Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

My little bantam went broody the end of February. She gathered up her egg and eggs from the other hens before I even realized what she was doing. I am new at this and she is my first broody! I didn't have the heart to take them away because she clucked so happily everytime I came in the coop. She has 5 eggs total. 3 are full size eggs from my barred rock hen and 2 are small bantam eggs. Do they all have the same 21 day time frame? I moved her into a large dog crate inside the coop because she kept gathering eggs. Good thing I marked the original 5. Every day I had to pick her up & take out the 3 new eggs my girls were laying.
So my questions are:
1) do all the eggs have the 21 days whether full size or bantam?
2) she gathered eggs over a couple of days - does that mean my hatching period will be a couple of days?
3) I have not candled the eggs - should I do that now? and what exactly am I looking for?
4) when they hatch, should I leave her & the babies inside the crate? she's my smallest girl and the others tend to run over her....

Thanks for your help!!

Welcome to the crazy broody thread!! and yes they all hatch in 20-25 days. some right on the mark or a day or too later but 21 days is what they say. you really don't have to candle what hatches hatches and what doens't well you get the picture, I candled and still didn't see much . if she is tiny then leave her and chicks for a couple days for her to get the feel of mamahood and chicks to get their footing. make sure they have chick feed and plenty of water and mama will take care of the rest. usually by day 2 of hatch mama are ready to introduce chicks to the world. don't forget to post pics when they hatch and

 

[Miss Lydia]

Robin how is the little one today?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Oh I love Roosters all their little drama situations. And since I have a total of Nine now.... Hee hee.

here is Hot Stuff. His girl is all blue with a very pretty charcoal head. Unfortunately I dont have a picture of her.

And Sparkle

And Truffle

sparkle and truffle

Silkeys are sooo silly. Never had them before. I hope to locate a couple of silkey girls for them too one day.

deb

gorgeous birds you did good!! I hope to get a few silkies one of these days..

 

[artsyrobin]

Robin how is the little one today?

he's in with mama- very loud and fluffy, and i think it is one of my chicks from spice, the BO i lost...

just ordered some favorolle eggs for my broody cochin... what we do for these guys!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hey everyone, I've got a broody cochin sitting 12 bantam eggs, that are due to hatch on the 19th! It an unplanned birthday hatch, as my birthday is 20th, I'm so happy! This is my second time trying to hatch eggs under a broody. The 1st time all the eggs were duds

. But now with 6 days to go I've got some questions.… I have her in a small pen inside my coop but new chicks could easily go thru the wire, can I move her into a breeder pen inside the coop after they hatch?
How long should I keep her and the chicks seperate from the flock?
And if she leaves the nest with the 1st chick out, can I confine her and the chick to the nest box(large tote) so she'll stay on the eggs?
Thanks!

Hey wildriverwolf90, you got some good info so all I will say is welcome and keep us updated, my broody is due on the 17th and I have a hatching buddy, now scarlett has one too!!

but you have to give us up to the minute new flashes about whats going on and pics too. [we don't ask much]

 

[Miss Lydia]

my roos are small and I have full size hens and you'll get a mix mine are usually smaller than full size. but I also have bantam hens too. they make nice varieties of shapes and colors.

oh, I have one more question.... I have a full size barred rock hen, but my rooster is a little bantam fellow.... what will I end up with?? will they be full size or small or somewhere in between???

 

[aoxa]

I have to say thats a really cool pic. looks like its viable as for time not sure. except for your dates looks like it will still be the 17th.  sorry about the silkie egg. what kind of light are you using to get that pic?  and look at that stink eye boy you better wear some heavy duty gloves before sticking your hand under her..


 

Thanks! I am not sure.. Just a regular LED flash light. It has to be total blackness, or you can't see well at all. They are getting bigger! Should I stop candelling now?

She actually doesn't bite unless you go in to fast. She doesn't seem to mind me in her space. As long as it isn't dark out, and she knows it's me. She was much more grumpy in the beginning. I think this has been a bonding experience for us! Now she is not afraid of me, where before she was shy. I guess it's because I save her little tidbits. Yesterday she got grapes. She was really happy about that! I can tell she is losing weight though. I have food in her crate, and have since the beginning.

How are your eggs doing?

 

[aoxa]

Though this is nothing to do with the broody topic, I thought I'd share a few pictures of my wee ones to add a bit of cuteness into your day!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Aww how precious! where did these little ones come from?

Though this is nothing to do with the broody topic, I thought I'd share a few pictures of my wee ones to add a bit of cuteness into your day!

 

[aoxa]

Aww how precious! where did these little ones come from? 


 

All from breeders, though the parent stock was from a hatchery in the US (we are in Canada). You can not get EE's shipped around here, not even the co-op has EEs :/

The others are mottled houdan and possibly a frizzle. One can hope!