Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[JakRat]

Now let her take control. Believe me I KNOW it is hard! I am a control freak so I constantly want to do something, but I cant! Hopefully in 21 days you will have little chicks running around. I have to keep my mind off that part or I get waay to excited!

Thank goodness I have 2 little ducklings to keep my busy for the time being.

Good luck to you and your broody!

Yes I am going to. She is in the house now and away from the other girls who try to knock her off her nest. Her little serama friend seems worried though... so cute! Would it be ok to cook and feed her the dud eggs? They didnt smell bad.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Okay I have to be the worst candler ever, my broody got off long enough for me to take her 3 eggs on day 11 and candle, I am pretty sure i saw veing in 1 but the other 2 looked like a dark mass, well the 1 i saw some veining had a dark mass also, so are they good?

At day 11, dark mass is excellent. Houston - YOU HAVE BABIES DEVELOPING!!!

By day 18 - the chicks are basically fully formed. They spend the final three days rotating into hatching position.

 

[Tripp16]

At day 11, dark mass is excellent. Houston - YOU HAVE BABIES DEVELOPING!!!

By day 18 - the chicks are basically fully formed. They spend the final three days rotating into hatching position.

Ahh cant wait until day next monday! It will be say 14 and thats when I decided to candle!

It better be warm... I never though I would be waiting on a Monday to hurry up....

 

[williamsl77]

Oh, sorry... it took me a couple days to get back to the computer. She hatched 9 babies!! I was curious what color they would be. The rooster is a black cochin and the hen is a little red something? All the babies are black with white bellies.

I never counted her eggs exactly... she must have had ten under her, though, because nine hatched and one looked like it stopped developing a few days ago. The last egg to hatch almost got lost before it hatched, too. I went to check on her and found a cold egg off to her side. I picked it up thinking it was not alive. Then I saw it was pipped. I chipped the top off and the beak was just barely moving. I have eggs in an incubator right now, so I just put it in there to warm up and see what happened. It zipped and hatched within an hour. It was quite vigorous, just needed to be warmed up. I guess I could have put it back under mom, but I wasn't sure if it was going to survive or not. Anyway... after it hatched, I tucked it right under mom and it's doing fine. I don't even know which one it was anymore.

This is ridiculously fun hatching eggs with a broody chicken. And not worrying about temperature or humidity. So the way to go!

Looking forward to hearing how it's going and how many you get.. all the best.

 

[williamsl77]

Also for those of you with experience with broodies... I need to move her back to my coop. She has been in my basement for almost 2 weeks at 65 degrees. The coop in New Hampshire gets pretty cold at night. She is also pretty skinny after sitting on these eggs for 3 weeks. Her breast bone is very prominent. She seems like her appetite is picking up and I have been keeping her food dish completely full and giving her treats trying to fatten her up again. I have a crate that I can put her in in the coop with a heat lamp if need be. I have read that I should get her back in there sooner rather than later, so I think I will put her in tomorrow. The high during the day tomorrow is supposed to be 60, though it is supposed to be cold again by the weekend. Anyway... will it be tough for her going back in after spending two weeks in the warmer basement? Wondering thoughts on that.

 

[Glasshen]

I'm in exactly the same spot you are, Willians! My broody has only two chicks, about two and a half weeks old that I was the stork for. They are ridiculously adorable, but I do want them safely back in the coop. I'm thinking dog crate similar to what they have in the basement, but in the coop. So can't wait to see suggestions.

 

[stonykill]

I've been hearing the broody "cluck" off and on all day. I don't know who, or where she will be going. Here is to hoping it is in the Sumatra shed and I see her there is a few hours.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've been hearing the broody "cluck" off and on all day. I don't know who, or where she will be going. Here is to hoping it is in the Sumatra shed and I see her there is a few hours.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Also for those of you with experience with broodies... I need to move her back to my coop. She has been in my basement for almost 2 weeks at 65 degrees. The coop in New Hampshire gets pretty cold at night. She is also pretty skinny after sitting on these eggs for 3 weeks. Her breast bone is very prominent. She seems like her appetite is picking up and I have been keeping her food dish completely full and giving her treats trying to fatten her up again. I have a crate that I can put her in in the coop with a heat lamp if need be. I have read that I should get her back in there sooner rather than later, so I think I will put her in tomorrow. The high during the day tomorrow is supposed to be 60, though it is supposed to be cold again by the weekend. Anyway... will it be tough for her going back in after spending two weeks in the warmer basement? Wondering thoughts on that.

A crate in the coop is the way to go, that way they can all get use to be together again, after a few days open the door after everyone has gone outside, then she can make the decision if she wants to go back into the crate in the evening with her chicks or stay out with everyone else. Congrats on the chicks, hope we get to see pics soon.

you too glasshen!!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Well, now it looks like the roosters are sticking around another week or two because our friend wants to build a coop before taking the roosters. I guess it's a good thing. I didn't like that he didn't provide them with a shelter other then his porch and a fox ate two of the previous roosters we gave him. But at the same time now Smokey and her babies are still in the adjacent coop area and I need that area for the two brooder chicks. I'm praying that Foghorn's attack on the little chick was a fluke and that he won't try it again - but this time I think Smokey will protect her chicks better.

Tomorrow since it's supposed to be a warm and beautiful day, I plan to kick everyone out to "freerange" and take that opportunity to move Smokey & her babies over to the big coop and see what everyone does. I'll put a cat carrier down there with shavings in the bottom for her to stay in if she needs to have a place to hide them. I absolutely have to get those two chicks out of the house brooder and into the coop - the feather dust is driving me crazy! So either Smokey & her babies go in the cat carrier or those two 5 week olds will - either way I am moving chicks tomorrow.