Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Faraday40]

On the flip side our top hen, big mama (BLRW) is setting now and we do not plan to move her. She's left the best for 30 mins at a time and no one else dare touch the nest! Our Roo, Luna, bantam EE, even went in and watched the nest till she went back in... it was the cutest thing ever.

We have a top hen, "Princess Lay-a," who likes to go broody once a year. When she does, her chicks are the most entitled balls of fluff you've ever seen. If one of her chicks walks up to a food dish, the adult hens will back away because they know their mama's coming. I even saw Princess walk off away from her chicks & then a roo made a warning call. The nearest hen quickly covered 2 of the chicks on instinct.

The last batch she hatched slept on the high roost between Princess & the Roo. She never truly abandoned them & they still sleep up there at 10 months old. (We call them our "Millennials." LOL)

 

[Molpet]

so far 5 BR mix (blk ones) and 5 CX mix (yellow ones) out of 12 eggs.. they were supposed to hatch Thursday, but this was what I found this morning

 

[buterflysbeauty]

What happened @Molpet ?

 

[Molpet]

so far 5 BR mix (blk ones) and 5 CX mix (yellow ones) out of 12 eggs.. they were supposed to hatch Thursday, but this was what I found this morning

@buterflysbeauty

well it didn't post the pic and it won't let me edit ....trying for the pic of healthy early chicks again

 

[buterflysbeauty]

@buterflysbeauty View attachment 1057254 well it didn't post the pic and it won't let me edit ....trying for the pic of healthy early chicks again

Awwwwww mama is like "what? " lol.

 

[Faraday40]

@Molpet Congrats on the early chicks! You're going to have so much fun watching them!

Because of the summer heat, my broody's eggs usually hatch on day 19-20. Once when it was cold or if a hen got off the nest for too long, the hatch was on day 22. I think my bantam orp Cookie just runs a little hot. LOL

 

[Molpet]

@Molpet Congrats on the early chicks! You're going to have so much fun watching them!

Because of the summer heat, my broody's eggs usually hatch on day 19-20. Once when it was cold or if a hen got off the nest for too long, the hatch was on day 22. I think my bantam orp Cookie just runs a little hot. LOL

this is her first hatch, she hatched last labor day from a broody on day 21 ... 6/9 in that hatch.. guess she is running hot too lol .. I seen another black chick.. so that is 11/12 so far... she is a good mom they are fun to watch... I think I have about 40 chicks running around. different ages .. most are cockerels so they will be sent to camp before winter.

 

[timebider]

The chicks from my first-ever broody hatch are now eight weeks old. My experience is below, followed by a serious mistake I made that I'm sharing so others don't. Personal pros and cons first:

PROS: high hatch rate (11 out of 12 purchased eggs!), next to no work for me, no pasty butts to deal with (yay!), chicks are hardier, and the hen did the work of integrating them with the flock.

CONS: any chick that develops more slowly than the others is likely to be abandoned, and then you will have to raise it yourself or likely lose it; Mama may decide she doesn't like a particular chick and then you will have to raise it (this happened to me); outdoors/free-ranging chicks are more vulnerable to predation and exposure-related illness (e.g., flash downpour) than those raised indoors; first-time mama hens can make dangerous decisions (mine tried to get her week-old chicks to walk through a deep pond culvert and I had to intervene to prevent drowning/freezing - but she didn't try it again); you may have to force your broody off her nest every day to eat and drink if she won't care for herself voluntarily; you may find yourself having to re-home extra roosters or send them to the stewpot, which is something you generally don't have to worry about when you buy hatchery chicks (though keep in mind, those extra hatchery roos will be killed, just not by you); and, while Mama Hen taught the chicks that I was a friend, and they all run to me for treats when they see me, they aren't as puppy-doggish as the hens I raised myself (e.g., willing to be handled and eager to follow me around).

My experience:

My #1 and #2 top-of-the-order hens are both "super blue" hybrids from MPC. Don't know exactly what's in them, but broody breeds are definitely in the mix; they've both gone broody this summer - one of them twice. When I couldn't "break" Julia, the second to go broody, I decided to get her some hatching eggs. Didn't expect much, but she hatched 11 out of 12 of them! She was a great mama. I kept her enclosed in a dog crate inside the coop so she'd be "with" the other hens but they couldn't bother her, because a few of the others "caught" her broodiness and tried to "help" her brood her eggs. I knew hatching was imminent when several of the other hens began hanging around the crate and acting weird (making strange cries at me, listening hard by the nest, etc.).

It's a big plus if your broody is at the top of the pecking order. I laughed so hard the day I went into the greenhouse, where I have a large dust box for winter bathing, and found five of the hens sitting in that box and afraid to come out because Mama Hen was in the greenhouse with the chicks. The big girls always ran away from the chicks because they knew Mama would get them if she saw them around the babies! Mama Hen gradually backed off when the chicks were about five weeks old and then finally abandoned them. She went off with her old flock and the chicks formed their own flock since they don't like to range as far from the coop as the older hens do...but they all hang out together when the older girls are near the coop, and they go in and roost together at night.

My other super blue, Jeanette, has now been broody for a week, so I got her some Croad Langshan eggs to sit on. I may try not putting her in the dog crate because she's #1 and the other hens don't bother her, plus she doesn't leave the nest at all except when I remove her from it for food, water, and a quick constitutional while I'm doing coop maintenance—which means I'm able to prevent mix-ups with other hens laying in her box while she's gone, or her going back to the wrong one. The other girls finally understand what's going on now, too, so they just lay their eggs in the nest box next to her and go about their business.

Now, for my big mistake: The first nine eggs hatched between 22 and 23 days after I'd put them under Julia. The last three had not pipped by the end of day three, so the morning of day four, I took them out of the nest and set them aside to throw away later. (I'd read that any eggs that hadn't hatched by three days after the first egg hatched were duds/spoiled, and to take them out so they wouldn't crack or "explode" and make a stinky mess.) To my dismay, I discovered when I went back later to throw the eggs away that one of the three "duds" had begun to unzip and one was fully unzipped, but the eggs had been cold and exposed for hours by then. The partially unzipped chick was dead. The fully unzipped chick seemed exhausted and was gasping for air so I carefully removed the rest of the shell from around it and put it under Julia. An hour later, I couldn't tell that one from the other chicks. (The third egg actually WAS a dud). So, bottom line, I likely lost one chick and endangered the other because I followed advice that said to discard un-pipped eggs at the end of day three. It's possible the one that died would have died anyway, but I'll never know. I do know I won't make that mistake again - I will be more patient and give any "duds" a little extra time this go-around.

Good luck and have fun with your broody hatch!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Well...I said I was done with hatching this summer...and I've now set 5 more eggs under Rosie who has fledged the 2 Cream Legbar chicks (at about 4 weeks of age...Vivi, my Silkie nannied them for another 3 weeks).

I've discovered that my RSL/Barnevelder daughter not only lays really nice brown red eggs, but that her daughter (after breeding mom back to Barnevelder poppa) looks like a Barnevelder. I only set one of RSL/Barnevelder eggs as I was focused more on the olive and dark brown development....those 4 daughters are about 12 weeks now...with this one 3/4 Barnevelder/1/4 RSL that is really looking nicely Gold Laced Barnevelder....pretty lacing and everything (leg color may be just a bit off...a little too dark).

So I rounded up more of RSL/Barney eggs to see if it is true...by 2nd generation, with 3/4 Barnevelder and 1/4 RSL...will I consistently get Barnevelder looking birds?

Hopefully time will tell

So day 0...set tonight.

LofMc

 

[fisherlady]

The chicks from my first-ever broody hatch are now eight weeks old. My experience is below, followed by a serious mistake I made that I'm sharing so others don't. Personal pros and cons first:

PROS: high hatch rate (11 out of 12 purchased eggs!), next to no work for me, no pasty butts to deal with (yay!), chicks are hardier, and the hen did the work of integrating them with the flock.

CONS: any chick that develops more slowly than the others is likely to be abandoned, and then you will have to raise it yourself or likely lose it; Mama may decide she doesn't like a particular chick and then you will have to raise it (this happened to me); outdoors/free-ranging chicks are more vulnerable to predation and exposure-related illness (e.g., flash downpour) than those raised indoors; first-time mama hens can make dangerous decisions (mine tried to get her week-old chicks to walk through a deep pond culvert and I had to intervene to prevent drowning/freezing - but she didn't try it again); you may have to force your broody off her nest every day to eat and drink if she won't care for herself voluntarily; you may find yourself having to re-home extra roosters or send them to the stewpot, which is something you generally don't have to worry about when you buy hatchery chicks (though keep in mind, those extra hatchery roos will be killed, just not by you); and, while Mama Hen taught the chicks that I was a friend, and they all run to me for treats when they see me, they aren't as puppy-doggish as the hens I raised myself (e.g., willing to be handled and eager to follow me around).

My experience:

My #1 and #2 top-of-the-order hens are both "super blue" hybrids from MPC. Don't know exactly what's in them, but broody breeds are definitely in the mix; they've both gone broody this summer - one of them twice. When I couldn't "break" Julia, the second to go broody, I decided to get her some hatching eggs. Didn't expect much, but she hatched 11 out of 12 of them! She was a great mama. I kept her enclosed in a dog crate inside the coop so she'd be "with" the other hens but they couldn't bother her, because a few of the others "caught" her broodiness and tried to "help" her brood her eggs. I knew hatching was imminent when several of the other hens began hanging around the crate and acting weird (making strange cries at me, listening hard by the nest, etc.).

It's a big plus if your broody is at the top of the pecking order. I laughed so hard the day I went into the greenhouse, where I have a large dust box for winter bathing, and found five of the hens sitting in that box and afraid to come out because Mama Hen was in the greenhouse with the chicks. The big girls always ran away from the chicks because they knew Mama would get them if she saw them around the babies! Mama Hen gradually backed off when the chicks were about five weeks old and then finally abandoned them. She went off with her old flock and the chicks formed their own flock since they don't like to range as far from the coop as the older hens do...but they all hang out together when the older girls are near the coop, and they go in and roost together at night.

My other super blue, Jeanette, has now been broody for a week, so I got her some Croad Langshan eggs to sit on. I may try not putting her in the dog crate because she's #1 and the other hens don't bother her, plus she doesn't leave the nest at all except when I remove her from it for food, water, and a quick constitutional while I'm doing coop maintenance—which means I'm able to prevent mix-ups with other hens laying in her box while she's gone, or her going back to the wrong one. The other girls finally understand what's going on now, too, so they just lay their eggs in the nest box next to her and go about their business.

Now, for my big mistake: The first nine eggs hatched between 22 and 23 days after I'd put them under Julia. The last three had not pipped by the end of day three, so the morning of day four, I took them out of the nest and set them aside to throw away later. (I'd read that any eggs that hadn't hatched by three days after the first egg hatched were duds/spoiled, and to take them out so they wouldn't crack or "explode" and make a stinky mess.) To my dismay, I discovered when I went back later to throw the eggs away that one of the three "duds" had begun to unzip and one was fully unzipped, but the eggs had been cold and exposed for hours by then. The partially unzipped chick was dead. The fully unzipped chick seemed exhausted and was gasping for air so I carefully removed the rest of the shell from around it and put it under Julia. An hour later, I couldn't tell that one from the other chicks. (The third egg actually WAS a dud). So, bottom line, I likely lost one chick and endangered the other because I followed advice that said to discard un-pipped eggs at the end of day three. It's possible the one that died would have died anyway, but I'll never know. I do know I won't make that mistake again - I will be more patient and give any "duds" a little extra time this go-around.

Good luck and have fun with your broody hatch!

Great report on your experiences...I can offer a bit of advice which may help avoid the late egg problem. Any unhatched eggs get candled. If the egg isn't clear or 'sloshy' it is either put back under the hen or moved to a 'hot box' which is what we rigged up as an emergency incubator. (Ours is a boot box with a brinsea heat plate covered with a baby blanket)
In particular you want to watch for a pointed protrusion into the air cell which probably indicates an internal pip. Even without movement or pipping I still shuffle the unhatched eggs to the hot box for another day in case there is something I didn't notice.
Usually though any eggs that are going to hatch with healthy chicks do so within 24 hours of the rest IF the eggs were all set at the same time and stayed within the nest the entire time. I say this because eggs can be rolled out of the nest when other flock hens get in to lay and then found by us later and returned, but we mark those eggs as having been chilled so we know to expect them to be delayed a bit.
However we do mark all of our eggs and set them at the same time to avoid a staggered hatching.