Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[stonykill]

a few pics of 2 of the mama's and their babies!

mama ..... that's her name, "mama" and her 5 little ones.

2 mama's and little ones together

love this pic!

the beautiful Mama and her 5 little ones again. Note the brown coloring on the one chick. I seem to be getting some of the odd colors now in my Sumatra's!

 

[Miss Lydia]

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very nice pictures stony, do you have brown sumatras already? it will be interesting to see what they look like as they get older.

 

[stonykill]

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very nice pictures stony, do you have brown sumatras already? it will be interesting to see what they look like as they get older.

THANKS! No I don't. I have mainly blacks, and now quite a few blues as well. I had one chick I thought was going to be a splash, but he (I think he) is blue now that He (ugg) is 10 weeks old. I can't wait to see how this brown pheasant looking chick turns out!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
very nice pictures stony, do you have brown sumatras already? it will be interesting to see what they look like as they get older.

THANKS! No I don't. I have mainly blacks, and now quite a few blues as well. I had one chick I thought was going to be a splash, but he (I think he) is blue now that He (ugg) is 10 weeks old. I can't wait to see how this brown pheasant looking chick turns out!

you'll be starting your on line of Sumatras. All of my chicks are mutts so they come in a variety of colors. and my very first mama, her chicks are 8 weeks old and still hanging around with her. In another 2 weeks they will probably be as big as her, I know one is a roo, pretty sure the other is a pullet. she is my bantam frizzle.

 

[stonykill]

Quote:
THANKS! No I don't. I have mainly blacks, and now quite a few blues as well. I had one chick I thought was going to be a splash, but he (I think he) is blue now that He (ugg) is 10 weeks old. I can't wait to see how this brown pheasant looking chick turns out!

you'll be starting your on line of Sumatras. All of my chicks are mutts so they come in a variety of colors. and my very first mama, her chicks are 8 weeks old and still hanging around with her. In another 2 weeks they will probably be as big as her, I know one is a roo, pretty sure the other is a pullet. she is my bantam frizzle.

Of my broody chicks, they aren't old enough for me to sex. The ones I'm refering to, I incubated. My 6 week old broody chicks have been on their own daytime now all week, and are roosted next to mama at night. It is very cute! My 10 week old's that I incubated are as big as my bantam Sumatra hen "blue". She is SO tiny! Several of my blue chicks are from her eggs that were under broody's.
Yeah, I'm working on my own line of Sumatra's. They say the longer you breed your own group, the more of the naturally occuring colors that come out. It's a shame that years ago in the USA some group of guys decided that "this" black, and "this" blue Sumatra's were the acceptable ones. And the rest were unacceptable. That is one of the reasons I don't show birds.
My mama's are good mama's.

 

[shellyga]

Poor baby... I was cutting the side yard today when I found a little chick corpse.

The only thing DH and I can figure out is that it somehow got through the fence -- possibly with the help of Mama's back or a clump of grass since we have raised flowerbeds butting up to the outside of the fence --about 12 inches high.. baby could have gone through the fence and into the flowerbed.. went off the front end of the bed and couldn't get back.. with our heat.. and the lack of water.. the poor baby probably dehydrated.. not a mark on it or I might have thought about some predator bird. Sad Sad

Shelly

 

[Miss Lydia]

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So Sorry Shelly, sometimes the little ones can get themselves into a heap of trouble, before they even know what trouble is..

 

[Cindilou]

Went out and checked on her today and she took her break for about 20 minutes, ate, drank, pooped and went back to her job. I don't want to get too excited in case she changes her mind but so far she is doing her job just fine. Can't believe she can fit all those eggs under her. Chickens are amazing!

 

[raimnel]

I just found this thread and I got a question about a broodie, long story short, I got a broodie that has eggs under her 1 baby so far.

last time i went out to check on her there was a chick (in the egg, shell smashed, little bit of blood) out from under her? why? is this how they do it? smash the shell into little peices, push them out from under her and let them get out?! I've never had a broodie before, can u tell lol

 

[countrygirl911]

one of my broodys eggs got smashed by another hen today when the mamma was out eating and drinking she is on day 13 now she is down to 3 eggs and she is acting like she is wanting to give up on them looks like i will be making a trip to the feed store tomorrow to get her a few to put under her