Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[stonykill]

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Interesting, I would think they would need a large nest box, I have LFBrahmas and they have a deeper vocal call than my other chickens. and they always choose the larger nest boxes.

Oh definitely, my girl probably weighs 10 lbs. it's possible she'll get to 15 which is why most people incubate instead of let them hatch. They apparently have a bad case of egg breakage going on with all that girth.

WOW, that's a big girl! My Sumatra hens are 3 to 4 lbs. The biggest roo MIGHT be 6 lbs.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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Oh definitely, my girl probably weighs 10 lbs. it's possible she'll get to 15 which is why most people incubate instead of let them hatch. They apparently have a bad case of egg breakage going on with all that girth.

WOW, that's a big girl! My Sumatra hens are 3 to 4 lbs. The biggest roo MIGHT be 6 lbs.

They eat alot too, Thank goodness mine free range too.

 

[Cindilou]

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WOW, that's a big girl! My Sumatra hens are 3 to 4 lbs. The biggest roo MIGHT be 6 lbs.

They eat alot too, Thank goodness mine free range too.

I think generally the roos get to be 15 and the hens less but either way, they are big birdies! I just wanted one to see if I could get a super extra jumbo layer for fun.

As a note regarding the actual topic of this thread: my ee girl is on day 10 of sitting on her eggs! She is doing great so far.

 

[NHchicks]

This is my favorite thread! Kinda like the maternity ward of BYC. MUCH more pleasant than hanging out on the disease thread, which I've had to do also.

Update on chicks that were hatched 8 days ago:

and

And there is a lot of peeping going on under this broody hen. She has chicks hiding under there, but if she could talk, she'd tell me: Get outta my face! There's no way I'm going to get a glimpse of those peepers until they're fully cooked:

 

[Miss Lydia]

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I like the Maternity ward better too,

great pics and congrats on the hatches!!!!!

 

[Crabella]

I have 3 black australorps. The last one decided to join the others in broodiness yesterday. OK...I guess I knew she was getting to that point. While she has never been the most friendly, she has been crankier than usual. I am actually hoping we get a few roo's because they will go to freezer camp...'cause if we don't I'm going to have to build a bigger coop...or a 2nd one. As it is I've already taken over the storage area of the present coop. Hmm maybe I better start planning on a place to put those little roo's I could build a bigger coop, keep this one as the bachelor pad (and get my feed storage area back) and with a bigger coop I could have more hens. I think I see a little more chicken math in my future (shhhh! don't tell the hubs!)

 

[ChksontheRun]

Just "found" this thread, and have found it wonderful. I just love reading the stories and seeing the pics of Gods creation at work. Anyway, I found this thread because I was seeking information about my broody orpington. We have been gone for 4 days, and found her sitting on 12 eggs when we returned. It is obvious that some of the other chickens were contributing to the clutch as I found a few of them laying in the nest with her sitting in it. It was very odd however, that 2 or 3 of the other chickens were trying to get into the nest to peck on the eggs. Up until now, I have never had an egg eater so it was very strange to find them trying to peck at the eggs. I moved her to a small pen and hope that she stays on the nest and hatches those little sweeties. All will be mixed, but I cant wait to see what we get. Rooster is a jersey giant, and hens are mostly assorted rocks with an orpington and austrolorp, and Delaware tossed in for good measure.

Is it normal for the other chickens to try to destroy eggs that this chicken was setting on?

I will be watching very closely for egg eating, but the eggs in the other nests were not touched......

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

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Have you candelled the eggs? That way you would know if they are duds. We have our first broody hatch(hopefully) in progress. It so amazing to me how diligent this little hen, who is normally running all over the place scrounging whatever food treats she can get, has become. I am fighting the urge to candle her eggs as I am afraid that if I disturb her she might stop sitting on them??

 

[stonykill]

Mrs. Feathers :

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Have you candelled the eggs? That way you would know if they are duds. We have our first broody hatch(hopefully) in progress. It so amazing to me how diligent this little hen, who is normally running all over the place scrounging whatever food treats she can get, has become. I am fighting the urge to candle her eggs as I am afraid that if I disturb her she might stop sitting on them??

I only candle if the broody is off the nest. Otherwise I NEVER bother the broody. They know how to be chickens better than we know how to be chickens.​

 

[stonykill]

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Congrats stony your on your way to having how many Sumatras? can't remember your goal.

well thank you! I've already reached this years goal of 60 Sumatra's. I'm currently at 63. So those that hatch will just be a plus!

oops, chicken math was off. Only 53 Sumatra's. Guess I carried a 1

. These 2 or future broody's will bring me to my goal. If for some reason they don't I'll incubate a few more......