Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Ponypoor]

They get louder when they have pipped. I got woke up one night by the cheep over the noise of the air cleaner. The incubator is in a different bedroom with the bathroom in-between. two had pipped, they were out by morning.
I had been hearing cheeps for over a day

That's awesome, hahaha.

Just did night chores, fed the horses to shut them up, then couldn't help myself, took a peek and a third one hatched, and was mostly dry. Must have hatched shortly after I checked at 4.

Have one last one to go, it's pipped but I don't think any more than at 4. Guess by morning should know if it will hatch.

 

[Ponypoor]

UPDATE well I am happy and surprised that all 4 eggs hatched, chicks seem ok, Henny Penny is acting like an awesome mommy. I guess now I will have to read up on when the hen and chicks can leave the nest, when they can go with the rest of the flock, when they can go outside

This raising chicks is just as stressful as raising horses! But they sure are cute I can't believe how active they are already!

 

[Faraday40]

UPDATE well I am happy and surprised that all 4 eggs hatched, chicks seem ok, Henny Penny is acting like an awesome mommy. I guess now I will have to read up on when the hen and chicks can leave the nest, when they can go with the rest of the flock, when they can go outside

This raising chicks is just as stressful as raising horses! But they sure are cute I can't believe how active they are already!

Congrats on the fluffies!

 

[Ponypoor]

Congrats on the fluffies!

Thanks

Firsts all around here, first time mama hen, first time for me, and first time for my young over achiever rooster who is just going to be 18 weeks old this weekend! He started early it seems, I was not sure if the eggs would be fertile but seems Pangoo is a virile little brat!

I didn't really want to hatch eggs but my hen went broody, and a co-worker who also has chickens told me 'stick eggs under her' so I did haha.

OK everyone happy hatching!

 

[KLEs]

Hi, I’m new here. I have two 9 month old favacauna (faverral aracuana mix hens). The small and less dominant of the 2 went broodie about 4 months ago, I finally got her some fertilized eggs to hatch and they did 2 days ago. I removed the larger more dominant bird into a separate coop about a week ago in preparation for the chicks arrival. My question is, should I continue to keep them separated? For how long? One of my concerns is, it’s late October in Vermont, my plan was to move them all into one coop with a run into my garage when it gets below freezing nightly. I’m wondering if this is advisable? Also, I know that the larger bird is lonely by herself and I worry about her
Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions!
This pic is of “Rainbow” the larger bird (and my favorite)

 

[Molpet]

Usually the broody protects the chicks. I leave them in the coop. The ones that have a nest out in the yard brings her chicks back in a week or two to the coop.

Do you have a plan for the cockerels? I usually have 70% boys.

 

[Ponypoor]

Hi, I’m new here. I have two 9 month old favacauna (faverral aracuana mix hens). The small and less dominant of the 2 went broodie about 4 months ago, I finally got her some fertilized eggs to hatch and they did 2 days ago. I removed the larger more dominant bird into a separate coop about a week ago in preparation for the chicks arrival. My question is, should I continue to keep them separated? For how long? One of my concerns is, it’s late October in Vermont, my plan was to move them all into one coop with a run into my garage when it gets below freezing nightly. I’m wondering if this is advisable? Also, I know that the larger bird is lonely by herself and I worry about her
Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions!
This pic is of “Rainbow” the larger bird (and my favorite)

Rainbow is lovely - I can't have favourites with mine though - haha!

My hen hatched chicks (her first time) last week, its very cool here now and frosty overnight; I am keeping my hen separate from the others as she gets really anxious, I have been keeping her in a LARGE dog crate with her chicks in the Hen House so that the others see her and she can see them, and a couple times a day I let her and the chick run free in the Hen House for about 15 min - any longer and the chicks get chilly. I keep the others out while she and the chicks are running free.

I figure by the time the chicks are three weeks old they should be able to be ok to run free during the day in the Hen House, by then it will be really cold here, but they should be ok with mama. I will still be keeping the others locked out of the Hen House though.

My suggestion would be to keep some sort of see through barrier in place where they can both be sort of together; this way the chicks will get to know the other hen and vise versa; as for the cold weather you can look into getting a Cozy Hen panel heater, my silkies love theirs and snuggle up to it, I plan on putting it in with my hen and chicks next week when they are out in the hen house during the day to snuggle up to and stay warm; or you can get a brooder plate that the chicks can run under to warm up when running with mama.

 

[Bell’s backyard]

So I’m going to try hatching eggs with a broody for the first time. My lovely Ginny has gone broody for the second time this Spring (we are moving into Summer in NZ) so I’m going to get her a few eggs. She top hen in our small flock of 6 hens. She’s been broody for about a week and sitting on a couple of fake eggs. Last night my daughter and I moved her and the fake eggs into an old coup. This morning she came off the new nest and checked out her new o digs. She looked a bit rattled but went back onto the nest and hasn’t moved since! Tomorrow I’ll start organising some fertile eggs for her. I’m thinking a mix of half a dozen heritage breeds.

 

[Louwin]

I am at the same stage with my Xena, a barnevelder. Will be putting 8 exchequer leghorn eggs under her tomorrow. I have hatched with an incubator many times but never had a broody hen before. I have read heaps including a lot of this thread although i am not halfway through yet. I am excited. All the best with Ginny. I will look forward to hearing how it goes.

 

[Ponypoor]

So I’m going to try hatching eggs with a broody for the first time. My lovely Ginny has gone broody for the second time this Spring (we are moving into Summer in NZ) so I’m going to get her a few eggs. She top hen in our small flock of 6 hens. She’s been broody for about a week and sitting on a couple of fake eggs. Last night my daughter and I moved her and the fake eggs into an old coup. This morning she came off the new nest and checked out her new o digs. She looked a bit rattled but went back onto the nest and hasn’t moved since! Tomorrow I’ll start organising some fertile eggs for her. I’m thinking a mix of half a dozen heritage breeds.

I think 6 eggs is a nice first time amount for your gal. I threw 4 eggs under my silkie Cochin X which she hatched out successfully.

The chicks are now 5.5 weeks old and thriving, I kept her with the 'herd' through it all, but ensuring I had kept them separated at night. This morning though I see they had flown over the pen wall and were all mingling . So tonight I will just leave them free in the hen house.

Other than the rooster harrassing mama everything has gone really well, and the chicks are just part of the crew and working out where they stand . The rooster is indifferent to the chicks and just ignores them.

Keep us updated on your gal!