Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Pharm Girl]

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!

Ugh. Found another one dead right next to her. What should I do? Could she be kicking them out? This is awful. The other two are under her.....for now.

 

[NotAFarm]

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!

Ugh. Found another one dead right next to her. What should I do? Could she be kicking them out? This is awful. The other two are under her.....for now.

Is this her first time being a mom? If she is new, she may be killing them unwittingly or purposefully. Can you watch her and chicks? If they're not in a good place for that, can you move them to somewhere you can? You may need to remove them if she is not caring for them.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Ugh. Found another one dead right next to her. What should I do? Could she be kicking them out? This is awful. The other two are under her.....for now.

Is this her first time being a mom? If she is new, she may be killing them unwittingly or purposefully. Can you watch her and chicks? If they're not in a good place for that, can you move them to somewhere you can? You may need to remove them if she is not caring for them.

I would remove them immediately and put them under a heat lamp.

 

[Pharm Girl]

I can't see her in the coop unfortunately. I have been watching for a few minutes and she did look like she turned around and pecked at one. Not super violently, but one of the dead ones looked to me like it could have been pecked in the head too, but maybe not. I better get them out of there. Oy vey. I wasn't planning on this!

Yes, this is her first time. She's 13 months old.

 

[marialane]

Thanks so much for this thread!

I have a Black Americauna hen sitting on six eggs. They are due this Friday. This will be her first, and so far so good. My question is, we live in South western Pennsylvania. The temperature
has been cold and windy; around 30 to 40 degrees during the day. Night time is of course colder, around 28. Do we need to use a heat lamp inside the place where my hen will be with her babies or just let it be?

Thanks!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I moved my BR hen Bonnie inside, I was worried that coyotes or something would get her in the night, so I brought her in the house, and she is currently setting in my room. I want to candle her eggs to see how far along they are.

 

[Fuffy]

Quote:
Is this her first time being a mom? If she is new, she may be killing them unwittingly or purposefully. Can you watch her and chicks? If they're not in a good place for that, can you move them to somewhere you can? You may need to remove them if she is not caring for them.

I would remove them immediately and put them under a heat lamp.

I agree with kuntrygirl. I'd get them out of there! Good luck!

 

[Fuffy]

Quote:
Ok I'll give it a go...Not that I'm an expert!

1) It seems to be the safest way to ensure the hen is sitting on the correct eggs. I have a guinea pig house and a rabbit run which I use as a nursery. It is private for Mom and the run is secure for the babies. My momma gets off the nest every morning and sometimes in the afternoon, each for avout 10 mins. You need to engourage her to eat, as she looses a lot of condition whilst brooding, so lots of treats are in order. If she won't get up by herself, then you can do it with the help of a kitchen timer.

2) , 3) &4) Momma hen gets fed up with the babies at around 6 weeks. She will want to get away from them and will soon want to start laying. Everyone has a different opinion on what to do next. Last time I devided my main run into 2 parts. Mom and babies were in one half with a teenage pad for the babies, and the rest of the flock was on the other side of the fence. Mom left home to go back with the flock and the big hens would hop over and meet the babies, chow down on grower's pellets and then go back. So I just took the partition away one night. It took a while for the little ones to go to bed with the big girls, ut they soon learned.

Take a look at this for a different view...It might suit your setup

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

And remember if it doesn't work one way, try again

 

[threeboysmom]

Thank you for this thread! I have learned so much reading it! We have a Bantam Cochin who went broody so we just put some eggs under her this morning. We took her out of the coop to get a little food and put the eggs in her box. We only have two hens so we didn't move her to another nesting area.
She came up the ramp, looked in the box, looked at us, looked in the box, looked at us... we didn't think she would sit on them! Then the most amazing thing happened, she slowly stepped in the box and gently nudged each egg under her wings & legs. I almost cried, it was so sweet!
We ordered the eggs online, so I've explained to the boys that there is a good chance only half of them will hatch. We'll see how it goes! Wish me luck!
Threeboysmom

 

[StormyMoon]

I have 9 more days to see what my broody has done she is sitting on 12 eggs I have never let a momma raise chicks before this will be my first and I hope to see her do her chicken thing, Its very exciting to see nature take its course. I will post pictures as soon as they come out