Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[howfunkyisurchicken]

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Honestly, I have no idea what she is. Probably a mutt, but she is my love. The only broody I've ever had that doesn't try to kill my hand when it gets too close. She appears to be some king of game mix I think.

 

[Heartlandrabbitry]

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Can you candle the egg now and be able to tell if there is a chick? I'll try listening! Thanks you two!

 

[Miss Lydia]

if it's close to hatch you should be able to see a chick moving.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=383525

 

[chickette]

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Can you candle the egg now and be able to tell if there is a chick? I'll try listening! Thanks you two!

When you candel, look for a air sack at the fat end the rest of the egg should be a dark mass as that is the chick. This will let you see if anybody is home. Hope this works for you

 

[smallcitychick]

I have a broody hen!!

Unfortunately, I bought a gaggle of chicks about 3 weeks ago (I have 5 hens now, and was planning on keeping 7 of the chicks that I purchased...the other 17 are for my parents) AND we got rid of our meaner than mean rooster 3 weeks ago too, so now her eggs aren't even fertile

I wasn't sure at first, but she's been on her nest for 3 days and only left in the morning to go out and poo (holy cow! If I hadn't seen her do it I would have thought a dog was sneaking onto my lawn!). I've only had chickens for a year now, but how can I pass up the opportunity to have my wonderful Fanny (white cochin) hatch some cute little fuzzies for me?

Right now I'm surfing around to see if I want to purchase some eggs (would LOVE to get some olive egg layers, chocolate egg layers or even some polish) or if I want to get some fertlized 'barnyard mix' eggs from my parents. My parents eggs' would be free, and the seeing the resulting mixes would be a fun surprise, plus I could pick them up tomorrow, but if I purchase some then I would know exactly what I was getting.

 

[Miss Lydia]

sounds like the freebie is the way to go!

that way you will be on your way to having chicks quicker, and congratulations on the broody.

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

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thanks! we love her, she came from Catdance silkies and she is so sweet. I just went out to check on her and noticed that 4 eggs were about only about half tucked under. I thought I should probably take a couple out. So I pulled some to check dates. Every time I pulled one and laid it aside, she pulled it back and then she flattened out and covered them all. As if to say, I can do this just leave me alone! So for now she has all 11. I don't think she'll kick any out...I'm just concerned that she wont be able to cover them all. Ack! I should have just given her 8 like I planned. I got all excited.

All these broody pics are so sweet. Loving this thread and learning a ton. I'll probably be asking lots of questions as this goes on. I feel like I'm the broody hen!

 

[Heartlandrabbitry]

Quote:
Can you candle the egg now and be able to tell if there is a chick? I'll try listening! Thanks you two!

When you candel, look for a air sack at the fat end the rest of the egg should be a dark mass as that is the chick. This will let you see if anybody is home. Hope this works for you

I saw the air sack and some of the egg was dark but not all of it! I also tried the tapping but I didn't hear anything

I'm hoping if she has chicks that she has them soon!

 

[mskittydjs]

Hi all, My broody, Cinderella, has been dutifully sitting on 11 eggs of a variety mix. We have 7 different types of girls and 4 different types of roos so we are excited to see what will the babies be like!!! Tonight is day 19 so I figure we should have little fuzzy butts somewhere between Monday and Wednesday. My son and I candled them a week ago and everything looked good. A bunch of his friends came over after church Wednesday and wanted to see what candling was all about (12 year olds that read about it in Science class) and so we tried it again. All I could see was the air sac in each along with a big mass in each. I could not see any movement and am just praying that we have a bunch of babies in a few days. I read up on some of the other posts about eggs going rotten, so today when I had her off the nest, I picked up each one and smelled them...no foul odor to be shmelt!!!

If they are bad, wouldn't they have a foul odor by now??? I am hoping to hear some little pips on Monday.

A friend of mine offered me a chance to borrow his incubator and try it out...not sure if I want to deal with all the variables that come along with that! Having a broody is stress enough! Of course, DH thinks it is a good idea...but he doesn't mind putting more on my plate since he doesn't take care of them!!! Will have to think long and hard about this...

 

[chickette]

Quote:
When you candel, look for a air sack at the fat end the rest of the egg should be a dark mass as that is the chick. This will let you see if anybody is home. Hope this works for you

saw the air sack and some of the egg was dark but not all of it! I also tried the tapping but I didn't hear anything

I'm hoping if she has chicks that she has them soon!

Dont give up hope yet! I really hope you get some chicks

I'll be watching for good news on your posts.