Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[nchls school]

Wonderful pictures! My serama are doing much the same as to going broody, but because of the tiny size I've been bringing them into the house. Our winter has been quite mild with day-time temperatures in the 50s and 60s.

Good luck with your babies-good luck to me too!

 

[fisherlady]

Seremas are so adorable, and my husband absolutely loves the roosters attitudes but I have resisted getting them because we don't want another coop to maintain and I sure don't need more broodies!LOL.

Good luck on your hatches and hope to see more pics of your serema babies, they are so cute!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

@fisherlady
Congratulations to your hens, and Mindy (who we know is essential to their success).

I have a young hen brooding first time, but alas I still have more chickens than I know what to do with since last summers bounty. I'm sitting this winter out....even if they aren't.

LofMc

 

[aliciaplus3]

I need to get pics of my broody turkeys... one is sweet as pie and the other will remove your head, or hand depending on what gets close

 

[lilmillefleur]

First-time hatchers here!! I think we are going to go for it in mid-winter! We are getting rid of our rooster tomorrow, but 2 broodies currently have eggs under them, it's been a few days and I think we're going to let them go! I have no idea who is laying right now, but we have an EE, d'Uccle, buff brahma, and 3 silkie hens, all bantams. Daddy is a white silkie

 

[fisherlady]

First-time hatchers here!! I think we are going to go for it in mid-winter! We are getting rid of our rooster tomorrow, but 2 broodies currently have eggs under them, it's been a few days and I think we're going to let them go! I have no idea who is laying right now, but we have an EE, d'Uccle, buff brahma, and 3 silkie hens, all bantams. Daddy is a white silkie

Good luck! May I suggest you put some type of mark with a permanent marker on each egg they already have, then you can pull any new additions each day if your girls are sitting in the coop.... We just place an X on each side with a sharpie so it is easy to see with minimal messing around.

Looking forward to some very cute chick pics in a couple of weeks!

 

[aliciaplus3]

sweet girl has 3 of these
You can see I prefer to you a dog crate for girls that I alow to keep eggs. It prevents the other girls from jostling them and breaking eggs, it also means I do not have to check for new eggs each day. This girl is nice but her sister will remove hands or any part that gets in her space. By comparison sweet girl will get to keep her babies and raise them whereas snake will probably have hers moved to the brooder.

 

[fisherlady]

View attachment 2011264View attachment 2011265sweet girl has 3 of these
You can see I prefer to you a dog crate for girls that I alow to keep eggs. It prevents the other girls from jostling them and breaking eggs, it also means I do not have to check for new eggs each day. This girl is nice but her sister will remove hands or any part that gets in her space. By comparison sweet girl will get to keep her babies and raise them whereas snake will probably have hers moved to the brooder.

Congrats on the poults! Great to see the broody turkeys. I know you aren't happy about the 'snake' but honestly, she is doing the job Mother Nature has programmed her to do. From a human viewpoint we may see it as excessive but from her point of view it is needed to guard her eggs or littles from the 'giants' trying to bother them. She may be very defensive while on the nest but could very well mellow out once she comes out with them and realizes the 'giants' (us silly humans) are actually great food and treat dispensers for the poults! I have had many chicken hens behave the same way (one we actually names Lizzie Borden) but Lizzie and her little ones were the first in line looking for treats once she was off of the nest.

 

[Molpet]

Congrats on the poults! Great to see the broody turkeys. I know you aren't happy about the 'snake' but honestly, she is doing the job Mother Nature has programmed her to do. From a human viewpoint we may see it as excessive but from her point of view it is needed to guard her eggs or littles from the 'giants' trying to bother them. She may be very defensive while on the nest but could very well mellow out once she comes out with them and realizes the 'giants' (us silly humans) are actually great food and treat dispensers for the poults! I have had many chicken hens behave the same way (one we actually names Lizzie Borden) but Lizzie and her little ones were the first in line looking for treats once she was off of the nest.

I have had a couple "snakes". The chickens were nothing like the turkey snakes.

One turkey killed a cockerel that was a day older than her week old poults, that wandered too close when he got separated from his mom. Several would jump on me and tear up my coat/jeans for the first couple months.
The chicken snakes would just tear up my hand if I got too close.

Most are fine but a couple are evil

 

[Faraday40]

WoW! Those broodies sound so vicious! Mine are merely screamers & death glares. No pecking.