Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[fisherlady]

My hen went broody today, and I'm separating her from the rest of the flock on Sunday! Super excited! Question though, has anyone ever had issues when a large hen hatches out bantam and large chicks?? I want more banties, but my hens never go broody, but I also need a few more layers. If I put both under her, will there be any issues?

I have had both hatch out in the same group with no problems, however, you will want to watch to make sure the littlest ones aren't trompled around the food dish or don't get constantly pushed out of the way when the broody is finding goodies for them while foraging. I don't interfere with the natural pecking order that is established even in the youngest group, but I will pull the littlest ones out once in a while and give them treats separate of the others so I am sure they are getting enough. Doing this a couple of minutes a day also allows me to keep track of their general body condition so if they start to look skinny or lethargic I could intervene if needed.

The other thing to consider is that often banty eggs seem to hatch a day or so quicker than large fowl eggs.... this isn't always the case but it could happen. In a normal clutch this wont be a problem because it would still keep the hatches all within a 48 to 72 hour time frame, but if you aren't careful to set all the eggs at one time you may cause a more extended hatch than you plan to. I wouldn't worry about the day early thing much otherwise, to me it gives the littlest chicks a chance to be out, dry and motivating before their bigger sibs hatch and start running roughshod through the nest. I would rather have the banties hatch early for that reason.

 

[saltandpepper2]

I have had both hatch out in the same group with no problems, however, you will want to watch to make sure the littlest ones aren't trompled around the food dish or don't get constantly pushed out of the way when the broody is finding goodies for them while foraging. I don't interfere with the natural pecking order that is established even in the youngest group, but I will pull the littlest ones out once in a while and give them treats separate of the others so I am sure they are getting enough. Doing this a couple of minutes a day also allows me to keep track of their general body condition so if they start to look skinny or lethargic I could intervene if needed.

The other thing to consider is that often banty eggs seem to hatch a day or so quicker than large fowl eggs.... this isn't always the case but it could happen. In a normal clutch this wont be a problem because it would still keep the hatches all within a 48 to 72 hour time frame, but if you aren't careful to set all the eggs at one time you may cause a more extended hatch than you plan to. I wouldn't worry about the day early thing much otherwise, to me it gives the littlest chicks a chance to be out, dry and motivating before their bigger sibs hatch and start running roughshod through the nest. I would rather have the banties hatch early for that reason.

Thanks for the advice! I'm giving her until sunday to really settle into being broody before I move her to the broody pen, and I'll be completely changing the eggs all at once so that they all hatch within that time period. I made the mistake of a prolonged hatching with the last broody, one chick died from being crushed from the movement in the nest before it had completely hatched

 

[Kassaundra]

Here are a few pics of the proud mom and chicks.

 

[Mccluckers]

hello,

i have a bantam frizzle hen whom i have just put 6 fertile bantam eggs under. she had previously been sitting on like 15 non-fertile eggs to keep her broody until the eggs arrived,(obviously she couldn't cover them all) i have now put the fertile eggs under her and one of the eggs is half poking out from underneath her,i have left her for 1/2 an hour to see if she has pushed it in.i presume she still thinks she can't fit them all under because of the last eggs because they could all easily fit if she tried.

she also won't get up to eat and drink so when i push her off she doesn't walk she just sits straight down again, why??

last question,my flock have scaly leg mite and i have put ivermectin on the others(nothing else works) and i was wondering if it would be safe to put some under her or could she come out through her skin and damage the eggs?

thanks in advance.

edit:

i went back down and she hadn't moved it in she was trying to keep all the eggs under her breast so i rearranged them underneath her abit and then she wriggled around and seemed more comfortable, they were all completely underneath) i will going back and check in bit and make sure she is still ok)

update:i went back down and the hen had moved on the nest,all of the eggs where completely covered apart from 1 which was poking out a tiny bit,i think she finds it difficult to cover all of them because she is a frizzle and when a normal hen chest feathers come down and touch the ground her curl up.i will see how she does and maybe take one away,

 

[vpatt]

They won't always roll them out or eat them.... but it is something that some broodies do, so it is worth mentioning as a probable reason for disappearing eggs under a broody.  If all hens did it then 'exploding' eggs wouldn't be a potential hazard, and folks do have that happen once in a while. 

To reduce the potential hazard of eggs going bad some folks candle the broodies clutch and pull ones which are duds, doing this or not is a personal decision/preference.  I usually just candle around day 10 and pull any clears but I don't get too worried if I don't get a chance to do so.

Some hens are easily broken if you mess with them, others are rock solid from the first day they park themselves in the nest.... this is another of those things that just depends on the hen's personality and there is no clear answer to. 

I was able to see the eggs yesterday and there are still six. But still no sign of any hatching. I will give them thru Tuesday in case I was really off on my counting. I don't know how I missed marking the calendar...

 

[ShinShien]

The 7 CCL chicks at little over a month old and their banty surrogate mother. Four are shades of brown; three are shades of gray.

 

[vpatt]

If Ebony's eggs do not hatch what should I do? I could give her a couple of the bantam eggs that Jessica has....but they are two weeks from hatch date. She is not eating. If her eggs don't hatch in another day or two I don't think they will. Not sure what to do...I haven't had this problem before.

 

[Jewellan]

Here are a few pics of the proud mom and chicks.

Here are a few pics of the proud mom and chicks.











Cute babies, But what kind is the chick with no feathers?

 

[saltandpepper2]

Here are a few pics of the proud mom and chicks.

Beautiful! Um... will the... naked baby ever grow feathers???

 

[Kassaundra]

All my chickens are naked necks. The featherless one is genetically a naked neck, but she is featherless b/c of another gene, not anything to do w/ the nana gene. (naked neck gene) She does not have feather follicles so cannot grow feathers ever. I have a roo that is a little over a year and he has the same gene he has on feather follicle on each elbow.