Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Lady of McCamley]

Momma in the side coop has 2 lovely babes. The last one had died in shell about a week? ago? (I had not seen movement on the last candling). Grow out tweens have settled into the main coop just fine. Poppa Barney is so good about getting everyone settled.

Mommas in the main coop are doing really well. There are 4 clearly developed and moving with another highly likely to be still viable. So all told I am hopeful for 6 to 7 Cream-a-bar olive eggers.

And yes, I put another couple of Barnevelder breed back eggs under the final momma who seems she wants to join the rest....and those are developing too. With all the nests clogged...I am finding eggs every odd place...at least from the few who aren't broody or aren't too old.

Oh well...it will be great to refresh the flock to Barnvelder look alikes and Cream-a-barn olive eggers. I'll keep just enough of my Marans-Isbar-Barnevelders (F2 olive eggers) to keep broodies.

The older hens will be phased out to make room...hopefully I can find homes soon.

...oh...I just remembered....I've managed to collect 4 bantam Cochin eggs after a hopeful breeding with Barney. I'll try setting those with one of the hens after moving one to the side coop....settling...then placing the developed Cream-a-barns.

LofMc

 

[fisherlady]

@Lady of McCamley
You are getting busy! Sounds like it is working out well though. I have been impressed with our rosters tolerance of teens. It seems that once you have a flock with active brooding experience and a good rooster the integration becomes an almost non issue, there is just minor hazing as the youngsters find their place in the pecking order. We have found our freshly released youngsters often sneak in beside the roosters on the roost. I think they see it as a status thing to sleep with the big boys, lol.

 

[fisherlady]

After reading through this thread I guess I have to start planning for when the eggs hatch. I’m not too worried about the other chickens bothering the babies, but just in case. I’m down to 5 hens. 3 are sitting on eggs, 1 is five years old and she’s slowing down, and the last chicken is small and nice.

I am wondering about our ladder up to the coop? Our coop is about 3 feet off the ground and the ladder is more built for bigger hens. Not sure how easy chicks can go up and down. Hmmmm.

3 ft is a high ramp for youngsters but after a few days they will be surprisingly nimble, but as @Lady of McCamley said they will need close supervision and an alternative safe spot until they get it figured out. We have ramps of all different heights and sizes scattered in the coops and it doesn't take long before they get them figured out. My favorite for the littles are the ones hubby made using scrap stakes and goat wire. The wire seems to be something the chicks grab onto pretty quickly and we have a couple of older hens successfully roost on upper shelves with 1 week olds. But these girls have raised many, many broods and have their ramp teaching methods down solid. Inexperienced hens often dont seem to have the same persistence and patience in repetitive teaching that a few of my 'super broodies' do.
Here is Pheobe with her new chicks... 3 days in floor nest, then we found her on the shelf above the box with all 6 of her chicks...

The ramp they navigated to follow her up...

Another we have outside to a roost bar area....

And an interior one to shelves...

 

[PortlandHen]

Ladders depend on momma....I have a 3 foot ladder on the "official" broody coop (which nobody is using right now ) Some of my mommas have successfully gotten babes up, others not. That is a long steep climb (which I regret in hindsight). I have a dog crate at the bottom for those who don't make it up/down. I've had too many evenings picking up babes to replace with momma as she went up at night.

I have another coop that has a knee high ladder (so what...2 feet) that isn't overly steep and has toe grabs. Most times momma and babes make it up, but one year I had 2 babes that stayed in the coop and chilled and died while momma and the rest were down below.

So it is a risk.

Safest is to have a dog crate on the floor of the coop if that is predator proof and isolated enough. Most babes have the sense enough to go down the ramp; it is coming back up that can be tricky. Usually momma sets up camp below with all babes.

Congratulations on your broodies Keep us posted with developments.

LofMc

Thanks! I’ll let you know what I do to fix it. Headed to Lowe’s tomorrow morning.

Two of the three broody ladies will probably be great moms. The third.... may not be. We shall see.

 

[PortlandHen]

Thanks! I’ll let you know what I do to fix it. Headed to Lowe’s tomorrow morning.

Two of the three broody ladies will probably be great moms. The third.... may not be. We shall see.

3 ft is a high ramp for youngsters but after a few days they will be surprisingly nimble, but as @Lady of McCamley said they will need close supervision and an alternative safe spot until they get it figured out. We have ramps of all different heights and sizes scattered in the coops and it doesn't take long before they get them figured out. My favorite for the littles are the ones hubby made using scrap stakes and goat wire. The wire seems to be something the chicks grab onto pretty quickly and we have a couple of older hens successfully roost on upper shelves with 1 week olds. But these girls have raised many, many broods and have their ramp teaching methods down solid. Inexperienced hens often dont seem to have the same persistence and patience in repetitive teaching that a few of my 'super broodies' do.
Here is Pheobe with her new chicks... 3 days in floor nest, then we found her on the shelf above the box with all 6 of her chicks...
View attachment 1466788
View attachment 1466772
The ramp they navigated to follow her up...
View attachment 1466789
Another we have outside to a roost bar area....
View attachment 1466790
And an interior one to shelves...
View attachment 1466791

I love the wire ladder idea. So maybe creating a space for the hatchlings and moms down below in the run will be good? I work from home so checking on them multiple times is not a problem.

Question: since I have 3 broody ladies all laying with the same hatch day... will they share mom duties? They already swap eggs to sit on.

Our last broody hen hatch ended with us raising the chicks indoors. She wasn’t the smartest chicken around. She hatched some eggs and that’s all she needed. She did pass away from heatstroke last year because she refused to leave the coop on a 106 day. it was real sad, but she was 4.

 

[fisherlady]

Our hens frequently co brood, but not all birds have a cooperative mindset. Best case is if you can put them in floor boxes in the same area, but spaced out a couple feet, with enough space to allow a couple of feeders and waterers. This allows them to see each other and the chicks from early on. Often even if the hens dont completely cobrood this allows them to recognize the other chicks as part of their group, rather than intruders. Then the hens care for anyone's chicks rather than only their own. And the chicks grow up mingling so they have a bigger group of 'friends' to hang with as they grow.

Some hens are clearly and stubbornly solitary, you should be able to see it early... if one is like that then just allow her space to move to the level of privacy she wants.

 

[Faraday40]

@fisherlady

Is your pretty hen a blue or a mauve orp?

I have her twin here:

She's currently raising some adopted turkeys.

...and here's her pretty (biological) daughter:

 

[fisherlady]

She is a barnyard mix... and she was from parents who were black and EE... so no idea where her color came from, she is a pretty hen though.

I like the orpingtons, your girl is beautiful!

 

[aliciaplus3]

OK update without pics, srry my phone keeps dieing in the eve. I got home yesterday and went to gather eggs, my usual, I get to the coop and hear a chick screaming from the coop with the broody biel. So I go in thinking I have a new chick, nope that crazy biel is eating the shell off the baby! Wth! So I grab all the eggs and rush them into the house, get them in the bator, whew the baby Is still moving but bleeding so not ready to come out..... stupid biel. Out of 6 eggs that were alive when I rushed them into the house as of this afternoon I have 3 babies!

 

[PortlandHen]

Our hens frequently co brood, but not all birds have a cooperative mindset. Best case is if you can put them in floor boxes in the same area, but spaced out a couple feet, with enough space to allow a couple of feeders and waterers. This allows them to see each other and the chicks from early on. Often even if the hens dont completely cobrood this allows them to recognize the other chicks as part of their group, rather than intruders. Then the hens care for anyone's chicks rather than only their own. And the chicks grow up mingling so they have a bigger group of 'friends' to hang with as they grow.

Some hens are clearly and stubbornly solitary, you should be able to see it early... if one is like that then just allow her space to move to the level of privacy she wants.

Okay. So we have a little space under the coop (part of the run) that we have blocked off for introducing chickens in the past. This may be a good space to put our three broodies and chicks. With a space to sleep. The broodies are: two bantam Cochin frizzle seramas and one small serama. They get along. Mostly. Reintroduction to the 5 year old barred rock and super tiny random chicken should be fine? They are mostly kind.