Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

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And so it begins ...

Good luck with your hatch. We fully expect pictures ....

X2

 

[Breshcandra]

Here are the two broodys the one on the left started first then the more grey on started 2 weeks after

The egg that talked back

And the chick. Looks like daddy did except it only has 4 toes and not 5

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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Congratulations!

 

[Miss Lydia]

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That is the cutest baby silkie, and love the pic of the 2 broodys, and the coach looking on.

Congrats

 

[Chook Daddy]

We are pretty keen on the traditional method and have just placed a dozen fertilized eggs under our newest broody, she is doing very well into day four now.
A couple of months ago we had another broody and had none hatch.
We were concerned that maybe our girls were infertile, or the rooster was a dud.
However last week our rooster became a first time dad after we gave some fertilized eggs to my sister in law and two out of three hatched!
So this made me wonder what do you need to keep an eye on when eggs are under broodys
How long can she be off the eggs without losing them, also what is a good success rate for batches.
How do you collect your eggs for the broody we are getting around 8-10 eggs a day and the pretty sure the rooster was doing a good job of spreading the love.
So once the broody was ready we confined her on the eggs and we thought we would at least get a couple but no luck.
Hopefully better luck this time.

 

[stonykill]

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all very good questions!

1st I'd venture to guess your rooster wasn't mature enough yet your last try.

Mama's tend to know how long to be off. My girls are 15 minutes or less. On lockdown day, they are up 5 minutes TOPS.

I collect the eggs daily, and only keep the clean eggs to hatch. I store them upside down in an egg carton. Pointy end down in the carton. I have a spare room that the heat is turned off in. It stays a pretty constant temp. So I store them in there. If I'm running the incubator I collect eggs for 6 days then put them in the bator. If I'm giving them to a broody, I just give her 6 when I have 6 good clean eggs. I only do 6 as I have Sumatra's, and the hens are pretty little. They will sit on 13 on their own, but... it's a little more than their little body's can cover.

 

[Americana]

My Showgirl (Diva) hatched Bantam Phoenix eggs on Thursday December 8! She's being a good Momma!

 

[perchie.girl]

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OmG they are too cute.... Phoneix? quail?

duhh..... I looked them up.... Slapping my forehead....

 

[artsyrobin]

is it normal for a broody to have dark green loose poop?? my cochin girl will hop off the nest, race into the kitchen poop, hang out a few minutes then go back to the nest??

 

[stonykill]

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well not with my Sumatra's/ My broody girls do the LARGEST poop you have ever seen from a chicken. And if I had to choose a color, I'd call it tan. And it is solid.

I have to ask.... race into the kitchen???