Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[annaraven]

Well, I just put a clutch of eggs under Buffy! They're due cinco de mayo.

Sure hoping I didn't mess something up in the process of putting them there. She looked a little unhappy at me messing with her but seems to be settled down okay on them now. Just, should I have waited until nighttime to do it? I mean, too late now but I'm wondering if that works better?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have read it's best to wait but just keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn't leave them or kick them out.. Good luck!

 

[annaraven]

Well, I just gave Buffy some scrambled egg and yogurt as a treat. The scrambled egg was the two "practice eggs" I'd had under her since she went broody 4 days ago! So if anyone's wondering - the unfertilized eggs that were under the broody for 4 days straight? Smelled and looked just fine when I cracked them open and cooked them for her.

I put the little container of yogurt (her favorite!) and egg in front of her right in the nesting box. It took her a while to come out of her trance enough to realize it was there and start eating. I'll probably go put some water in for her in a little bit. Just to make sure she gets enough.

She's so cute - all pancake spread out across the eggs!

 

[stonykill]

well it looks like a 2nd Sumatra has gone broody. The one I said 2 weeks ago was thinking about it. "Mama" as I call her (she went broody last fall) is a pretty gray Sumatra. She is in the front porch in her nest, rather than in bed. I'll lock the front door for her, and see if she is still nesting in the morning. I'll slide a few more eggs under her when she gets up tomorrow to eat, and remove the golf balls.....

 

[Miss Lydia]

Congratulations to you both , peeps peeps and more peeps!!

 

[ronikins]

Quote:

That is so cute!!!

 

[TeamChaos]

I LOVE this thread! The BO looks just like my Ethel, who also happens to be broody right now!

This was our first round of broody mamas on Almosta Farm and I think I was more stressed out than when I had my own baby. UGH. It started with Georgia the cochin starting to sit on March 8 (we thought) and a Jersey Giant starting to sit four days later. I had to figure out that other hens were continuing to lay their eggs in the nest boxes these ladies were using, so I had quite a few eggs "joining the party" for the first week. Then I labelled all the eggs and made a point of collecting anything that wasn't labelled.
Well, our first baby hatched on March 28 and I figured all of Georgia's clutch would follow suit. Nope. Two days later one of the Giant's babies hatched. Maybe all of Georgia's were DOA? Nope, more of Georgia's continued to hatch through the week and even into the next week. Jersey's eggs are hatching now... alongside a clutch that Chickie had that we weren't even aware of until last week. I am so confused!
I don't know if it's right or wrong to do, but Georgia's been sitting so long and she looks so rough that I've been giving her all the pipping eggs to hatch out from the other ladies that haven't been sitting as long. I also gave her the babies that hatched singly from other ladies' clutches. She's got seven babies and one last egg tonite. Her neighbor in the broody box never assembled a clutch of her own, but was swiping from other nests and determined to sit so she's hard at work- she's hatched out two so far, and those babies went to Georgia (the chicken, not the state).

As far as resilient chicks go, I have a broody jersey giant and broody dominique still in the coop. The dominique hatched three lovely babies a couple of days ago, but once those babies were ready to move around, she gave them up to the jersey giant and went to set on the giant's nest. They swapped duties and seem quite happy with the arrangement. The jersey giant moved the babies to a corner of the coop and keeps a good eye on them- the three day old chicks CAN hop up and down the platforms and continue to amaze me with how feisty they are in general.

 

[mskittydjs]

Miss Lydia...I LOVE that photo!!! It is so sweet! I hope to catch a few special photos like that also.

Today, I was a little worried about Cinderella...I opened the cage, placed her on the ground and watched her run to her favorite dirt bath area and proceed to take a VERY Vigorous dirt bath!!! She also began eating a large amount of dirt! I know my others will eat some, but she ate a lot!!!

Is this ok? During the dirt bath, the size of the broody poo that came out was absolutely amazing!!!

I know she feels better!! When I placed her back in her cage, I put her near the food/water hoping she would eat/drink. I am not sure she is I know she needs to but, like the over protective parent, I am worried! Tell me she will eat when she needs to and to place my trust in her!! I know they are suppose to know what they are doing but you know how us humans are....we know better!!!!

Ronikins...I love that you were sending texts out as a proud new grandparent!!! All my friends think I am going to turn into a chicken since I spend so much time with them and love them so much! I tell them that they don't know what they are missing!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have one I am a little worried about too, I haven't seen her eat or drink, but she must be or she'd be dead by now, her hatch date is this Sunday, so I do think they come off to do their stuff but it's so fast we just aren't always there to see it.

Not sure what the eating dirt was all about though? Hoping my Brahma will bring her chicks out today before the rain starts looks like we're in for alot of it.

Congrats on all the hatching going on, Chicks will take over the world!![well it seems that way with all the hatching going on]

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Not an expert here or anything, but when I read about the dirt eating I immediately thought "She must need some grit." Eating a large quantity of dirt wouldn't hurt her. Most will just pass through and hopefully the larger bits will stay and do the grinding.

She probably doesn't feel like she has the time to browse around for grit like normal. Maybe a feed pan of sand and granite grit would be a good idea to place near her. She can pick the size grit she needs and there will be left over sand for the chicks to get. If I were preparing such a pan of grit, I think I'd throw in a handful of oyster shell and a very small sprinkle of cracked corn and laying pellets to get her attention.

I have two buckets of granite grit that rotate around the different runs. I try to aim for those buckets while I'm throwing the cups of food. Somebody will scarf up the food and stay to eat some granite. I guess they like it. I purchased this last bag from TSC and the rocks are pink to red.