Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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Just my 2cents, but I don't think it will work, the guineas with mama now will be to much older and mama won't accept them, could you possibly have another broody?
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if not then guess their all yours.
 
I took pics of my broody mamma tonight and I'll post the tomorrow when I can get to a computer that can upload pics better! She was flat as a pancake when I left her!
 
I missed my opportunity this evening. 1 of the chickens wouldn't let her in the coop; that was my best chance to catch her.
If I'm able to catch her when she's off the nest can I give her chicken eggs? I've heard of hens raising ducks, but I'm not so sure about the other way around
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Edit because voice to text sucks
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Look what I saw this morning...

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I almost dropped my teeth! (granny used to say that) This is that hen from yesterday, I think when I first saw her only two must have been down and then I assumed when I found the one in the hay rack that it was the last chick so I just popped it under her without looking...she must have had the rest jump down before I discovered the nest! Tricky girl!
She is my favorite mama hen.

About those guineas...guinea moms are notoriously bad! I did an experiment this year. have a few that made a nest with about 50 eggs in it. I discovered them, the guinea mom had 6. There were still eggs in the nest and I could see that one was pipped and alive. I picked them all up and floated them. Took 12 that looked the closest to hatch and put them under a broody hen. The rest I put in my bator. THe hen hatched all 12 and I left her with 6 and took 6 into the chick TV. (brooder in the house) By now the guinea had 4 left. The hen kept them together pretty well the first week but then began losing them day by day. WHen she only had 1 left so did the guinea. I took "my" babies outside because they were feathered by then and they were easily twice the size of the "wild" ones! I added the guinea mom's baby to the caged ones and left the hens baby with her. She abandoned it shorty after and it disappeared. Now that it's 2 months later and all the guineas are free ranging I cant tell the house raised from the free range one. It caught up in short order once it started getting GB pellets!
I hope my experiment can help someone!
Terri O
 
Quote:
Very early this year I lost a whole clutch of VERY expensive shipped eggs, which I had put under my broody.
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After much deliberation I decided that it could have had something to do with humidity.
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So when she went broody for the 2nd time, and more shipped eggs were under her, I started to water her own personal broody nursery.
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The run part is fine gravel and we had a lot of very dry weather, so I thought I'd give it a go.
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So I used a watering can with a spray nozzle on the gravel ... Just enough so the gravel was damp, but not enough to make everything soaked.
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Of my 12 eggs, 5 hatched, which is a whole lot better than the last attempt!
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So did my watering work? Who knows, but it's an idea
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