if you try it, watch very closely as they may run from the hen rather than to her and become stressed from the environment.

Lady of McCamley

EDITED for clarity and additional thoughts

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yippee....my new broodies have cleared their 2 week isolation health check with such flying colors, I have placed them in the broody hutch.

Here is the Queen Mum (a veteran Silkie brooding queen of 4.5 years) and her two hand maids in training 4 month old bantam Cochins Rosie and Mimsy, who are out of a bantam Buff Cochin that was very, very broody (and a Mille Fleur dad)....I have great hopes that mum's broody traits have passed to her daughters...and the Queen Mum Silkie shows them the way...no guarantees, but here's hoping

My brooding set up...double-ended hutch with enclosed run. Hutch locks up tight at night for predators. Run is chicken wire sides and completely covered in hawk netting. I can also extend a tarp if our NW weather is being especially rainy so that mums and babies have a half run out of the rain....today is balmy and beautiful

New broodies getting used to their new digs...and a new ramp (Silkie just flew down...Cochins are inching their way...we'll see how they do tonight...it usually takes birds a couple of days to figure it out...hopefully I won't be crawling around in the dirt to hand pick them up to roost tonight

And the inside of my nest boxes inside double ended hutch with walkway/veranda in the middle. (I'm in the middle of an experiment right now as to what kind of insert I like best to keep eggs and bedding from rolling or getting kicked out but chicks not getting stranded...this one is a little high on one side which worries me a bit as I had one chick strand itself...but that was after 2 (?) successful batches where they all did fine...I will be building a little ramp system to improve it. The other side right now just has 1x12 strips nailed into the flooring so it will hold nesting material. I don't have any timothy hay on top yet as nobody is setting (and that stuff is a little spendy for regular use). I can subdivide this hutch, right down the middle, if I need to, as I have a wire frame insert and a solid wood insert, depending upon the privacy needed. I can also break out my ramps into 2 separate ramps into the run if I need to give a broody complete isolation. Babies and mums stay in the broody hutch for the first few days, to a couple of weeks depending upon how inclement the weather, then they have full access to run until babes are old enough to integrate into the flock...which has fence view access to everything going on in the nursery to help with integration.

Anyway...fun to get the new girls settled into "the Royal place."

Lady of McCamley

 

[vpatt]

 So glad to hear Olivia and her chicks are doing great.

As to your question, totally depends on the hen. Some hens will take whatever is chick like at any time. Some have to be sitting and brooding for several weeks before you can foster a young chick of a day or two old. Two weeks is getting a little older, so that is dicier. I was not successful with 4 week chicks...I was hoping a really broody, but untried, gal would sit with 4 week olds just to keep them a bit warmer when mum decided to cut them loose and it was really, really cold...The new broody sat with them one night but then she would have nothing of it...but this hen though having pouted in a brood for several weeks turned out to be a gal I chose to never use to brood as she was fickle...but she was the only one in a deep brood that wasn't being used at the time so I gave it a shot.

You could try it, if you want more chicks, but be prepared to heat lamp brood them if she is not willing to mother them. Also, I find it harder to foster heat lamp brooded chicks, especially older chicks, as they may have lost the ability to imprint with the hen. In colder weather, if you try it, watch very closely as they may run from the hen rather than to her and become stressed from the environment.

Lady of McCamley

EDITED for clarity and additional thoughts

Thank you so much for your advice. I think I should wait and let her have some eggs in the spring. I feel so bad for her wanting babies. It would be different if I had orphaned or abandoned chicks (as you mentioned). But to deliberately take the chance when it is an iffy situation would not be the best choice for the chicks. When I first thought of it I really thought the chicks at the mill were younger. After I called I found out they are already three weeks old.

How can I feel so bad for her? But I do, lol.