Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

My Barred Rock Bantam, Bonnie has a nest somewhere around the barn. When I was out feeding this morning she popped out from who knows were and started begging for food, once I fed her I waited about an hour for her to go back to her nest, but I got too cold and went back to the fire.

 

[willkatdawson]

Six of Millie's nine eggs have hatched. Come see our chicken minis

http://thewannabecountrygirl.com/millie-and-her-brood-part-5-chicken-minis/

 

[3 chicks and a dude]

1. I am very new to raising chickens and have 2 silkie hens, 7 months old. I do not know if both hens are laying eggs but one hen went broody about two weeks ago but we do not have a roo. They are in a coop because of our predator situation, etc. I take them out to walk, eat worms, drink, etc. 1x/day or every other (yes there is food, water, etc in the coop) but I have to pry the broody hen off her nest. I have been taking her eggs but saw that she was looking for them if I removed all of them and I felt so bad I replaced them with a golfball. So my question is, if I do not have a roo and the eggs are not fertile when will she stop sitting? Will she stop laying? Will she ever get off her nest? We want eggs

2. My two hens are not getting along. The hen that is not broody seems sad or bored without her sister. When the broody hen gets up to eat, drink, the other hen attacks her. When I see this I remove the naughty hen. Last week my human girls and I thought that the naughty hen needed girl time so we washed her, dried her, brushed her hair and added clips and hats and continued her night with a photo shoot. She loved it! So, how can I get the naughty hen to leave the broody one alone?javascript:insert_text('

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3. I would like my silkies to hatch chicks. I cannot keep all of the chicks, just two and I cannot have more than 4 ever. Are all of you keeping your chicks? Isn't that exponential insanity? Have you ever heard of someone bringing their fertile eggs to a broody hen (like a surrogate mother) to have them hatch and then return them back to the owner? I cannot have roos for sure but I would love to see the broody hen raise chicks and my girls would loooovvee the experience!

 

[Suechick]

It sounds like you're going to have trouble with just 2 hens. Chickens do not like to be alone. So, your naughty hen is going to feel very needy without a friend.

You can buy fertile hatching eggs and let your broody sit on them. It takes 21 days once the eggs have been set before they hatch. But in that time your other hen will be lonely. You could get her a friend to keep her company maybe.

Or you could buy a couple of chicks and see if your broody would adopt them, then she won't be broody anymore. Maybe your other hen would help to raise them, if they are both silkies it might work OK and you'd have a happy family just with 2 moms. If you want to break your other hen of her broodiness you have to cut her off from the nest and place her on a roost where there will be air circulation under her.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

[jennifersmith326]

My eggs are set to hatch this sunday, well, yesterday when I opened the pen, she ran. Luckily, I had an incubator with some extra spots open.

 

[Miz Mary]

Quote:
Beautiful pictures !!! Great web site too !!!

 

[quiltnchik]

My other Silkie hen went broody on Monday. I was going to give her the Silkie chicks that hatched Sunday, but decided to give her some eggs instead. As of last night, she's sitting on 4 of her own eggs and 4 barnyard-mix eggs. I love Silkies!

 

[Pharm Girl]

Went out to check on the hatching progress of 4 eggs under my broody this morning. Sadly, one was dead in the corner of the nesting box. It was a big beautiful yellow fluff. Don't know if it got stuck in the corner and couldn't get out or if she kicked it out. She has the other three under her now. One is still working it's way out of the shell. They are so tiny!
I'll try to get pics later today. They weren't peeping when I was out there last, so I'm assuming they were sleeping. Gathering strength.
Off to bury the dead one

 

[quiltnchik]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about your little one. It's always hard to lose them

Just keep in mind that it's nature's way, and that Mother Nature knows best. Can't wait to see pics of the remaining three!

 

[Lilywater101]

Okay i have a ton of questions about broody hens and chicks!

I don't have a broody hen yet nor would i like to hatch chicks just yet but i would like to be prepared before that happens! Below are my questions....

1) Does the hen have to be removed from the flock? ( For example if you move the hen into a dog crate or something, how many times do you let her out?)

2) Once the chicks are hatched I know that they should be provided with a safe run with a covered run but WHEN can the mama hen and her chicks sleep with the rest of the flock?

3) At what age can the chicks go out to "play" in the run?

4)Also is a juvenile coop necessary or can you integrate them with the rest of the flock?

Any answers will greatly be appreciated!