Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Faraday40]

Today was hatch day.
We had a combo of 2 broodies & an incubator.

All 6 incubator chicks hatched. After we put on some leg bands, we slipped them under the broody hens.
All 4 eggs under one broody hatched + 2 incubator chicks
Neither egg under our bantam Orp hatched (as of 5pm), but she's sitting tight. We gave her 4 incubator chicks & hopefully the 2 eggs will hatch by morning. She's the more experienced broody & has a wider spread.

Besides the adorable chicks, I really like not having to set up a brooder & heat lamps.

 

[fisherlady]

Today was hatch day. We had a combo of 2 broodies & an incubator. All 6 incubator chicks hatched. After we put on some leg bands, we slipped them under the broody hens. All 4 eggs under one broody hatched + 2 incubator chicks Neither egg under our bantam Orp hatched (as of 5pm), but she's sitting tight. We gave her 4 incubator chicks & hopefully the 2 eggs will hatch by morning. She's the more experienced broody & has a wider spread. Besides the adorable chicks, I really like not having to set up a brooder & heat lamps.

They are adorable! Hope the grafting goes well and your remaining eggs hatch....looking forward to more pics!

 

[sjturner79]

Awesome thank you so much!!
Next question: my lovely broody decided to switch nests some time durring the day. The eggs were cold but I gave them back to her in the nest she was sitting on. I told my husband that tomorrow when he sees her out of the coop he needs to go remove the eggs in all nest boxes except for the ones that are marked so she will go back to those ones.

The question is are those eggs (14 days about) still going to be ok?

If it's really cold in the coop they may not be. If it's warm enough for you to sit in there with a tee-shirt and not be shivering then they are usually ok for about 16 hours. If it's actually warm or hot then I've had them unattended from day 13 to 16 and still have a 90% hatch.
If it's cold then one night can be enough to over cool the eggs. I'd still leave them until day 24 then candle if the haven't started hatching.

 

[pamperedamber]

If it's really cold in the coop they may not be. If it's warm enough for you to sit in there with a tee-shirt and not be shivering then they are usually ok for about 16 hours. If it's actually warm or hot then I've had them unattended from day 13 to 16 and still have a 90% hatch.
If it's cold then one night can be enough to over cool the eggs. I'd still leave them until day 24 then candle if the haven't started hatching.

Thank you. It's mid 80's here so I will just keep putting them back under her when she changes nests on me. It gives me hope that they will be ok. I am so excited for this hatch and even more so finding out that the eggs are farther along than I was told. Instead of waiting 2 weeks for babies I only have to wait 7-9 days!!

 

[oconnell]

Yes I can tell which are fertile

 

[horselover1999]

So apparently my broody decided to hatch some eggs scheduled for my birthday weekend! I guess I have not been collecting eggs as much as I should. I went to candle the shell of an egg that was too smooth and small and I found an embryo on day 3-4. I candles the rest of the eggs and found 3 more at about the same stage. I really thought that I had collected eggs earlier than 4 days ago!

 

[pamperedamber]

How do you get the eggs out from under a broody to candle? Mine wont let me near her without making a huge fuss and if i try to put my hand anywhere other than the top of her back she is quick to peck. I am not home during the day when she takes her break from the eggs. I should have kept one yesterday when she left them to sit on the other nest after the other hens laid, but i was so worried about them being cold to think about that. Oh well I guess I will just wait and see if any thing hatches in the next 6-8 days. (hopefully they are not that far along.)

 

[Faraday40]

How do you get the eggs out from under a broody to candle? Mine wont let me near her without making a huge fuss and if i try to put my hand anywhere other than the top of her back she is quick to peck. I am not home during the day when she takes her break from the eggs. I should have kept one yesterday when she left them to sit on the other nest after the other hens laid, but i was so worried about them being cold to think about that. Oh well I guess I will just wait and see if any thing hatches in the next 6-8 days. (hopefully they are not that far along.)

Could you sacrifice a gloved hand to get the pecking & remove egg with the other hand? My broodies mostly scream unless I'm really messing with their eggs. With an incubator, I candle weekly, but with a broody, I just candle once (at night around day 10) to remove the clears. Otherwise, why bother her more than necessary?

 

[fisherlady]

Could you sacrifice a gloved hand to get the pecking & remove egg with the other hand?  My broodies mostly scream unless I'm really messing with their eggs.  With an incubator, I candle weekly, but with a broody, I just candle once (at night around day 10) to remove the clears.  Otherwise, why bother her more than necessary?

X2, distract with one hand, grab with the other, Mark each with a symbol as you check it or set it aside out of hens view until all are checked then return them the same way.

 

[pamperedamber]

Could you sacrifice a gloved hand to get the pecking & remove egg with the other hand? My broodies mostly scream unless I'm really messing with their eggs. With an incubator, I candle weekly, but with a broody, I just candle once (at night around day 10) to remove the clears. Otherwise, why bother her more than necessary?

Yes i could do that. I will probably do that tonight then.