Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[stonykill]

they aren't on a timer. Some hatch early, some late. One I took from my broody that she abandoned hatched on day 23. So there is still hope.

 

[stonykill]

Today was a tad calmer. Little blue is being ferrel as usual. Broke her brood for the night right before dark. She will be back in her spot late tomorrow morning, I'm sure of it. Mama S sat tight today, didn't see or here her get up to eat. She doesn't every day. The new Black Sumatra Broody, Mama BB got up to eat today, a young Sumatra I call "the hot one " (no neck feathers, the boys love her) took over the nest...until Mama BB chased her out screaming! Mama S took her babies out for a walk a few times today. She is a good mama.

Miss Lydia, your day sounded quite exciting!

 

[laughingull]

I am hopefully joining the Broody hen hatch- thanks to my dear Mrs Tiggy Winkle who wont get out of the nest box. This is her first time being broody (she just started laying a few months ago). I never even considered the possibility of her becoming broody- never had a broody hen before, and though uncertain of her bloodlines I doubt she has any of the breeds listed as likely to be broody in her family tree. I don't have a rooster so on Sunday I stuffed a few of my cotournix quail eggs under her (I do have a quail roo). Later on sunday a neighbor dropped off 4 EE eggs from her flock (w/roo). So now she has a mix of quail and EE eggs- probably a bad idea, but I will start to worry about it more after she sticks to the nest for another week. I have a million questions- but again will wait until she has been on the nest a few more days (she has been sitting on the nest for a week but only 3 days w/fertile eggs). Just so excited I had to post something.

 

[TeamChaos]

So, I'm posting on the other side of my "Broody Hatch Adventure"- I've got two mamas in a separated broody box: Georgia, the cochin, has 11 babies and Ethel, B.O., has four. My jersey giant, dominique and barred rock are all in the coop with their babies: 9, 3 and 1 respectively.
Things I've learned, not a complete list:
-mark your broody's eggs, number them and keep track how many are being sat. My hens swapped nests, moved eggs, all sorts of stressful things and I didn't think to MARK the eggs until we were (I thought) a few weeks' into brooding.
- the most fatalities occurred when mamas had babies and eggs at the same time. We lost 4 chicks who got either too cold or too tired trying to leave their sitting mama to join a mama up foraging with her babies. Once I realized what was going on, I was pretty strict on taking eggs from mamas that had more than one baby hatched and giving the eggs to another sitting mama. If there was only one baby, I added it to a "flock already in progress".
- Chicks can jump and flap remarkably high, but ramps are too confusing (mama goes up the ramp, babies go under it).
- my broodies fought when they first took their babies out, I think they assumed any hen that was talking "baby talk" was trying to steal her chicks; now they have a separate peace and only scuffle if treats are involved or a mama picks on another one's baby.
- keep a milk crate handy in case those first few fights get serious, then you can "jail" the offending mama but the babies can still duck in and out and forage for food.
Milk crates are also handy for making a chicks-only "creep feeder".
- don't assume your hatch days are right; I was more than a week off on each broody's 'due date' and I was SURE they were sitting regularly. If I would have gone by my dates, I would have thrown all my babies away.
- Don't underestimate the tenacity of life: I found five eggs in the last nest that the mama had abandoned and they got cold, cold, cold. I candled them and still saw veins but was unsure how they could still be alive. I put them in a towel in the house and figured I'd deal with them in the morning (it was the last possible day they could hatch by my amended calculations). I candled in the morning and decided to take a look inside to see why they didn't hatch. One egg was rotten, one died early on, one died later in development and two were alive- darn it. Of course they didn't make it and I feel terrible. They had made it through 24 hours of no broody heat and I did them in, I should have warmed them up first and then candled.

 

[akatennant]

Day 23 now on my serama eggs underneath my broody silkie. I just did a float test. They all floated very well. Some wiggled and I can hear one of them chirping inside. I guess these are all good signs, right? How long will it take for a chick to hatch after it starts chirping?

 

[NottinghamChicks]

Quote:
Congratualtions on your broody and her fertilized eggs. It is going to be the longest 21 days of your life

Not sure of the quail and chicken thing either

 

[joycenjohnb]

My Serama has a nest with 10 eggs but she has not started setting on them. Is likely that she will not set on them and if so should i take them and put them in the incubator? Will she ever set on her eggs? She is about a year old.

 

[robnms]

I visited my family for Easter and went to my Aunts house to see what type chickens she had. She's hatching all of her eggs with broody bantams. She had a banty sitting on three goose eggs and said that her latest goose hatch was also from a banty hen. I thought that was amazing seeing a banty hatching eggs almost as big as the hen.

 

[Miss Lydia]

That is funny robnms, when my Muscovy hen sat on a goose egg her little butt was up in the air imagine how cute a bamtam sitting on goose eggs looks.

and joycand johnb, give her a few more days, but if they are hers I'd say she would already be sitting if she was going to. Maybe someone else can weigh in on that.
akatennant, congratulations, after i heard the peeping it was about 12 to 24 hours so pretty soon for sure. Isn't that neat that you can hear them peep inside the egg?
stony, good to hear all was relatively calm at your place, I hope for that here today also.
TeamChaos, thanks for all the tips. good one about the milk crates. since my ducks have taken a liking to chick feed

and about mama's fighting that went on here yesterday, poor chicks didn't know what was going on. and sorry about those that didn't hatch and were living, I did the same thing to one of mine, it was so sad for me also.

thats why I like the float test. will use that from now on.
congratulations on the broody laughingull, as long as the other hens don't mess with her sounds like she is serious. like Team said mark her eggs so you'll know heres from the others in case they get in her nest and lay. all the best.

 

[krcote]

I woke up to disaster. My broody Grumpy killed the first two chicks that hatched overnight. Blood and guts everywhere. Sooooo I fired up the incubator. I put one egg that is pipped and the remaining 2 that aren't showing any signs of hatching yet. Fingers crossed.