Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[NellaBean]

White with black spots should be white with black "leakage" if its a girl and white with barred "leakage" if its a boy. That has been my experience with other chicks that looked like that.

 

[stuckinthecity]

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Beautiful!!!

 

[Hope119]

Our broody's babies are not even 5 weeks old, but looks like mama hen is done. Today was the first day she walked on her own. I also found she started laying (either yesterday or day before yesterday). The babies started roosting with her few nights ago (I wrote a bit here https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6433660#p6433660 ), but today when I was closing our coop for the night they were back to the nest, while mama was roosting. Is it normal? I mean for her to be done so soon.

 

[stonykill]

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my 4 week old Sumatra's are still with mom, but have been roosting with her for a week. I expect mama Sumatra to be ready to let her chicks go in a few weeks. I'm guessing mama knows your little ones are ready. I'm more surprised they aren't roosting at almost 5 weeks old.

 

[AlbionWood]

Wanda Jean, seen here working on her stink-eye, has just hatched 2 of the 4 eggs remaining under her! She started with 8, but we didn't have her separated from the flock, so other hens kept crowding in and laying egss and stomping around, so a couple got broken. And then one day we realized there were two eggs simply vanished - we apparently have an egg-eater!

We just moved her into a fenced-off part of the run yesterday - and this afternoon there was an empty egg in front of her! I waited a long time before the little one showed itself. Then I noticed she was talking to something under her - figured maybe another egg was peeping - and eventually a second chick emerged, on wobbly legs, with bits of shavings sticking to it... a brand-new one!

Tomorrow I will try to get moar peechurz.

Since our rooster is a Delaware, we now apparently have one Delawegger, one Delalorp, one Delaran, and three unknowns (perhaps Delarocks or maybe even a Delaware!).

 

[laughingull]

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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.

BEAUTIFUL!!!! (what does blrw stand for?)

 

[klf73]

blue laced red wyandotte

 

[laughingull]

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Thanks!!!! I would love to have a wyandotte one day. My grandma says that they were her grandma's favorites.

 

[laughingull]

Update on Miss Tiggywinkle... Day 25 (as of this eve) still nothing has hatched from Tiggy's 3 green eggs... but she sure is happy with three chicks we gaver her!!!!!! At 6 AM (we overslept a bit) we snuck the wee ones down to her - she was not sleeping and was not to be fooled. They started peeping before I even got into the coop and she was immediately certain they belonged to her and I had stolen them. She forgave me only once they were all tucked under her when, satisfied, she fell directly into a deep broody sleep. She is an incredibly patient chick jungle gym (one chick loves to leap on her back, the other is convinced that mom's eye lids are edible) - a perfect mom, and three spoiled chicks. I think I will take out the eggs tomorrow so she can get up, take a dust bath and wander around with her new ones a bit. For now she just clucks at them from the nest while they chase eachother around the rabbit hutch, but when they get scared or cold or sleepy they magically vanish into her red feathers. Having a mom sure comes naturally to chicks!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

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OH MY GAWD that has to be a prize winning picture.... May I share it with some friends?