Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[chickenmapa]

Just had my first batch of silkies. I had to take them from the mother since there was already one fatality to a perfectly heathy chick. ( she is separated from other hens by a dog kennel but somehow my girls still reached in and killed her) But I kept the eggs that hadn't hatched under her and I'm expecting at least three more successful hatchers. If I had any idea what I was doing when I candled there were at least 7 heathy chicks!

 

[MistyMountain]

Babies!!

 

[rexannastar]

Babies!!

too cute!!!

 

[suelon99]

Hi all; have a 1yo BO that got broody twice in the winter which I was able to break her of; she has now been sitting on 8 eggs x 5d in a hanging nesting box in the coop.
Do I move her to her own broody box or leave her alone until she hatches the eggs?
If she stays put, how do I keep the chicks from falling out of the box; it is about 2 ft off the floor/have pine shavings down but think that is pretty steep drop for newborns.
Appreciate any help. Sue in WI

 

[The Raw Mama]

Hi all; have a 1yo BO that got broody twice in the winter which I was able to break her of; she has now been sitting on 8 eggs x 5d in a hanging nesting box in the coop.
Do I move her to her own broody box or leave her alone until she hatches the eggs?
If she stays put, how do I keep the chicks from falling out of the box; it is about 2 ft off the floor/have pine shavings down but think that is pretty steep drop for newborns.
Appreciate any help. Sue in WI

I had two broody Jersey Giants sitting on two nests about 3 feet off the ground and I was worried two. I have a 3ftx6ft brooder for teenage birds that I moved the two Brodie's and eggs to last night. They are still sitting on the nests. It was easy to move them because they're just old dresser drawers. That way they are away from the other hens and roosters when the chicks hatch too until the babies are older. My problem was that all the chickens layed eggs in those two nesting boxes and they started laying on the floor since the broodies took them over because they refuse to lay in the other. My Turkey is clumbsy and stepped on a couple and now they other are eating the eggs

I've added more nesting boxes back to where they used to be but I saw a rooster up digging through one last night looking for eggs so even if the hens start laying there again, we will still have a problem I think. I'm going to try the mustard in a hollowed out egg today and increase protein and calcium too. Hopefully I can break them of it!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hi all; have a 1yo BO that got broody twice in the winter which I was able to break her of; she has now been sitting on 8 eggs x 5d in a hanging nesting box in the coop.
Do I move her to her own broody box or leave her alone until she hatches the eggs?
If she stays put, how do I keep the chicks from falling out of the box; it is about 2 ft off the floor/have pine shavings down but think that is pretty steep drop for newborns.
Appreciate any help. Sue in WI

I "properly"move all my broodies to a Private pen------doesn't matter if they are in a safe nest or not----I just want them by theirself so they are not bothered by other hens---so less eggs get broke, so I do not have to remove fresh layed eggs daily, ec, etc.

As far as a 2ft drop for the chicks-----they will be fine making the drop-----if the hen comes down with them------if one just falls out the nest----it will probably die without Mother hen to protect it.

 

[suelon99]

So she will be okay with me moving her and the eggs to a totally different situation and she will not break her brooding and abandon them?

 

[PD-Riverman]

So she will be okay with me moving her and the eggs to a totally different situation and she will not break her brooding and abandon them?

Its according to how you move her, when and her.. I have moved 49 in the last year----they all continued in the new location.

Can you move her whole nest-----without picking her up? Most hens is not going for you picking them up----picking up her eggs and carry her across the yard and placing in a new nest, new location, etc.

 

[Carolei]

Its according to how you move her, when and her.. I have moved 49 in the last year----they all continued in the new location.

Can you move her whole nest-----without picking her up? Most hens is not going for you picking them up----picking up her eggs and carry her across the yard and placing in a new nest, new location, etc.

What I did was, at night, I picked up the nest box with the hen and eggs inside and moved them across the coop into a dog kennel to keep the other hens from bugging her. That was two weeks ago and she's still sitting.

 

[mamalaoshi]

We had our hen sitting in a box about three feet off the ground. My husband build a simple wooden square and and covered it with hardware cloth bent in the shape of a box using zip ties to attach the sides. Then he made a lid of the wire stuff also and used bungee cords to hold it closed. He attached it to the nest box with zip ties through four small holes he drilled in the side of the box and the other side was hooked to a small plywood box we already had in the pen. I hope that makes sense- it was easier than it sounds. It worked really well and kept the other hens from bothering mama, and the babies were safe after they hatched. We detached it about a week later and moved the whole contraption to the ground and hooked it up to a cardboard box with a hole cut in the side until we felt the rest of the flock wouldn't harm the babies.