Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

Great picture stony, hey do you have those Buffalo gnats that their talking about up around your area? saw in the disease thread that someone lost 20 birds to them.

 

[featherz]

Quote:
featherz how cute, what breed is mama I love her lacing

I have 2 sets of twins from last year..

Mama is splash blrw. She usually looks like this:

She's not the mama of the chicks tho, she's just eight months old and her eggs are pretty small. So those eggs were from my older easter eggers with my blue cochin roo.

 

[AlbionWood]

Wow, what a frenzy of broody activity going on here! Our little Speckled Sussex momma is doing great with her brood of eight, half she hatched and half feed-store adoptees. Soooooo Cuuuuute! They are almost 3 weeks old now and feathering out fast. I want to put them back in with the rest of the flock - they are penned off in a corner of the yard right now, to keep the chicks out of the layer feed and to keep the Ravens off them. I'm planning to increase the fishing-line cobwebs overhead to protect from Ravens, but need advice on what to do about the feed. We have 20+ laying hens, currently getting pelleted layer ration with Calcium, which I understand is bad for the chicks. We also give them oyster-shell grit free choice. Should I switch back to the starter/grower rations for the whole flock? Will the chicks be OK if they eat some of the oyster shell grit? How do most of you handle this feed issue?

 

[stonykill]

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before I got my 1st flock of 18 Sumatra's they were only fed cracked corn, and whatever they could scrounge free ranging. Once I got them I fed them better, but my point is, all of my Sumatra's are perfectly healthy on whatever mama found for them to eat. They were laying eggs 5 and 6 days a week, going broody, and raising chicks. All was good in their chicken world.

Here is what I do, I'm sure others do different. I offer the mama's and babies chick feed for 4 weeks. Then it's layer crumbles mixed with cracked corn. I haven't had any sick, weak chicks at all doing this.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I use Purina Flock Raiser for all my birds and offer oyster shell on the side,I haven't seen any of the babies eating it. OS that is, also offer chick starter grower and someone said they put a plastic milk crate over top of the feeder to keep big ones from eating it, it works. But it won't hurt them to eat the chick food. just be sure to give OS too. Yep I heard it's not a good idea for baby chicks to eat laying ration. Congrats on the great hatch

 

[Fuffy]

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A few weeks ago I wrote about my first broody hen Maisie, she hatched 3 chicks that I sold shortly after, she started laying again about 2 weeks ago, and guess who's broody again!!! Less than 5 weeks after she hatched her first clutch. Is this normal? Should I let her brood again?

Anyone have experience with this?

My broody will lay 9 or 10 eggs and then go broody straight away...Gotta love the dedication of the silkie cross!

 

[Fuffy]

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Oh Stony!!! I NEEEED some of those!!!!! Sooooo cute!!!!

CONGRATS!!!!

 

[Fuffy]

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I NEED some of those too, featherz! CONGRATS to you too!!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
featherz how cute, what breed is mama I love her lacing

I have 2 sets of twins from last year..

Mama is splash blrw. She usually looks like this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/51848_p1010662.jpg

She's not the mama of the chicks tho, she's just eight months old and her eggs are pretty small. So those eggs were from my older easter eggers with my blue cochin roo.

she is georgeous featherz

 

[Fuffy]

Quote:
OK when the chicks hatch they have medicated chick crumb. At this stage they are still alone with mamma.

At about 6 - 8 weeks I move them into a sectioned off bit of the main chicken run and swap the babies on to medicated grower's pellets. About now Mama decides to move out and the big hens start fluttering over the fence to enjoy the grower's. There is oyster shell on the big girl side of the fence.

By the time the babies are pullets (16 - 18 weeks), they have all spent time with each other, I'm fed up of feeding expensive grower's to the laying hens, and the teenage pad is getting awfully small

. So I just take away the middle bit of fence.

For a little while the babies aren't too sure about where they want to sleep, but after a week or so I can take away the teenage pad with ipod docking station and pizza menu!