Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[ElimAcres]

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Great thread!
Here's my broody experience(which is not a lot.lol) but has a good leason.
I recently broke up a broody but then about 2 wks. later another one started.I decided I would love to give it a chance.Last week I got her off the nest to eat and counted and marked the eggs with a pencil(next time will use a sharpie).I was worried about that she is still with the other chickens and was not sure what to do.I read what I could search out here on BYC about broodys.Several ppl said to take them out from the other chickens and gave several reasons.
I agreed but I'm in a dilemma as to where to put her as I don't live on a farm with access to other buildings.I decided I would move her this past Sun. night to somewhere

Too late as one of the problems I read about had happened.She got confused and got on a different nest so those eggs got cold.

This was my fault for not moving her sooner so now I'm collecting more eggs to put under her in a moved place.I'm still trying to figure out where but it will happen. Now to figure out where to put her.Would love to have some Olive Eggers and more Marans.

Hope this helps anyone in this situation.

BYW this is a Marans broody.How many eggs can I put under her?

I had a hen this past spring get separated from her nest (no idea how long) and her eggs were very cold when I found them. I believe she was about 10 days in to her set. She had gotten outside in the rain and had gotten chilled so I brought her in the house in a kennel to warm her and since I had the bator running downstairs with some other eggs decided to throw her eggs in and see what happened. No loss right? She had about 5 eggs (one ended up being infertile) and all of them ended up hatching with beautiful little chicks. I couldn't believe it! I've decided I will always give such eggs at least a few days to see if they live. You just never know. I candle to check for movement.

 

[Ponypoor]

I meant he wants to mate. He really, really wants to mate. He's young and has no clue how to impress the hens. Many cockerels will tidbit (then eat all the treats themselves). They also chase the hens and mate if they catch them. (Easier to ask forgiveness than permission) A good hen will teach him a lesson. A horny cockerel will usually grow out of it. On the pro side, a good rooster will always watch and protect his flock.

I only had one "unpredictable" rooster.... out of several wonderful Orpington roosters. The one wasn't exactly aggressive, but sometimes he'd attack the pooper scooper. My son (when 3-year old) ran from him once & after that the rooster felt he should chase my son. Needless to say, we didn't keep the roo. Never run or change your course / pace for a rooster. If he's standing his ground just walk by him - but also keep an eye on him so he doesn't try to sneak up behind. After all, he's just a bird. I pick mine up and carry them to bed in the garage each night. They get used to it. By the time they're a year old, any person can just bend down and scoop up the rooster at any time of day.

My young 'barnyard mix' rooster who is about 5 months now figured stuff out early, regularly breeds the hens; I checked eggs last week and they appeared to be fertile. My Silkies put the run on him regularly.

Of course on the other side of the coin if he gets his chance for a sneak attack he will jump those poor hens! Bad Pangoo! My Frizzle Silkie has received the brunt of these attacks, and has lost all her tail feathers to him, along with starting to go bald on her back. And now SHE seems to think she can go all broody like her sister Henny-Penny.

Chickens - what ya gonna do!

I am just happy that my little rooster is not aggressive to me, eats from my hand, and comes when I call. I feel handling from a hatchling made all the difference there. I was on two minds about keeping him at first he was so awful to the Hens. But he seems to have figured it out, and now that my Cousin's three LARGER hens are here, he hangs around them mostly. He is much quieter with them, I think they have him 'hen pecked' hahahaha!

 

[Ponypoor]

She may be drinking when you're not around. If you're concerned just continue adding some water to the food. You could also give some irresistible treats like watermelon, grapes, apple, etc. to get extra water in her that way. Hens don't eat & drink normally when broody. They often lose a little weight but will make up for it after the eggs hatch.

Pretty sure she isn't drinking when I am not around, my office is right across the alleyway from the 'Hen House' here in the barn

I am continuing with getting her off the nest daily, she eats her porridge, has a poop and some dust bathing in my mare's stall (not sure why they all love her stall !), then it's back on her eggs.

Today we candled them and looks like all 4 eggs have a chick in them, we could see blood vessels and a dark spot area looking like a chick, hopefully they all hatch with no issues.

Since two of the eggs are from my other two Silkies can I assume they will hatch earlier than the other two 'normal' eggs?

 

[Ponypoor]

I have been removing my Silkie X hen from the nest daily to eat/poop/dust bathe in the horse stall (she loves this!). One thing I have been noticing is I don't think she rotates the eggs, I can't be 100% positive of this but it seems like they are not being rolled by her. I have been rotating them over when I take her off the nest 'just in case' - it is her first time (mine too!).

Am I being to paranoid? I also cover the eggs with a small towel when I get her off the nest as it is a bit cool here these days, hopefully this is also ok... the next week will be an anxious one for me I am sure!

 

[Perris]

if you mark them you'll soon know whether she is rotating them or not.
The eggs don't need cosseting while she's off; I would leave them alone unless temps are sub zero and she's off for more than an hour.

 

[Ponypoor]

if you mark them you'll soon know whether she is rotating them or not.
The eggs don't need cosseting while she's off; I would leave them alone unless temps are sub zero and she's off for more than an hour.

I do have them marked, so I can know when the other silly hen lays her own eggs in the nest haha. My broody hen would be sitting on 20 now if not! I just don't seem to recall seeing the printed sides moving around - but then I haven't really been keeping track. Last night I rolled them all name down so tonight I will know.

 

[ElimAcres]

I have a young (6 mo) sussex who was dead set on hatching eggs, so I gave her 11 Copper Marans eggs to hatch. So excited. Hoping for some Blues and maybe a splash. First candle is next Wednesday.

 

[Faraday40]

I have a young (6 mo) sussex who was dead set on hatching eggs, so I gave her 11 Copper Marans eggs to hatch. So excited. Hoping for some Blues and maybe a splash. First candle is next Wednesday.

You may have a hard time candling those dark eggs. I was happy to see an air cell on a few. Doesn't mean they're hard to hatch, just hard to predict. The good news is your hen does all the work. I hope you have a great hatch!

 

[ElimAcres]

You may have a hard time candling those dark eggs. I was happy to see an air cell on a few. Doesn't mean they're hard to hatch, just hard to predict. The good news is your hen does all the work. I hope you have a great hatch!

Thanks! Yes, I realize it could be difficult to candle but I'm going to try. These eggs aren't significantly dark and I did candle them before giving to her to check aircells because the individual I got them from had stored them every which way. I'll post how it goes.

 

[Solanacae]

So I’ve had my broody in a dog crate inside the chicken coop. I have one other hen (my flock queen) who would go and sit on the eggs when I got the broody off the nest and wouldn’t let the broody back on. So I’ve been getting the broody out and making sure she eats/drinks, etc. I candled today (day 14) and chucked a few that weren’t developing, so I’m down to 8 eggs. Do I put the broody on lock down once we get to day 19, or do I keep getting her off the nest once a day?