Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[sssharon]

Faraday, my broody has hatched three groups of chicks starting in March again in June and now August. I really hope that she is done for the rest of the year..she's a great mama though and she never leaves her eggs hardly at all when she starts. She just loves hatching chicks I guess.

 

[sssharon]

Chicks surreal, I tried taking my broody out too. and it just doesn't work. She just go right back in she is very stubborn. I was real happy this time that she went broody because I had eggs in the incubator and I could take them out and put them under her instead. I've had her for a year and when I got her she had just raise a clutch of eggs then.so that's four times in one year and three of them with me.

 

[chicksurreal]

Chicks surreal, I tried taking my broody out too. and it just doesn't work. She just go right back in she is very stubborn. I was real happy this time that she went broody because I had eggs in the incubator and I could take them out and put them under her instead. I've had her for a year and when I got her she had just raise a clutch of eggs then.so that's four times in one year and three of them with me.

It took me several weeks of taking her out of the nesting boxes several times a day and making sure there were no eggs under her. Very tedious and time consuming. I think she finally just got over it on her own really. The only reason I didn't let her hatch more eggs is because she killed all the chicks in her first hatch except one that I managed to get away from her. If that hadn't happened, I would have let her hatch again.

 

[SpoilMyPooch]

Well, our "Bantam Menace" is living up to her nick-name again.... This morning, I heard squawking & flapping as the flock quickly ran out from under their fav tree. The source of the commotion: Little Cookie! The bantam orp had the treat bowl all to herself. I'm guessing she bullied one of the roos which made him cry out & caused the panic.

Cookie already went broody 3x this year. About 2 weeks ago, she left her last brood & started laying eggs. Just a few min ago while collecting the eggs, I found Cookie making her broody noise again. Of course this would explain why the rest of the flock ran away from her this morning. She's turning into the "Cookie Monster" again.

Is it normal for broodies to be THIS broody? How many broods can one hen have in a year? For now, I'm hoping she was just laying & grumpy. I'm still trying to get our numbers down &just finished rehoming her last chicks.

One of my hens has been brooding for the last couple of months and although I have tried to break her, she has not relented. I have to say that I am a bit suspicious though...I think at times her unwillingness to come out of the coop might be connected to how much it has been raining as much as being broody!

 

[SpoilMyPooch]

I have a hen that has decided she wants to sit on eggs today. I got 2 eggs from under her because I want to wait a few days until I let her sit. My question is: She has been on these 2 eggs today, not sure exactly how long but I collect in the evenings. Have these eggs already started developing? Will they be okay to put under her next week?

Marnette,

You could let your broody hen store them for you by continuing to sit on them! Eggs that are laid within 6 days of each other can be "stored" by a broody hen (question #43 in my guide.) If you want to store them yourself then store them in a cool dry place, out of direct sunlight. A kitchen cupboard might be idea but not the fridge! Around 55F is a good temperature (question #44 in my guide.)

 

[Peepers4Piper]

Hi all! Been stalking this thread for exactly 21 days now. I have a little Silkie that decided she was not going to take no for an answer this time. This is the 4th time she has been broody in less than a year! AND she's not even a year old yet! At the time we did not have a rooster so I ordered fertile eggs online and received 7. Tucked these under her and removed the decoys. She was in her glory! 2 of the eggs must have been bad because maybe a week and a half later a horrible odor was coming from her broody coop. UGH! Cleaned her up the best I could and left well enough alone.

Then it happens... the hubby says in a passing comment..."I doubt even 1 of those hatch out." I panicked. Couldn't let my sweet little Snowy have her heart broken on her (our) first time around! So I ordered 6 babies, you know, just in case. I ordered them so they would be here about the same day the eggs should hatch. Today!

Brought them sweet little puff balls home and Snowy was ecstatic! :yiipchick Or so I like to think. They bonded immediately. Well lo and behold this evening my daughter came screaming up from the coop after dinner. "Mom! I think Horton hatched the egg!" Doc Seuss reference. Anyhoo we went rushing down there and sure enough...7! Sorry for the novel here. Just So glad I found this thread to keep me from losing my mind these last 21 days and excited that at least 1 egg (so far!) has survived my first broody experience! My Best to all! Piper

 

[Johnn]

Bella and baby in bed

 

[numzldr]

So I have a 2yr.old australorp who went broody on the 6th, I moved her into the nursery with 10 eggs on the night of the 7th. She's been out n about a few times but went right back to brooding.She kicked 1 egg out about a wk.in. Last nite I changed the feeder n water. Put a capful of Braggs acv in the 2qt waterbottle n starter/grower in the feeder. Any day now.

 

[CreoleChick18]

I moved my broody hen and her nest of 8 eggs from the coop, into a separate hutch inside the chicken run. She has plenty of food and water. The hen has been on these eggs for 12-16 days because other hens laid more eggs in her nest box while she got up to eat.
After the move, I closed the door to the hutch and all was well. Two days later, I forgot the door open. The hen exited and when I found her a few hours later, she was standing in the coop, looking for her nest.
Her eggs were cold and I caught her and put her back in the hutch. WILL THESE EGGS HATCH AFTER GETTING COLD FOR A FEW HOURS?

 

[Attila the Hen]

May I get some advice please? I have a little hen who was desperate to have chicks. She sat on the nest through two back to back failed hatches. Finally, today she has produced two chicks and has abandoned the last 6. I don't need any more chickens but wonder if I should try to help the last few to hatch. I need to know how feasible this is and a few basics. Have the eggs in a box with heat lamp and heat pad. They were cold. I do not want to take the 2 chicks away from her to induce her to go back on the nest.

thank you