Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

Let's go to the video replay....NINE...there are NINE chicks in those photos. That black ball at the bottom is a chick, I remember it moving under that overhanging board as I took the photo.

LOL. Olive must have had an egg stuffed under a wing when I moved her to the condo box.

NINE little chicks. No idea which one was the extra then....I'll have to look at shell pieces. So far, I've just pulled olive and dark brown/terra cotta.

Good ol' Olive.

I set 10, pull 2, and hatch 9. Must be chicken math.

LofMc

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Thanks! I'm not very good at story telling, lol, but I do take lots of pictures!

 

[fisherlady]

Let's go to the video replay....NINE...there are NINE chicks in those photos.  That black ball at the bottom is a chick, I remember it moving under that overhanging board as I took the photo.

LOL. Olive must have had an egg stuffed under a wing when I moved her to the condo box.  

NINE little chicks. No idea which one was the extra then....I'll have to look at shell pieces. So far, I've just pulled olive and dark brown/terra cotta.

Good ol' Olive.

I set 10, pull 2, and hatch 9.  Must be chicken math. 

LofMc

Priceless! And so like a broody!

 

[NysiaAnera]

Let's go to the video replay....NINE...there are NINE chicks in those photos.  That black ball at the bottom is a chick, I remember it moving under that overhanging board as I took the photo.

LOL. Olive must have had an egg stuffed under a wing when I moved her to the condo box.  

NINE little chicks. No idea which one was the extra then....I'll have to look at shell pieces. So far, I've just pulled olive and dark brown/terra cotta.

Good ol' Olive.

I set 10, pull 2, and hatch 9.  Must be chicken math. 

LofMc

Lol I thought chicken math by choice was bad enough, but unknowing? Uh oh! Hehehe! Congratulations on the new little cuties!!

 

[NysiaAnera]

Yes, we have another broody!! She got 14 eggs yesterday evening. I don't remember if I said already, but the other one got 4 more the next day, so she has 14 as well.

I think it is interesting that the Brahmas always choose to brood in the smaller nest boxes on the floor (12×12), and the Orpingtons and Australorps prefer the deeper nest boxes that are raised (12×14).

The 4 chicks are doing great and growing like weeds! Their momma was taking them out to forage the first day, but the next day she saw that there was feed in the chick feeder, so she tought them how to eat from it and mostly hangs out in the run with occassional trips out. I need to get some more pictures.

And as a side note, we made an incubator out of an old cooler a few weeks ago and the first chicks just hatched over the past few days, so we have 8 in a brooder now. It figures I would finally get more broodies after I started incubating inside. I guess that is how it goes. :-D

 

[Lady of McCamley]

After candling again last night, Rosie has 4 CL eggs to sit on of the original 6...I pulled 2....3 look like they have good development, one a bit further along than the other 2 but veins present in all 3 of those, and 1 that is probably a quitter but I let it remain as it *might* have some slower development.

The last 2 were no go's...pretty clear no development.

Of the combination of washed vs. unwashed: of the 3 developing....2 were washed 1 unwashed. Of the 3 no go's or very likely quitters....2 washed 1 unwashed.

So thus far washing eggs has not shown any advantage or disadvantage for broody hatching.

We'll continue the watch to see if lack of bloom plays in as the days progress.

LofMc

 

[NysiaAnera]

After candling again last night, Rosie has 4 CL eggs to sit on of the original 6...I pulled 2....3 look like they have good development, one a bit further along than the other 2 but veins present in all 3 of those, and 1 that is probably a quitter but I let it remain as it *might* have some slower development.

The last 2 were no go's...pretty clear no development.

Of the combination of washed vs. unwashed:  of the 3 developing....2 were washed 1 unwashed.   Of the 3 no go's or very likely quitters....2 washed 1 unwashed.

So thus far washing eggs has not shown any advantage or disadvantage for broody hatching.

We'll continue the watch to see if lack of bloom plays in as the days progress.

LofMc

I was going to say, seems pretty even for each so far.

 

[Faraday40]

I haven't been on this thread for a while, but I wanted to share our "SuperHen," Cookie.

Cookie (a very experienced mama) went broody a little less than a week before my incubator was due to hatch. On day 18, I gave her 2 eggs to hatch, since she only adopts chicks when she believes she has hatched them. A clumsy roo accidently smashed/killed one egg on day 20. The other egg got very cold, yet still hatched. BUT WHAT AN EGG! I kept sliding the incubator chicks under her as they hatched, then eventually moved Cookie & all 21 chicks into the giant brooder. So in Cookie's little brain, she sat on an egg for less than a week & hatched 21 chicks out of it. Yep, she's a super-broody! Because she's a bantam, it's easier to just move her into the brooder. I have a back-up "heating pad broody" in there for any overflow, but the chicks rarely use it.

Here she is covering all 21 chicks. What a spread!

I went out to the garage last night & saw this: (They peeked out when they saw the light go on.)
How does Cookie keep track of all of them?



The chicks will be going on Craigslist later today, so Cookie should get some relief soon. We're only going to grow out 4-6 of them.

 

[Hillaire]

They'll be fine. Eggs are amazingly protective with the bloom. I've had rotten eggs explode over a batch. I simply daubed off the gook with soft hay. Most of the eggs still hatched.

Just make sure the eggs stay dry, as in rain isn't directly hitting them or seeping into the bedding.

Good girl to your Silkie. Let us know how the hatch goes.

LofMc

will do. She is still doing her thing and won't budge for anything. Once she gets to lockdown day I will separate her out of the coop and put her in my big brooder box to raise her babies. I would keep her with everyone else but I have guineas that roost in the coop and lord knows what they would do. I have 3 guinea males and 1 hen and they can be bullies to the chickens when in the coop or run lol

 

[pamperedamber]

I have a question. I had a go and spend the night in the next box. didn't poop in it and would not let me collect the eggs from her, so I left them there. then she spends half the next day on them and at night goes to the roost instead of the nest. Is she getting ready to go broody or what? I have special eggs coming next week so that would be great if she would so i don't have to fire up the incubator.