Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Faraday40]

I candled last night & found 7 viable eggs.
It's funny b/c no matter how many eggs my broody gets, she always hatches 7 chicks. When I gave her 7, she got a 100% hatch! When I gave her 6, she somehow stole one & hatched 7.

This time she hoarded a nest-full of 11 eggs! Two got smashed by another hen & exactly 7 of the remaining are developing.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I candled last night & found 7 viable eggs.
It's funny b/c no matter how many eggs my broody gets, she always hatches 7 chicks.  When I gave her 7, she got a 100% hatch!  When I gave her 6, she somehow stole one & hatched 7.

This time she hoarded a nest-full of 11 eggs!   Two got smashed by another hen & exactly 7 of the remaining are developing.  

Wow! I guess the number 7 really is lucky!

 

[kilby]

TO Faraday40

oh, ohhh. You aren't counting your eggs before they hatch are you? LOL funny story, thank you

 

[luvmychicken]

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[luvmychicken]

I know this thread is for the natural hatchings, it's just that my broodies aren't ready yet. And the fuzzy buts are so darn cute

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I know this thread is for the natural hatchings, it's just that my broodies aren't ready yet. And the fuzzy buts are so darn cute

 

[Faraday40]

I know this thread is for the natural hatchings, it's just that my broodies aren't ready yet. And the fuzzy buts are so darn cute

I really enjoy using an incubator to watch them hatch, also. It's so addictive, & we spend too many hours watching the eggs wiggle, pip, zip, hatch, & fluff. Because of this, I never thought I'd like using a broody,........ but then I experienced how much easier it is! Either way, the little chicks are all so cute!

 

[celticgarden]

Advice needed. 12 eggs in the incubator, day 17. A VERY determined broody in the coop on a nest box. She has been sitting for weeks. Should I give her the eggs to hatch (due Friday)? If so should I try moving her tonight with fake eggs to an enclosed spot, give her the eggs to hatch in the nest box and then move her and chicks post hatch? I just didn't trust that she would be this persistent so didn't think to use her from the beginning. She's a Cream Legbar. I have a brooder house that I could move her to but would have to finagle a run. She could turn out to be chick aggressive, who knows.

Am on the fence.

Linda

 

[kilby]

Advice needed. 12 eggs in the incubator, day 17. A VERY determined broody in the coop on a nest box. She has been sitting for weeks. Should I give her the eggs to hatch (due Friday)? If so should I try moving her tonight with fake eggs to an enclosed spot, give her the eggs to hatch in the nest box and then move her and chicks post hatch? I just didn't trust that she would be this persistent so didn't think to use her from the beginning. She's a Cream Legbar. I have a brooder house that I could move her to but would have to finagle a run. She could turn out to be chick aggressive, who knows.

Am on the fence.

Linda

From my humbling experience, you never know unless she is a proven broody and that takes alot of courage on the part of the chick. So since mine were killed by accident or not on the first day I would let them hatch in the incubator and give them to her on the second or third day when they need to eat, drinking sooner I think ( for that i dip my finger in water and tap their beak so they know it's good) Then watch what she does. They cannot move fast enough to get out of the way if she goes berserk crazy. Even better for the chicks would be to let them grow 7 days. All they need her for is warmth anyway. Scratching, eating and drinking are just survival skills built in to the DNA. I swear if I knew someone local who could cull my broody I would have. Right now I have her on 4 'scovy duck eggs. Not sure if they are fertile but. When they start pipping I take them away. She was infanticidal X2.
I wish you and the chicks good luck.

 

[kilby]

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