Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Miss Lydia]

Smokey is beautiful, I love her colors. and don't you love it when chicks stick out all over..

are your white ones Leghorn? they are pretty too.

The temps dropped back into the 50s today - here's momma and the babies this morning in the run.


The other two babies are now 6 weeks old.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Pictures please

Seems like things are settling down here. After a couple of days of loud complaints the four big girls have decided to co-exist with Mama and the chicks in their dog crate in the coop. The day before yesterday I gave mom and the babies time by themselves in the whole coop. Yesterday they got coop time and time in the outdoor pen while the others were free ranging. In the pen Mama introduced them to the joys of dust bathing. They really tried to enjoy it, but didnt seem to grasp the true importance as the ground was kind of damp and the soil is clay, not that fine dry dust. Today I set them up with pen time, but Mama decided to accelerate the schedule. She went over the wall to free range. The babies were in the pen, but later they must have found their way under the gate. Today she was finding tiny baby worms for them. She is a good teacher. And the other girls are staying away, so all is peaceful.
I talked to the folks I got the chicks from, and they said that this year the Buff Orpingtons they have are getting darker feathers, but later they will be buff. Hmmm. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I know, I had to snap that picture - it was just too cute to see them popping out from her feathers. When I first got there it looked like she was alone - then they emerged. I was so worried they'd move out before I got my phone out, turned it on and found the camera app. LOL

The two white ones are a EE/WL mix between my WL roo Foghorn & EE pullet Bandit who died at the start of the year. She had just started laying. The chick, Spots, looks like a WL with a single comb, except he has some black on his feathers. Like someone spilled a little black ink on him. The other one we call Sunny and she is difficult to tell for sure whether she has a single line pea comb or a short single comb - either way I think those would make her a pullet? Time will tell.

Smokey is beautiful, I love her colors. and don't you love it when chicks stick out all over..

are your white ones Leghorn? they are pretty too.

 

[Glasshen]

I did take some pictures of the "first dust bath" yesterday. And free ranging today. I think they are starting to look more like their adoptive mom every day. Maybe Nurture is winning out over Nature.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I did take some pictures of the "first dust bath" yesterday. And free ranging today. I think they are starting to look more like their adoptive mom every day. Maybe Nurture is winning out over Nature.

They are so pretty, and it does look like they are feathering in her color..

 

[Tripp16]

I did take some pictures of the "first dust bath" yesterday. And free ranging today. I think they are starting to look more like their adoptive mom every day. Maybe Nurture is winning out over Nature.

Are you sure those are Buff orp chicks? They look awfully like RIR chicks. Espescially their beaks. I could be wrong....

 

[Glasshen]

I'll be interested to see. I was confused enough to call the hatchery, and I would think they keep them straight. The tiny chicks were yellow, and I remember the RIRs were brown and patterns on the wings when they were just downy chicks. This is only my second generation of chicks, and it is quite puzzling. They seem tall to me...

 

[Niss]

I moved some stuff around and cleaned a little today. I've got 14 duck eggs in a nest; the ones from the coop and a nest under the tree. Is that enough? I know I can't MAKE them broody, but at what point is a duck likely to say "this is a nice clutch. Let's get down to business!"?

 

[Miss Lydia]

I moved some stuff around and cleaned a little today. I've got 14 duck eggs in a nest; the ones from the coop and a nest under the tree. Is that enough? I know I can't MAKE them broody, but at what point is a duck likely to say "this is a nice clutch. Let's get down to business!"?

I have given up on my ducks Niss, one of my bantam hens is sitting on 4 duck eggs, I managed to get the other 6 out from under her. no way she could hatch them all. I hope you do better than me.

 

[stonykill]

I have given up on my ducks Niss, one of my bantam hens is sitting on 4 duck eggs, I managed to get the other 6 out from under her. no way she could hatch them all. I hope you do better than me.

boy are they going to be bigger than her quick like