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Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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I'm only on page 35, but I have a question I really want answered...feel free to refer me to the proper page if this had come up.

How big should the nest be? I have my broody is a 3x3 rabbit cage that is just high enough for her to walk around in. I have her nest in a box that seems the right size for her and the eggs, but the only one to hatch was dead when I found it. It was half out of the membrain...did she smush it? It didn't look pecked. Do I need to give her more room? What went wrong? I'm guessing the other eggs won't hatch, but every one seems to say it's trial and error learning, but if I know what the error is it will speed things up
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Also, her comb is still nice and red. She gets off the nest daily to eat and scratch. Is it safe to give her new eggs? The only line I've found on hatchlings is bantums and I'd really rather not have more of those.

Just my 2 cents but I'd give her more room. if she is already in a 3x3 cage just take the box out and leave the shavings or whatever you have for bedding she'll plump it up and make a nest. when I put mine into a different set up which is about the same size as yours I remove them from the nest so they can spread out a bit. As for giving her more eggs I had to do it, one of my hens sat for 21 days on dudus so I gave her more eggs, she sat the next 21 days without problems. be sure she has plenty of fresh water and protein besides her feed. Mealworms scrambled eggs etc. to keep her strength up. Good luck and keep us posted!sorry about the wee one
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Cleo Crawlspace is an Easter Egger. She likes to lay eggs in the entrance to my crawlspace. She successfully hatched one of two eggs about 8 weeks ago and then that baby was killed by a cat. I felt so bad for her.

This time, when she went broody, I made sure she had 6 eggs. She has 4 babies nowand she's feeling so happy and protective! Aren't they cute? Their daddy is an Australorp and two of the mamas that laid the eggs were recently killed by a dog. I feel like they get to live on in their precious babies.



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