Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[NysiaAnera]

Hi everyone, have to admit that I am clueless about how to manage my broody and chicks.  All my prior hatches have been with an incubator, so I know how to take care of them that way. 

I had a hen hide from me in my brooder box in the coop and was sitting on a bunch of eggs. (I didn't see her in there since there were feed bags lying on the top.)  Candled them all and gave her 4 back, and at least 2 are going to hatch soon.  Not sure what to do next.

Other chickens can go in and out of the box, but only one other has been laying in there recently. Should I close off the area?  That would keep Joan my broody in there, and she's used to going out daily.  It's a decent size, probably 3' x 3' x 6' long.  One end connects to the rest of the coop and has a chicken wire door.  It's where I put my grow-outs.

Hope they make it and that Joan is a good mom!  My last broody ended up killing her chicks, so I'm a bit nervous about going through that again.

Thanks!

We all have different ways of doing things that work for us. Personally, I do not separate my broodies. I leave them in the spot they choose, so they just brood with the flock. I mark the eggs, and remove any new eggs every day (or 2 at most). When day 18 rolls around, I put up what I call a "maternity screen" so that the hatching chicks can not fall out of the nest, and so that the momma is not being disturbed while the chicks are hatching. A day after they are done hatching, I remove the screen so momma can start taking the babies out. I am always right there to supervise when they emerge from the nest for the first time, just to make sure they all get out and stay close to momma, and to make sure they are all okay. I also supervise the first night when she takes them in for the night to make sure they can all get into the nest. Sometimes the mommas choose a nest box that is just too high for them to jump into, so I will lift them up. The chicks are out mingling with the flock from day 1.

 

[PD-Riverman]

How much can you get?

According to the size, looks/breed of the rooster, I have seen rhode island red roosters sell for $22 each, but usually stay in the $10 to $15 as well as most other full size breeds. I have seen Lavender Orpington , Speckled Sussex, Blue/red laced, etc--- adult roosters sell for close $30 each. The Meat buyer told me the Prettier the rooster the more he can resale them for. I told this on here a few weeks back----a lady at the Auction payed $27 each---$54 for a pair of Lavender orpington pretty adult birds and cooked then for Sunday dinner the nest day???

 

[PD-Riverman]

We all have different ways of doing things that work for us. Personally, I do not separate my broodies. I leave them in the spot they choose, so they just brood with the flock. I mark the eggs, and remove any new eggs every day (or 2 at most). When day 18 rolls around, I put up what I call a "maternity screen" so that the hatching chicks can not fall out of the nest, and so that the momma is not being disturbed while the chicks are hatching. A day after they are done hatching, I remove the screen so momma can start taking the babies out. I am always right there to supervise when they emerge from the nest for the first time, just to make sure they all get out and stay close to momma, and to make sure they are all okay. I also supervise the first night when she takes them in for the night to make sure they can all get into the nest. Sometimes the mommas choose a nest box that is just too high for them to jump into, so I will lift them up. The chicks are out mingling with the flock from day 1.

That's a good method and I Like it for the small flock. My only problem when I was doing something similiar was the chicks getting pecked and killed and the mother fighting all the time and getting hurt, most of my hens were RIR and the broody hen was usually a different breed----the RIR seem to aggressive or something.

My biggest reason besides the above mentioned for separating is I do Not want my young chicks to grow up with the older so I do not start them with the older plus I normanally set a huge amount of broodies and they hatch 100's and 100's per year which I sell most. The ones I keep are not mixed with the older hens because the older hens will be sold some time after turning 2 but before they get close to 3. That keeps me in the younger hens, best egg production and money recoup for them.

So we all do have different ways of doing things and as long as we are happy with our set-up and we protect those babies is all that matters.

 

[FridayYet]

Thank you all. I put the door back on last night so she can have the space to herself until the chicks are hatched. The space is at ground level under the nest boxes, so getting in and out shouldn't be an issue.

I have a small flock of about 15 birds, and only do one or two hatches a year. This was unplanned and took me a bit off guard.

Guess I better get some netting to block off the places in the run where a chick could easily escape through the 2x4 welded wire,

Thanks again for your thoughts! Good luck with your flocks.

 

[elaineinspain]

I have a question - my cochin is 14 months old and broody for the first time. Eight days ago I gave her 11 eggs to sit on. She has a broody pen in the coop. She leaves the pen every 2nd or third day for half an hour to dust bathe and other chickeny things. She has fresh water with vitamins and aminoacids every day, and fresh fermented feed every day, but of course she doesn't eat much. Today I counted her eggs - 8! There are no broken egg shells or anything in the broody pen. Has she worked out that they are not viable and eaten them? Or have they got broken under her and she's eaten them? There is no way any other chicken can get in to her in the pen as the door is shut at all times except for the half hour I let her out, and I'm usually there at that time. The pen has half inch hardware cloth all round it.

Is this usual?
There is no way predators (mice, rats, snakes) can get in because of the hardware cloth. Plus the pen is inside the coop which is locked at night.

 

[NysiaAnera]

I have a question - my cochin is 14 months old and broody for the first time. Eight days ago  I gave her 11 eggs to sit on. She has a broody pen in the coop. She leaves the pen every 2nd or third day for half an hour to dust bathe and other chickeny things. She has fresh water with vitamins and aminoacids every day, and fresh fermented feed every day, but of course she doesn't eat much. Today I counted her eggs - 8! There are no broken egg shells or anything in the broody pen. Has she worked out that they are not viable and eaten them? Or have they got broken under her and she's eaten them? There is no way any other chicken can get in to her in the pen as the door is shut at all times except for the half hour I let her out, and I'm usually there at that time. The pen has half inch hardware cloth all round it.

Is this usual?
There is no way predators (mice, rats, snakes) can get in because of the hardware cloth. Plus the pen is inside the coop which is locked at night.

Yes, that happens. Sometimes eggs gets stepped on or otherwise cracked and the momma will clean up the nest.

Sometimes I wonder if they do it on purpose because they think there are too many eggs, or if they somehow know an egg is not fertilized.

 

[numberoneaggie]

Has anyone had luck giving a broody hen different aged chicks? My hen hatched 2 turkey eggs for me yesterday and today a friend brought over 4 turkey poults that are 1-2 weeks old. My hen started making distressed noises when I approached with the crying poults and immediately started pushing them under her with the 2 she already hatched. So it looks like she accepted them, but I'm still nervous and not sure what I need to be watching out for.

The new poults came from a hatchery and have never been under a mama. They're not moving a lot and I'm not sure if they're just exhausted from the move or if I need to be concerned. I've hatched chicken eggs from only 2 hens and that was a month ago so I'm pretty new to this.

 

[karenerwin]

Has anyone had luck giving a broody hen different aged chicks? My hen hatched 2 turkey eggs for me yesterday and today a friend brought over 4 turkey poults that are 1-2 weeks old. My hen started making distressed noises when I approached with the crying poults and immediately started pushing them under her with the 2 she already hatched. So it looks like she accepted them, but I'm still nervous and not sure what I need to be watching out for.

The new poults came from a hatchery and have never been under a mama. They're not moving a lot and I'm not sure if they're just exhausted from the move or if I need to be concerned. I've hatched chicken eggs from only 2 hens and that was a month ago so I'm pretty new to this.

While I don't have experience with turkeys, I have had a broody momma adopt chicks of different ages. From what you are describing I think Momma has adopted the new turkey poults. What I noticed is that sometimes it takes the chicks a few days to catch on to what momma broody is saying. So I would keep an eye on them when she takes them out of the nest. Make sure they are following her & keeping close. I think it is helpful that you have a couple that she hatched out because I think they act like tutors for the newbies. they show them that she is the one to go to when they are cold, that she shows them where the food & goodies are at. After just 2 or 3 days the newbies were responding to momma just like the broody hatched chicks were.
Good luck!

 

[elaineinspain]

My cochin is setting on 8 eggs in this broody pen which is in the main coop. It is 96cm x 96cm ( just over 3 feet by 3 feet) Will this pen be big enough to keep them all in once the chicks have hatched until they are big enough to defend themselves at around 6 weeks? I just had the awful experience of losing a baby chick from a different hatch. She was in the coop outside the broody pen, with her mama and something/ somebody must have got in and taken her. She just disappeared! So of course I don't want that happening again....

 

[bald Rooster]

I went out flash lighting today is day 17 and now I know what a clear is.
Out of 12 eggs I looked at maybe 6 and 1 was clear. So Im taking for granite the ones I can't see through with air pockets have chicks. 4 more days