Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

Quote:
My little hen from this years hatch is broody too, but I am waiting till next year to let her have eggs, not because I think she'd not be a good mama but because I have no where to put any chicks, she's first on the list for next spring..

[not that I'll have any room next year either]

 

[Fuffy]

It is my personal opinion, and others may well disagree...that it can't be good for a very young hen to brood.

I think that while they are still growing and maturing, they should use their nutrients for that very purpose.

I'm in no huge rush, so I prefer to give them a year

 

[slurrywidow]

Quote:
That's what I was wondering about, having them sit with very little food while they are so young. I don't have a very good desire to let her go so it's probably best to wait until later. Now to break the news to DD.

I appreciate others chiming in too as I value all advice! Stonykill, I may have the wrong impression but I feel like your birds are just much hardier than mine.

Not because of care but more bird type. Sumatras (I haven't done any research. Just going on my impression. Need to read about these birds as I see lots of people loving them) just feel more "gamebird" to me. Maybe because when you post I just get this impression on how free you can allow yours to be. I would LOVE to come out of the house and see a nesting hen in one of my flowerpots!
BarnGoddess and Miss Lydia: Both of you mentioned concerns for me.

I'm glad you all are here for words of wisdom. Thanks.

 

[Miz Mary]

I have a broody silkie that hatched a chick 2 days ago , with 2 eggs still in the nest . She has abandoned the nest - the eggs are cold !! One feels heavy and when I candle it's dark ..... How long do I wait before opening the egg and see what happened ??! all the eggs were 1 day apart when I put them under her ...... should I put the egg under a heat lamp ???

 

[heatherkh]

This might be a question for the chick raising thread, but it has to do with my broody momma behavior as well so I thought I'd pose it here first.

Up until this morning, so far so good with the six chicks and new mom. But this morning while she was running the wee ones through a Scratching 101 workshop, I noticed the tiniest/weakest/runt one had a pasty butt. Well, poop (so to speak). This wee one has from the get go not appeared as thriving or thrifty as it's siblings, and it always one step behind. When the group finally left the nest yesterday, this wee one was left behind. My bf found it alone in the nest box peeping away and put it down with the rest.

When I saw the pasty butt, I cleaned it off with warm water, dried it as best I could, and used a cotton bud to dab a small amount of olive oil on that adorable little frowning vent. When I put the chick down, it wobbled and hobbledy-hopped over to mom. I figured the walking problems was from the weight/sensation of the dampness/oil on it's bum. Mom investigated her bum, picked off a little bit of poo that still remained and nudged the chick underneath her. I let my bf know to keep an eye on the situation as I had to go to work and he is working from home.

My boyfriend had gone out to the coop and noticed mom was holding another workshop, and the five healthy chicks were dutifully scratching like obedient pupils, and the wee one was sitting alone and peeping. So he now has it in a box under a lamp with it's own food/water (administered some water via a dropper), but he said it doesn't seem like it is going to make it. I guess I put this down to failure to thrive, and mom has to do what she has to do with the other thriving chicks.

My question is, should I have left momma to take care of the pasty butt herself - pick the poo off the chicks bottom?? The poop was completely covering her vent. I felt like I couldn't leave the chick's bum in the state it was in, but I feel like my meddling may made the situation worse. If I had left the pasty butt alone, would mom have taken care of it??

On the positive side - the five other chicks are absolutely thriving and Weezy seems to enjoy being a mom.

 

[heatherkh]

Mz. Mary, do you hear any peeping and/or feel any movement?

My 85 year old neighbor/veteran chicken keeper told us that in that instance what he does is to put a warm, wrung out but still damp washcloth over the remaining eggs and cover that with a warm dry towel. If you have a heat lamp, you could do that in addition to the heat lamp to keep the whole thing warm. If you have an incubator (we don't) you could put the egg in there.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I would have done EXACTLY what you did and at least tried to help the little guy. All you can do now is hope for the best. What will be, will be. If the chick isn't meant to make it, I guess you'll find out.

Good luck!!

 

[Miz Mary]

No....no peeping -no movement .......... put it under a heat lamp /wet towel

 

[heatherkh]

Thanks for that, BarnGoddess. I just got this text from the bf "

" and now I haz a sad.

Accentuate the positive - the other five babies are thriving and happy.

Mz. Mary, I'd give it a day or so. If you still see/hear no movement or peeping, it's probably dead in there. I had one like that as well, I swear Weezy would have sat on that egg until the cows came home, but she needed to take care of the ones that did hatch.

 

[Tanichca]

I made a post about this but nobody answered...

Hi there! I have a white silkie pullet (she'll be a year old in december) and she has been laying eggs in one specific place for a few days now (before... she laid everywhere! The run, the boxes, in the rabbit cages, etc.) before she sits on her little nest (which is in a small, safe area of the coop) she will spend forever arranging hay (straw by straw,) feathers, and the eggs, and THEN sit down to lay. Is she getting ready to go broody?
Also, for a normal sized silkie, how many eggs can fit under her and how many chicks can she safely raise? If she does go broody, I will buy her some eggs, and she may end up with 12 babies or so. Too much?​