Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[imaturtlefan]

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awwe, how cute! (the chicks & Cotton)
...just curious, how old are the chicks? Mine seemed to not mind taking hers out in the grass the day after they hatched... didnt know if that was normal...

 

[twister]

one chick was born thurs night and the other was born fri morn. This pic was taken sat afternoon. basically they are 24 hrs in the pic. Thanks for the compliment. Cotton readily went to picking grass and feed and calling them to 'come get it' !

 

[imaturtlefan]

There is a guy down the street from me who always has a sign in his front yard that says "chickens & rabbits for sale". He has all these chickens crammed into small wire crates, never see any food or water in there...never see dead ones though either, but always different chickens. He isnt raising them, at least not on that property, not sure if he gets them from an auction or what, usually its the typical, production reds, leghorns and such, but now he has 2 white silkies that look like Cotton! I want so badly to "rescue" them, but Im scared to bring them home to my flock, who knows where they came from...plus I dont want to help him continue his "business"

 

[wbruder17]

Is it generally ok for an egg to "peep" out from under the hen? I have my silkie sitting on 4 full sized and 1 banty egg and occasionally one will be out from under her. Is this natural temperature regulation or is she being careless? She sat 6 eggs before and only one hatched. She also NEVER gets off the nest. She has her food and water directly in front of her and she poops where she sits. I have to move her off the nest to clean up after her, which is repulsive to say the least....but anyway, any advice would be great! Thanks.

 

[azhenhouse]

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Oh, what we have to go through as poultry owners.

It's neat that you have one of her chicks that looks like her.

 

[NottinghamChicks]

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Oh my what a precious picture!! imaturtlefan I love your broody pics as well. I am amazed at how they do such a great job without humidity readouts and temperature regulators like those fancy incubators

Enjoy!!

 

[Mallory]

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I know this isn't a dog forum but I would like to interject here for a quick sec.

Just so people don't start to fret about the health of their dog should they eat eggs (chicks inside or not), I wanted to say that a dog will have zero problems eating, digesting, and passing shells.

Also, depending on how large your Shepherd is, that 2lbs of meat might have been the healthiest if not tastiest meal she's had! (I have a 90lb GSD who needs to eat about 1.5 lbs of meat per day.) lol If she doesn't eat raw meat often it might have given her some runny poo, or if it was seasoned, that might have upset her tummy. Other than that, both raw meat and eggs, shell and all, are perfectly safe for dogs to eat.

Click here if you want to learn why that is. I hope that might help ease anyone mind.

 

[chics in the sun]

Miss Lydia, I'm sorry to hear about your broody and some of her chicks - at least you rescued a few of them.

And twister, that may be one of the cutes broody mama pictures I've ever seen!

Well, I separated my sister wives and put eight speckled sussex eggs under Ginger, the original broody, and the three "freebie" eggs from the seller under Sky. I tried to give them each a nest box in the same broody cage, but this is how they ended up a few hours later:

Before I put the real hatching eggs under them yesterday, one of Sky's eggs she had been sitting on broke or exploded and she is a mess. I cleaned her up as best as I could and put the three (hopefully) fertile ones under her. We'll see how she does. I do have one concern - they had a bout of poultry lice a few weeks ago that I treated them for, but Sky's abdomen is still pretty bare. Do you think she can incubate those eggs without her "fluff" on her belly? Maybe that is why one of the other eggs broke?

 

[Miss Lydia]

hey chics, most broody's don't have any fluff on the bellys they pull it out before brooding. so she'll be just fine. And I had 3 sets of hens sharing nests last year and they did fine even shared in raising them it was so cute.
wbruber17, thats why most say put the food and water far enough away from the hen that she actually has to get up off the nest to eat and drink and relieve herself.
and imaturtlefan, go get those silkies, it's called rescueing from aplorable conditions, just keep them separate from your flock for 30 days, give lots of good quality food and treat them for worms and bugs. Are they chicks or adults?

twister that is one sweet picture, cotton is so pretty and those chicks match her.
imaturtlefan what those eggs went through, and look what you got, how precious. yep chickens have been doing this alot longer than us, isn't wonderful when we can see how great a job they do with out us interfering so much. good job and congratulations.

So a new week and alot of chicks coming, keep up the pictures they make my day.

 

[chics in the sun]

I know a lot of people let them share, but the nest box in my 'broody cage' is so small. Sky had abandoned the eggs I put in the other box when she went to sit with her sister, but it is already in the 90s during the day and I was too worried about them craming themselves in there like that in the heat. They were both panting. Although - they do pant some now even on their own, but it's GOT to be better than being on top of eachother like that!