Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[lorelei71221]

Day 19!! Fingers crossed all goes well!

 

[emmie325]

Good luck

 

[debi2]

I have 2 chicks hatched

and she left the nest, with 3 eggs, to take care of her babies. I put the 3 remaining eggs in a Brinsea incubator, I've never used, so I hope they will hatch. I'm not sure how long she was off the nest before I found them.

 

[Coop de Grass]

I have 2 chicks hatched

and she left the nest, with 3 eggs, to take care of her babies. I put the 3 remaining eggs in a Brinsea incubator, I've never used, so I hope they will hatch. I'm not sure how long she was off the nest before I found them.

 

[ameliadanielle]

Wonderful. I was selling a huge chunk of my laying flock, as egg prices are down and these ladies eat a lot and they don't go broody. Of course as soon as I have a buyer ready to come get them... one of them goes broody. Ugh.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Wonderful. I was selling a huge chunk of my laying flock, as egg prices are down and these ladies eat a lot and they don't go broody. Of course as soon as I have a buyer ready to come get them... one of them goes broody. Ugh.

Keep the broody----if you want. I too sold most of my layers which were most all 10 months old. Was having to throw a lot of eggs to the hogs.

 

[ameliadanielle]

When eggs were high last summer. Everyone wanted eggs from us. Now? 2 weeks ago a store was selling them $0.99 a dozen. Last week a competing store was selling them $0.50 a dozen. Back when they were almost $6 a dozen, it was worth it to have the laying hens. Now... not so much. Up until now most of our chicks we have hatched are backyard mixes from our mixed flock and a few silkie babies here and there. Now my husband is talking about breeding some chickens to sell. Which... that means we would probably need an incubator as our hens do go broody but one every few months. Until now. We've got two muscovies sitting on nests and a gold laced Wyandotte sitting that I was ignoring because normally they don't stay broody but she is determined, and our buff orpington with chicks she hatched out a couple of weeks ago. So right now we are making a list of what breeds we have and what we should keep. It's a long list. Which means some have to be sold and some we have to get more of. I may just stick to EEs, silkies, and turkens. If my silkies would just go broody regularly we would be in good shape. Lol. I don't know. We may thin the chickens out almost completely and switch to ducks. I've been battling my muscovies over going broody and now that I've given in they are both sitting on nests. My husband has a pair of Indian Runners, and he loves them. He has already told me the only thing I can't sell or get rid of are his ducks.

 

[ameliadanielle]

Our great pyrenees eats eggs. We have so many eggs right now... I've literally just been letting her eat them. Lol.

 

[gardenfarm]

Good luck!!!! I have no idea what to call the chicks... What's yours called ?

 

[PD-Riverman]

When eggs were high last summer. Everyone wanted eggs from us. Now? 2 weeks ago a store was selling them $0.99 a dozen. Last week a competing store was selling them $0.50 a dozen. Back when they were almost $6 a dozen, it was worth it to have the laying hens. Now... not so much. Up until now most of our chicks we have hatched are backyard mixes from our mixed flock and a few silkie babies here and there. Now my husband is talking about breeding some chickens to sell. Which... that means we would probably need an incubator as our hens do go broody but one every few months. Until now. We've got two muscovies sitting on nests and a gold laced Wyandotte sitting that I was ignoring because normally they don't stay broody but she is determined, and our buff orpington with chicks she hatched out a couple of weeks ago. So right now we are making a list of what breeds we have and what we should keep. It's a long list. Which means some have to be sold and some we have to get more of. I may just stick to EEs, silkies, and turkens. If my silkies would just go broody regularly we would be in good shape. Lol. I don't know. We may thin the chickens out almost completely and switch to ducks. I've been battling my muscovies over going broody and now that I've given in they are both sitting on nests. My husband has a pair of Indian Runners, and he loves them. He has already told me the only thing I can't sell or get rid of are his ducks.

Same here, but I have sold most all my layers in the last few weeks----tired of feeding them and throwing eggs to the hogs. I am not going to try and match the grocery store prices. Incubating--- better make sure you got a market to move the chicks-------I sold 1000's and 1000's last year--this year I rarely get someone wanting any. I got hundreds growing at this time. Here is something else to think about-----it takes 21 day to hatch 10 chicks It also takes 21 days to hatch 100 or 200 chicks--as far as selling-----not much money for all the time it takes to hatch 10. Keep that in mind.