Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

azhenhouse, sorry the chicks didn't work out for your hen. Sometimes i think chicks hatched in Bators don't understand mama hen concept. Listen I have 3 grown Brahma hens who are from hatchery stock. when ever mama says come for something good to her chicks, 2 of the Brahmas come running and take what ever it is.

I don't know if they're just being opportunistic or if they miss never having a mama

So now you have 2 bantams to raise, I love my bantams they are so sweet. Hey did you go get those ducks you saw at the lake where ya'll were fishing?

 

[Carol.in.WV]

. 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?

I am not sure but I have noticed some of my broody hens with bare bellies and I think they pull out their own feathers to make better contact with the egg. Has anyone else noticed this? ...OK I have not read to the end of the thread yet​

 

[chicken crazed 1o1]

Im so happy my silkie is sitting on 2 japenease bantam eggs hopefully at least one hatches. If so it will be my first broody that has ever hatched an egg before .

 

[NottinghamChicks]

Quote:
Yeaaaah! Welcome to the Broody world. I too just had my first hatch by a broody and it is amazing to see them growing and learning with mom. Just four days old and they are scratching for their food

I gave her two RIR mixes, 3 Polish mixes, and one Dutch Bantam, and all but 1 Polish hatched. They are so much fun

I would think about giving her a couple more just so you don't end up with just one baby. It would be quite lonely with no siblings.

 

[Carol.in.WV]

Its a pretty day out and I really would like to take my new mama and her 4 babies outside as I think it would be more fun scratching newspaper BUT I still don't know about Ms Fox and her brood. Nothing has disappeared in a couple days but maybe she is just being foxy to make me let my guard down. I have lost most of my favorites to her already. Most of the advice I've gotten locally would involve me turning into Annie Oakley. I even went in the hunting supply store yesterday and looked at leg traps (that would not break the leg). I asked the boy how I would get the fox out without getting bit and he looked at me like I was stupid and made a gun with his hand and pointed at the trap. I oppted out. Then a man asked where I lived and who my neighbors were and he said let them do it ......so I guess my neighbors are great hunters although I already knew they seem to have guns grafted to their hands. They farm, sheep mostly and instead of getting a livestock guard dog or donkey or even a shepard they use firearms to protect the flock but always lose a lot to coyotes anyway.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Carol, can you rig up some kind of fencing so the can have some outdoor time. thats pretty much how we have to take care of predators around here too, but thank goodness we haven't seen many around with 4 dogs barking, I have lost a few chickens but never saw what got them and it was while free ranging, and they were outside of the fence. As far as bare chests goes thats the way the hens do it. that way they can regulate the heat better. Congrats on the hatching in the last couple of days. Our next is the 28th.

 

[Carol.in.WV]

Thanks Miss Lydia. I thought I had a hatch due tomorrow but just came from the nursery coop and all they eggs were out of the dishpan and scattered all over. The once broody d'Uccle is no longer broody but seems to be trying to steal some of the youngest babies. Don't know what happened except that another hen bothered her too much. My last broody is sitting tight and due the 29th. The babies all seem to be doing very well although each momma hen picks on any that are not hers. Guess that's why they call it 'pecking order'.

 

[Terri O]

Here was my surprise yesterday morning; Mama #1:

And right around the corner...mama #2!

ANd I didnt even know that these two were sitting! They are members of the "barn chickens" that are mostly wild. They do their own thing for the most part. Here is a pic of one of the broodies in the coop:

So this is a total of 27 chicks outside! A much better (and less stressful) hatch than inside. I have 22 inside out of 35! Terri O

 

[Zoomom]

so cute! I love the chipmunk pattern.

 

[hokankai]

So i went out today and found my GLW and my BO broody AGAIN. Both of these girls have been persistent. 2nd and 3rd times going broody since they started laying in December!

Anyway, I've never hatched my own eggs before and have a couple of questions.

1. What are the hatching rates for first time mothers? I don't want the chicks that will hatch, I'll be selling them/giving them away and don't really want a whole lot. What will I end up with on average with 6 eggs under each girl?

2. Can they hatch their eggs in the nest and then be moved? The nests are 1.5' off the ground with no ramp...so the babies wouldn't be able to get out. I tried moving one of them today but she didn't want to sit somewhere that wasn't her nest.

3. Will they be violent towards one another? I don't have a whole lot of room to keep them...so if they are going to cause problems with one another I'm gonna have to break one of them and let the other hatch...which makes me a little sad sad

4. Any special care for broodies? I know I should take them out to eat/drink once or twice a day, but anything else?

Thanks!