Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

Wow! She is a prolific broody. Is she a good mama? Yes. She has not had a chick die yet. How long does she stay with the chicks? Three weeks which is normal for her breed. What breed? Serama. I am hoping I will have some broodies when my chicks grow up.
I have two other pullets that are the same age; they are brooding their third clutch of eggs right now. I have silkie hens that brood just as often; a mutt hen too and the same with her.



Another 8 month old. She recently weaned her second set of chicks (above) and, again, is brooding eggs in the same cereal bowl she has used twice in the past.


A picture of the hen sitting on her first clutch. If I took a new picture of her on the third clutch it would look the same.
 
I got an incubator for Christmas and then Dec 31 my white Cochin bantam hen went broody
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I ordered chicks to put under her but the lady I ordered chicks from, her hens haven't started laying yet so she can't put eggs in the incubator because she has no eggs.
I put 4 eggs under the broody (marshmallow) and they are due to hatch March 5, can't wait! They won't be purebreds so I am still getting chicks from the breeder so I can show them at the fair.
 
I got an incubator for Christmas and then Dec 31 my white Cochin bantam hen went broody
1f644.png

I ordered chicks to put under her but the lady I ordered chicks from, her hens haven't started laying yet so she can't put eggs in the incubator because she has no eggs.
I put 4 eggs under the broody (marshmallow) and they are due to hatch March 5, can't wait! They won't be purebreds so I am still getting chicks from the breeder so I can show them at the fair.

Good luck with the four eggs. Some crosses produce really nice birds and it's fun because you don't know how they will turn out.
 
:) they will all be bantams. The Father is a buff brahma named pumpkin, all the eggs are fertile. Marshmallow got taken of the nest for about four hours but at least two of the eggs are still growing, the other two are hard to see because they have dark shells.
One of the eggs is from a buff brahma hen so it will be a purebred. One is from a mile Fleur and the other two are from my other Cochin
 
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My bantam hen went broody today! We'll see if she sticks with it! I'm scared to do anything to mark the eggs or move her. We have 4 other hens and a rooster. 2 other bantams, a black australorp, and new Hampshire red. Not sure what the rooster is.
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My bantam hen went broody today! We'll see if she sticks with it! I'm scared to do anything to mark the eggs or move her. We have 4 other hens and a rooster. 2 other bantams, a black australorp, and new Hampshire red. Not sure what the rooster is.
If your hen has a nest to herself she does not have to be moved. If the hen is fairly tame you should be able to mark the eggs tomorrow without to much worry of the hen leaving the nest; just pull the eggs from under her. Do not take the hen off the nest to mark the eggs as she might leave. If that happens most hens return after a bit.
 
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they will all be bantams. The Father is a buff brahma named pumpkin, all the eggs are fertile. Marshmallow got taken of the nest for about four hours but at least two of the eggs are still growing, the other two are hard to see because they have dark shells.
One of the eggs is from a buff brahma hen so it will be a purebred. One is from a mile Fleur and the other two are from my other Cochin

If two eggs are still good for sure, most likely the others are too.
 
Yes I think they are. I candled them yesterday and I saw one of them was like, having a disco party in there! The other ones are alive because the blood vessels didn't reach all the way around the shell before.
 

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