Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[BullChick]

… So the eggs go into the incubator today.

 

[Faraday40]

… So the eggs go into the incubator today.

How many broodys will adopt them?

I have incubator eggs due in one week. I also have a broody Spitzhauben in the coop. Very strange since she's 4 years and never even thought about going broody before. Eggs will hatch July 31, so we'll see what happens.



This has been an odd year. Two seasoned hens were broody last month. They usually hatch about once a year and take care of their annual brood for a couple months. This year, they broke after about 3-4 days. Just when they started to seriously pancake, something happened to make them leave nest. (One was my fault for trying to move her. The other got kicked out by my broody Spitz and never went back.) No loss of life since they were sitting on marble eggs. Real eggs were in the incubator. Then out of no where, a serama went broody. (1st time serama mama!) On July 4th she adopted 2 seramas, 2 orpingtons, 7 quail, and 2 turkeys. A very happy but slightly confused little hen.

 

[BullChick]

The two that got chicks first. They only went three weeks between laying and sitting.

 

[fisherlady]

We currently have 18 sitting. I gave up hoping they would break so last week we marked eggs for 3 each and distributed them, at which point another decided to sit ... she is going to share with someone else's chicks though.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

We currently have 18 sitting. I gave up hoping they would break so last week we marked eggs for 3 each and distributed them, at which point another decided to sit ... she is going to share with someone else's chicks though.

lol! I see another epic hatch in your future! I look forward to updates!

 

[BullChick]

We currently have 18 sitting. I gave up hoping they would break so last week we marked eggs for 3 each and distributed them, at which point another decided to sit ... she is going to share with someone else's chicks though.

How many hens do you have now? Actually, what do you have period? Three dogs…

 

[yakitori]

I’m trying to encourage my satin to go broody again (and y’all know how that usually works out )
I really want to hatch myself some banty welsummers!

 

[fisherlady]

3 dogs, 1 cat and about 60 older birds and 30 young to teens. Hubby and I will be sorting birds to sell in very near future. My poor mobility means I can't help him much at all. Crutches and coops aren't very compatible.

 

[BullChick]

How much longer until you are mobile?

 

[PippinTheChicken]

Hatching with incubator
Pros

• Cuddly, friendly chickens
• Fun experience
• Amazing to watch them hatch

Cons

• Integration
• Incubators are expensive
• Messy

Hatching with broody
Pros

• It's really sweet to see mamma and chicks cuddle
• Natural
• No integration
• No incubator (only if your hen is really determined)

Cons

• Chicks aren't AS cuddly as incubated ones (well my ones are sweet enough though)
• Broodies can give up

This was my hatch-a-long:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-hatch-a-long-with-pippin.1465222/page-4

Pippin went broody 4 times in less than a year. So I got her 2 hybrid eggs, but they were infertile on day 10
On day 13, her 6 polish eggs arrived! 2 of them were infertile on day 14, so they were removed.
3 healthy chicks hatched between day 20-21.
Pippin is such a great mother.
Her sister, Fries, and another young pullet, Blue, actually help Pippin look after her chicks. It's really heartwarming to see the whole family together.

I kept Pippin in the flock because

1. I didn't have a spare coop
2. The flock is really friendly
3. I don't like integration

I'm glad I didn't separate her. The whole flock is very friendly and gentle with the chicks (click on the "my coop" in my profile to see the flock!