Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

my frizzle hatched her first 2 on Wed. and waited till Friday afternoon before moving the others out from under her. They had died in the shell

Congrats on the hatch azhenhouse, waiting to hear about the others

 

[sandracollins]

My B.O is still sitting on my call duck eggs I candled them tonight and 15 are still going strong

 

[Miss Lydia]

when is hatch day for you Sandra?

 

[BlackBart]

Quote:
You could try moving her now. But she might go back to the spot she picked out. If she does then try to block it off from the other hens. Some hens will help her out by laying their eggs in her nest. If you do leave her there, she can stay with her chicks until a few days after the hatch (with food and water)
I would swap the eggs anytime but do it carefully and slowly. I usually swap around dusk.
When I move the hen it is usually around dusk too. I put her in a cardboard box with hay and place her eggs under her. Transfer her to her Broody kennel and place her eggs back under her. Most of the time the hen stays but some are really stubborn and want to go back to the place they picked out.
Nothing more stubborn than a broody bantam hen

My Buffy is that kind of stubborn. So how do I "block it off" from the other hens?

Some of my broodies have decided to set in the egg laying boxes. I block the opening off with a chunk of plexiglass (or whatever)
I can access my egg boxes from the outside, so that is how I feed/water the Broodies and clean up the broody poo.

I don't know where your Buffy has decided to start a family? coop corner, egg box ?? etc

 

[sandracollins]

The 3rd of may will be day 26 so anytime from then. A friend just hatched 4 call ducks in an incubator for me but she had to help them all out because their beeks were so small and they are all doing fine but it has made me very nervous , how do you watch them when they are under a broody?????????

 

[NottinghamChicks]

ok I have two due to hatch tomorrow and one already started with just a little hole. Mamas sitting tight although I made her go out to relieve herself. She has four due on Easter day and she is in the coop with the big girls still despite it being 40 degrees at dinner time tonight. I hung a brooder light in the coop and my girls are not happy because they don't know what it is, lol! I assume with the next 10 days being cold and damp this is a good idea? Any thoughts? I am not going to take them away from mom so I think this is the best option. The light is two feet above the dog crate she is in, and approximately a foot off to the right of it so she doesn't get too warm. I'll post pics tomorrow but thoughts or similar experience stories greatly appreciated s this is my first broody.

 

[stonykill]

Quote:
the broody light is not needed. Mama will keep the chicks warm. My little girls, 2 days old and younger were out from under mama several times today, and it was 40 here....

 

[Miss Lydia]

we had some temps in the 30's last week and mama had her 2 out and about. she'd stop every once in a while and they would get up under her to warm up. They're alot tuffer when mama raises them..

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I have two broody barnevelders that have been sitting for 4 weeks. Nothing came of the eggs under them. Now, I have three choices.

1) I could break them of their broodiness, which seems unfair, since they have been so dutiful for so long.

2) I could graft chicks under them, since I have 1-week-old chicks that I hatched in the bator last week. (I have been afraid to do this because it's the girls first time being broody, and I didn't know if they would take grafted chicks. Now that I suspect a couple of roos, I could put those out and be less worried.)

3) The third choice would be to put some new fertile eggs under them, and let them try again. I just got some pure Barnevelder eggs, which I plan to start in the bator tonight. I'm not sure I want to chance that because the girls didn't do so well with the first eggs, and even more important, it will be very hard on them to be broody for 3 more weeks.

I'm leaning in the direction of the second option.

What do you all think?

 

[UrbanFarmerGirl]

I don't know the answer to this for sure- I am setting my first ever batch of eggs under a broody right now, due after the weekend. I have been doing tons of research and reading all of the posts around here. I can pass on what I've found, but it's based on what others have said not my own experiences: Re #3: If you make a broody hen stay on batch after batch she can eventually die because it is really hard on her body to be in that state for prolonged periods. Re#2: I have read several warnings that you should not put a chick more than a few days old under a broody hen. I would think 1 week might be too old. Also, there seems to be general agreement to replace the eggs with chicks during the night. I am curious what you will decide- post and let us know.