Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[NotAFarm]

Quote:
I think I would try and put it back under her now, don't wait until pipped. It should hatch on time with the rest of them.
As far as adding the incubated eggs after they hatch....I haven't tried this before but may be doing it myself, so I hope someone will answer you that knows. Is she a first time mom, or has she raised chicks before?

 

[Chicklette 1]

Quote:
I was thinking about that but being her first time and my first time, I thought maybe I would not muddy up the waters. I raised my last set of chicks on my kitchen table in a plastic brooder and enjoyed it so much that I think I am up for doing it that way again. Maybe I could try sneaking one or two under her since the timing is so opportune. Guess i'll play it by ear as I have with this whole thing! Thank goodness for this thread!!

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
I think I would try and put it back under her now, don't wait until pipped. It should hatch on time with the rest of them.
As far as adding the incubated eggs after they hatch....I haven't tried this before but may be doing it myself, so I hope someone will answer you that knows. Is she a first time mom, or has she raised chicks before?

Thank you for answering! Yes she is a first time mom. She went broody several times last spring/summer but I didn't have a rooster at the time (or a hatching addiction) so this time I let her have at it. I am going to attempt to leave her with the rest of the flock, she is head of the pecking order, and seems to be even meaner now than ever. Yesterday she came out to eat/drink and flogged the rooster and a couple of the other hens, i guess she is just reestablishing her place in the flock. I am really hoping that she will adopt these other chicks.

The reason that I am so worried about giving her the egg back is I dont want her to crush it before it hatches. Seeing as she has already crushed two others. Wont the egg be weaker since it already has cracks/chips? I would be so sad to lose this one, seeing as it is already peeping.

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote:
I think I would try and put it back under her now, don't wait until pipped. It should hatch on time with the rest of them.
As far as adding the incubated eggs after they hatch....I haven't tried this before but may be doing it myself, so I hope someone will answer you that knows. Is she a first time mom, or has she raised chicks before?

Thank you for answering! Yes she is a first time mom. She went broody several times last spring/summer but I didn't have a rooster at the time (or a hatching addiction) so this time I let her have at it. I am going to attempt to leave her with the rest of the flock, she is head of the pecking order, and seems to be even meaner now than ever. Yesterday she came out to eat/drink and flogged the rooster and a couple of the other hens, i guess she is just reestablishing her place in the flock. I am really hoping that she will adopt these other chicks.

The reason that I am so worried about giving her the egg back is I dont want her to crush it before it hatches. Seeing as she has already crushed two others. Wont the egg be weaker since it already has cracks/chips? I would be so sad to lose this one, seeing as it is already peeping.

I understand you are concerned she will crush it...but I would also think you would stand a chance of the membrane drying out and shrink wrapping the chick if you waited until it pipped to move it. Maybe the best way would be to let it hatch completely and then transfer it back under her....assuming she is still hatching chicks at that time. Can you up your humidity in your incubator and just let it hatch in there or will that negatively affect the eggs due Friday?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I agree it would be best to put it back under mama, My mam hen that has 2 chicks that hatched last wed. is very tiny, and last evening she moved them into the big coop with all the other chickens she is a cochin frizzle bantam, and not even my game hen nor my big brahma hens would mess with her, mama's can take care of their own. and she has been outside today with them around 8 muscovie ducks and and emden gander so you can imagine how funny she looks going after them if they get even the slightest close to her babies..

And I bet your hen could handle some of those chicks Kathryn 4629 maybe even all of them. and some might not hatch anyway, I haven't met a hen yet who didn't love being a mama. But I guess there are some out there.

 

[mprivett]

OMG

A chick a chick!!!!!! I came home from work today (Day 22) and heard peeping and saw a little fuzz butt peeking out from mama's feathers

Saw little toes moving underneath her wings too. Yay!!!

I literally jumped for joy! Not sure how many chicks have hatched as I only saw parts of the chicks. Mama is still sitting on at least 14 more eggs.

I am planning on moving mama (Rosemary) and her chicks as soon as they hatch to a dog crate with mini run that is attached onto the front of the main chicken run (so that they are separated from the others but the others can still see them). Should I go ahead and do this now or wait for all the rest of the chicks to hatch out?? I'm just afraid if I leave them in there overnight with the other chickens they will get pecked.

 

[chicknmania]

If you move her and her remaining unhatched eggs, chances are she'll continue to set on them til more have hatched out,
although we have had broodies forget the nest if we tried to move them to a pen with her. It's a tossup, but if I were you I would move them to the secure place you have in mind, before nightfall. If there are that many eggs sometimes it takes another day or two for the others to hatch. And some won't. But congrats! How fun!

 

[Kathryn4629]

Quote:
Thank you for answering! Yes she is a first time mom. She went broody several times last spring/summer but I didn't have a rooster at the time (or a hatching addiction) so this time I let her have at it. I am going to attempt to leave her with the rest of the flock, she is head of the pecking order, and seems to be even meaner now than ever. Yesterday she came out to eat/drink and flogged the rooster and a couple of the other hens, i guess she is just reestablishing her place in the flock. I am really hoping that she will adopt these other chicks.

The reason that I am so worried about giving her the egg back is I dont want her to crush it before it hatches. Seeing as she has already crushed two others. Wont the egg be weaker since it already has cracks/chips? I would be so sad to lose this one, seeing as it is already peeping.

I understand you are concerned she will crush it...but I would also think you would stand a chance of the membrane drying out and shrink wrapping the chick if you waited until it pipped to move it. Maybe the best way would be to let it hatch completely and then transfer it back under her....assuming she is still hatching chicks at that time. Can you up your humidity in your incubator and just let it hatch in there or will that negatively affect the eggs due Friday?

I completely forgot about the humidity!! I think if I put the humidity up I would run the risk of drowning the eggs that hatch on friday. I think I will just go ahead and give it back to her and keep my fingers crossed that she doesn't crush it. That eggs has been peeping like crazy today, so I think that it is close to hatching.

 

[CrazyFowlFreak]

My eyeballs hurt, so I probably missed this question.

But, should I move the rooster out of the pen with the broody mama?

 

[Chicklette 1]

How long after an egg starts to pip can it take for the chick to emerge?