Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Puddin Fluff]

Broodies plucking their bellies is very common all my large fowl Broodies are bare bellied. My barred rock is the worst, nothing but skin. It helps them get better contact with the egg and helps insulate the nest

 

[AudreyB7]

I'm at a loss - hoping for guidance. I've got a broody on eggs right now that I thought should have begun to hatch over the past day or two. I stopped taking her eggs on May 16th. We were having a glorious spring until last week when the temps shot up 20 degrees overnight! We've been hovering around 115 degrees although today it's *only* 106. She's been such a trooper, I have her on the porch in a dog crate with a fan and ice in the crate. She successfully hatched 9 chicks two years ago so I have faith in her that she knows what she's doing. She's still on the nest but I'm concerned that the high temps may have killed the chicks. Would she be able to keep them cool in those conditions? I don't think she'll give up and it's just too hot to give her new eggs at this point, unless I brought her in the house.

I'm not sure what to do at this point so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ObeyTheYeri]

Fourth, third, and second day for the eggs under my broody Barred Rock. She originally had eight eggs but I added four more. One got cracked so that's 11 eggs. One is a Buff Orpington cross from my uncle's farm. I really hope that one hatches even after being in the fridge for three days. It's so cute watching her do the egg shuffle dance to settle the eggs under her. It makes my day. Every morning I give the rest of the flock food and she hears the 2 roosters cluck and she gets desperate to go eat. Since I go to work after a little meal and a few drinks of water I put her close to the nest and she goes right back to sitting. Gotta love a dedicated broody.

*ETA* Yes I know it's going to be a staggered hatch but I know it'll be worth it in the end.

 

[ameliadanielle]

We had some really high temps here last week. My hen and my muscovy girls were fanning their eggs. So far, only one of my muscovy hens has pushed a bad egg from the nest. I'm hoping they hatch. I have chicks due to start hatching tomorrow night or Thursday and Muscovies due to hatch Friday. I don't want to candle them this late in the game to see if they survived the heat wave. I guess if I don't have baby chicks this weekend... it was just too hot for them. It was hot and humid enough they could have just stayed off the nest. I noticed one muscovy fanning her wings and thought something was wrong with her, then I checked the other, she was doing the same, then I checked my chicken and she was standing above the eggs. Thankfully that tropical storm came through and cooled everything off so everyone is sitting on their eggs again as usual. This is my first time having broodies in the summer.

 

[h2oratt]

I'm at a loss - hoping for guidance.  I've got a broody on eggs right now that I thought should have begun to hatch over the past day or  two.  I stopped taking her eggs on May 16th. We were having a glorious spring until last week when the temps shot up 20 degrees overnight!  We've been hovering around 115 degrees although today it's *only* 106.  She's been such a trooper, I have her on the porch in a dog crate with a fan and ice in the crate.  She successfully hatched 9 chicks two years ago so I have faith in her that she knows what she's doing.  She's still on the nest but I'm concerned that the high temps may have killed the chicks.  Would she be able to keep them cool in those conditions?  I don't think she'll give up and it's just too hot to give her new eggs at this point, unless I brought her in the house.
I'm not sure what to do at this point so any advice would be greatly appreciated.  

Wow where are you located. Crossing my fingers that you get some chicks

 

[PD-Riverman]

I'm at a loss - hoping for guidance. I've got a broody on eggs right now that I thought should have begun to hatch over the past day or two. I stopped taking her eggs on May 16th. We were having a glorious spring until last week when the temps shot up 20 degrees overnight! We've been hovering around 115 degrees although today it's *only* 106. She's been such a trooper, I have her on the porch in a dog crate with a fan and ice in the crate. She successfully hatched 9 chicks two years ago so I have faith in her that she knows what she's doing. She's still on the nest but I'm concerned that the high temps may have killed the chicks. Would she be able to keep them cool in those conditions? I don't think she'll give up and it's just too hot to give her new eggs at this point, unless I brought her in the house.

I'm not sure what to do at this point so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

What kind of temp is it on the porch close where she is setting??

What do you mean by "I stopped taking her eggs on May 16th" Was she setting on the nest then?

How many eggs is she setting on and how did she get those?

When did you put her in the dog crate?

Is she setting on her own eggs or Was she setting where other hens could lay in her nest in the beginning?


Just For Info---Did you know the proper way to set a hen that has started being broody is to keep removing the eggs under her while you collect "other" fresh Layed eggs till you get enough to "SET" her----then Put them All of them under the broody at the same time---so they will hatch at the same time? If she is where other hens can get in her nest---you would need to clearly mark those set eggs so you can remove any fresh layed eggs Daily----this keeps her from having a staggered hatch----which does not usually turn out good!

 

[PD-Riverman]

*ETA* Yes I know it's going to be a staggered hatch but I know it'll be worth it in the end.

I wish you luck and hope she stays on the nest long enough after the first chicks hatch to hatch the rest without stressing the hen to much-----Staggered hatches do not always turn out good in the end!!

 

[ameliadanielle]

I have a peeper under my hen! So the heat did NOT kill them. At least one of them. I wasn't expecting any babies until tonight so someone hatched early. Crossing my fingers that the two EE eggs hatch.

 

[AudreyB7]

Wow where are you located. Crossing my fingers that you get some chicks

We're in a suburb of Phoenix. Thanks, I'm still hopeful!

 

[AudreyB7]

What kind of temp is it on the porch close where she is setting??

What do you mean by "I stopped taking her eggs on May 16th" Was she setting on the nest then?

How many eggs is she setting on and how did she get those?

When did you put her in the dog crate?

Is she setting on her own eggs or Was she setting where other hens could lay in her nest in the beginning?


Just For Info---Did you know the proper way to set a hen that has started being broody is to keep removing the eggs under her while you collect "other" fresh Layed eggs till you get enough to "SET" her----then Put them All of them under the broody at the same time---so they will hatch at the same time? If she is where other hens can get in her nest---you would need to clearly mark those set eggs so you can remove any fresh layed eggs Daily----this keeps her from having a staggered hatch----which does not usually turn out good!

The porch got as high as 113 for a few hours three straight days. I have the crate right against a french door window with a fan running into the crate but not directly on her. I put a sheet around the crate to create a 'room' with the side against the door open to allow for some cooling from the house a/c. I didn't take the temp in there but it was definitely much cooler than the porch, maybe 10 degrees..

We have 18 hens that tend to all lay in the same one or two boxes so when I left her she had 6 under her that were all from that morning. I did make the mistake of not marking them right away and so when we went to move her a few days later she had 25 eggs. I let her stay on all of them for a few more days after the move to the crate then we candled the eggs. Several were showing life so I removed everything that wasn't and that left her with 9 eggs.

I will definitely take your advice with my next broody. I should have removed her right away which is what we've always done in the past. This gal hatched 9 all on her own two years ago from a nest she made in the yard with no help from me at all so I was thinking she'd be ok with the flock but I was mistaken.

Thank you so much!