Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[stonykill]

Quote:
eggs aren't on a timer to hatch no more than all human babies being born is EXACTLY 9 months. Some come sooner, some later. I've had eggs hatch on day 25. Chickens and eggs can't count.....

 

[mudchicken]

I've been searching in this thread for awhile, but 260 pages is a lot lol. I have a nhr laying on some eggs, maybe 15 or so. A few days into a mixed old english bantam thought that looked like fun and went broody as well. I have seen on here that it is ok to let mama take care of them on her own, but what about my rir roo? Will he do anything to hurt them??

 

[CayuseRanch]

Mudchicken - I am fairly new so take this with a grain of salt, but I think you will have to guage that after the chicks are born. I was planning on having my broody raise her chicks in with the main flock and within 24 hours of the first one hatching I think one of the other chickens, either hen or roo, stole it from the box and they were dragging/chasing it in the run when I found them. Sadly he was deceased by then.

So naturally I moved mom out to protect the other babies. But you will hear a lot of people on here have great success stories. I think if the other chickens are accepting that is the way to go, but if they don't then out with momma.

 

[stonykill]

Quote:
I always let mama raise them , and so far, none of my other hens, or any of my 8 roo's have messed with the babies. Niether has the 15 lb Maine Coon cat. He is scared of the 3.5 lb mama Sumatra's.

Now that's my flock. Yours may be different, and you won't know until they are born.

With that said, mama chicken knows how to be a chicken, and how to teach babies how to be a chicken better than you or I can

 

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
Some do. My RIR's do, as does their Sumatra Rooster/mate "Loverboy" My incubated chicks, and young pullets and roo's have their own caged, covered coop. The original "ferrel" Sumatra's and all of their broody chicks sleep in a 40 foot tall Spruce tree in front of the house. When I 1st got them I tried and tried and tried to keep them penned. Couldn't do it. They ALWAYS found a way out.
The really cute thing about "Loverboy" is he chooses to be cooped at night to be with his girls. As they all freerange together all day long over several acres.
So with the exception of my youngest broody chicks who sleep with mama in the nest yet, all of my original Sumatra's, and all of their young sleep in a tree.

What a name Loverboy, he must be living up to it.

you don't have a problem with night predators? Did you get your Sumatras as chicks? or were some adults when you got them? I think it's so interesting how people end up with the particular breed of chicken they have, I would have never chose American game as the first breed of chicken for myself, but she needed a home so here she is, I like large breed chickens, Orps, JG's Brahmas and also Bantams. My game aren't the cuddle type of chicken but they could survive better than the rest of mine if left to their own divices. My Game hen Miss Lydia is the best mama, she has been out all day with her chicks, I love to watch them.

 

[mudchicken]

Quote:
I always let mama raise them , and so far, none of my other hens, or any of my 8 roo's have messed with the babies. Niether has the 15 lb Maine Coon cat. He is scared of the 3.5 lb mama Sumatra's.

Now that's my flock. Yours may be different, and you won't know until they are born.

With that said, mama chicken knows how to be a chicken, and how to teach babies how to be a chicken better than you or I can

I wanna guess that the rir roo is a softie, cause he is in there with two other banty roo's. They don't fight one bit. I would think they are mellow, but who knows. Its so neat, they r good broodies. Every time I collect eggs they shake and grown and make their presence known

 

[stonykill]

Quote:
Some do. My RIR's do, as does their Sumatra Rooster/mate "Loverboy" My incubated chicks, and young pullets and roo's have their own caged, covered coop. The original "ferrel" Sumatra's and all of their broody chicks sleep in a 40 foot tall Spruce tree in front of the house. When I 1st got them I tried and tried and tried to keep them penned. Couldn't do it. They ALWAYS found a way out.
The really cute thing about "Loverboy" is he chooses to be cooped at night to be with his girls. As they all freerange together all day long over several acres.
So with the exception of my youngest broody chicks who sleep with mama in the nest yet, all of my original Sumatra's, and all of their young sleep in a tree.

What a name Loverboy, he must be living up to it.

you don't have a problem with night predators? Did you get your Sumatras as chicks? or were some adults when you got them? I think it's so interesting how people end up with the particular breed of chicken they have, I would have never chose American game as the first breed of chicken for myself, but she needed a home so here she is, I like large breed chickens, Orps, JG's Brahmas and also Bantams. My game aren't the cuddle type of chicken but they could survive better than the rest of mine if left to their own divices. My Game hen Miss Lydia is the best mama, she has been out all day with her chicks, I love to watch them.

yes Loverboy is a really good Rooster. He has nothing to do with Sumatra hens. He is only interested in the big girls. I got these as mainly adults, with a few youngsters. Now that I'm raising my own I'd say the youngsters were 12 weeks old or so when I got them. They were living in tree's in a nearby Village.Quite ferrel, and a REAL pain to catch. Going after dark was fruitless, as they roost 15 to 25 feet up in tree's. And they were given to me by the owner before the neighbors started killing them.
I had a few problems with night predetors, but honestly not TOO bad. I set a hav a hart trap every night religiosly. I've caught and killed 3 possums in the last year. I shot a racoon earlier this year in the front yard. Daytime pretetors are the worst for us. Hawks killed 4 Sumatra's this past winter, during the day, while I was home.
I have to say, I was only interested in large brown egg layers until I got these Sumatra's. Now I prefer them.

Some of my incubated Sumatra's are lovers. One I call AJ waits for me to put him to bed, and I pet him most nights. Yup he is one of the 12 week old boys. 2 others are younger,about 5 weeks and I have been trying to introduce them to a mini flock of 12 6 to 8 week olds. It's not going well. Every evening, they are on a roost in the run, waiting for me to pick the 2 of them up, and carry them to their cage in my workshop, where they eat, drink and sleep. 2 weeks of this so far..... But I get to hold them, pet them etc. And while it is cool, I know they have to live a caged life if they are to survive. They are too friendly to survive free range......

 

[mudchicken]

Ah yes I have another question. If I let them run free in the coop how do I provide food for them and make sure they get the starter crumbles, and at the same time possibly keep the adults out......

 

[stonykill]

Quote:
if they are mixed in together , the food in the coop is layer crumbles, and everyone eats it.

 

[mudchicken]

Quote:
if they are mixed in together , the food in the coop is layer crumbles, and everyone eats it.

Layer crumbles are fine for little guys? They don't need starter?