Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[nchls school]

How far along are yours? Mine are at day 13, due to hatch March 5

Day 10. Mine are serama-hatch in 19 days-a week from Friday is hatch day. The eggs are from this hen.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

If yours are on day 10 wouldn't that be 11 days till hatch? Mine will hatch in 8 days

 

[nchls school]

If yours are on day 10 wouldn't that be 11 days till hatch? Mine will hatch in 8 days

No. My little serama bantams hatch in 19 days not 21, so hatch day is in 9 days.

 

[Violetsfeathers]

Oh! Ours will hatch very close then!

 

[nchls school]

Oh! Ours will hatch very close then!

Good luck to us both.

 

[stryker]

No. My little serama bantams hatch in 19 days not 21, so hatch day is in 9 days.

So does the three day rule apply instead of putting them on lockdown on day 18 you lock them down on day 16?

 

[nchls school]

So does the three day rule apply instead of putting them on lockdown on day 18 you lock them down on day 16?

If I were using an incubator-yes. The thing with serama is that they do not have a standard size or incubation time. I have read that the smallest serama can take as little as 15 days to hatch while the largest may take the full 21 days. I only know that mine take 19 days through prior hatches-7 times and all took 19 days to hatch. Of course with broody hens there is no lock down.

 

[stryker]

If I were using an incubator-yes. The thing with serama is that they do not have a standard size or incubation time. I have read that the smallest serama can take as little as 15 days to hatch while the largest may take the full 21 days. I only know that mine take 19 days through prior hatches-7 times and all took 19 days to hatch. Of course with broody hens there is no lock down.

Thanks

 

[chickendreams24]

Hey all found my golden Laced sebright on 11 eggs today only two of which were bantam eggs lol. She was actually covering them pretty well but hasn't fully committed. How can I encourage her to commit? Thanks for your help

 

[fisherlady]

Hey all found my golden Laced sebright on 11 eggs today only two of which were bantam eggs lol. She was actually covering them pretty well but hasn't fully committed. How can I encourage her to commit? Thanks for your help

Sounds like she already has the idea... you need to decide where you want her to spend her brood and prepare it so you can move her (if needed), collect a reasonable number of eggs for her (3-6 is normal for a small banty, maybe 8 if she is big for her breed), mark them and trade them out for those she has and then mark your calendar.

Edit to add... remember that overloading a hen with eggs can cause those left around the outer edges to be cooler and alter development rate, cause birth defects or difficulty hatching, even if she frequently shuffles them to try to keep them warm it may still cause a staggered hatch or cause early quitters in otherwise viable eggs. Be reasonable on the egg numbers to reduce the stress on the hen both before and after the hatch.