Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

yes congrats on the pips, so eggciting.

and chicklette 1 how strange, this must have been growing inside of her with out the shell, thank goodness she passed it or she would have probably gotten infection sooner or later. Glad to hear she is feeling better. I have never seen anything like that before. our next hatch day is on the 19th, for my little broody hen thats going back through it a second time. she has 3 bantam eggs this time guaranteed to be fertile. Looking forward to more baby pictures. As for my duck well she is still on the eggs [3] her first time being a mommie if we decide to let her continue. 34 days.

I was looking for some information on what you found Chicklette1 and came across this even though most of us know how babies grow it's interesting to see it happen in just a few min.

 

[Chicklette 1]

Quote:
Yes, i wondered if that could happen. She has seemed fine so I am really surprised if that was inside of her. I also had no idea that her eggs were fertile. I really did not think my little silkie could or would breed a golden buff standard! Maybe he is less timid than I thought. I will have to put some of her eggs under a broody someday to see. She isn't laying now so it will have to wait.
I tried to move my banty cochin broody to her own place but she would not sit on the eggs and when I let her out, she ran to sit in the empty nest in the coop. I tried to move her because there were THREE chickens in one 12x12 nesting box trying to get on the eggs. I really think I'm going to let nature take its course and she'll either hatch them or not. I have a home for the chicks as I really do not want any more babies at this time so it is not like a planned hatch. We'll see!

 

[Chicklette 1]

Thanks for the utube link. I was trying to figure out how old the embryo would have been. I had her in the house last week-end when she was really sick and had eliminated what could have been the shell and other gunk. I would figure a week to ten days but how in the world did it incubate??? She also has stopped squatting when I go to pick her up so I guess that goes along with the egg laying. Some of my hens are also starting to go into molt. Wow, these chickens can be interesting and puzzling.

 

[mskittydjs]

Thanks for that video link Miss Lydia! My kids and I enjoyed it much! It let us see what stages they were at when we candled them and why we couldn't see anything moving the last time since they were already so big!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Just when you think you have them figured out something new pops up. I think I will let my Muscovy hen [duck] sit on 3 eggs, that won't put us over the top and I can make room for a few more girls. so heres hoping they will all be girls, I have 2 drakes and in the ones eye thats 1 too many.

 

[sandracollins]

I am sick just realized that tomorrow is day 26 for my call duck eggs under my broody hen so i decided to candle them,when I checked her she had turned around in the dog crate and there were 4 eggs out behind her that were cold

I dont know how long they were there but they felt cold to touch.I put them back under her but what are the chances of them hatching it is about 15 degrees centigrade here at the moment

 

[chickette]

Quote:
That is an amazing video. Thank you so much for taking the time to find it and post it for those of us that could never find something so neat

 

[Miss Lydia]

sandra I am sorry your sick and hope your feeling better real soon, as for cold eggs I think all of us have had that problem since we've had broodys. My broody went into another nest box and was sitting on the eggs in there when I found her and her eggs were cold. they managed to survive, so don't give up hope. How close is it for hatch?. Not familiar with call ducks.

 

[sandracollins]

Miss Lydia they say between 26 and 28 days for call duck eggs,I thought Tuesday was day 26 but when I checked the calender tonight I realized it was tomorrow and when I candled the eggs they all looked the same so they were all on time before they got cold.This is my first time for call ducks and as you know it is hard to see what is going on under a broody so I will probably spend the next few days living in the hen house listening to and candleing eggs

 

[Miss Lydia]

Please let us know when you see the first pip, we have to know it all. Kind of like when you feel the first contraction.