Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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Almost missed this one since I've been so busy lately - adorable family! I love the awkward teen years for chicks - it's so much fun to watch them go from fuzzy to this stage and then see how their feathers change to adult. I think Bandit would have one day looked alot like your momma Scarlett. Beautiful!


Miss Lydia said:
Forgot to add the teenagers My EE's Just wanted to share a couple pics of mama Scarlett and her 3 littles!!
Click to expand...
 
Only 9 days left I am so excited!! It's my hens first time, and she's seems to be doing great!! I can't wait!!!
 
indi said:
Only 9 days left I am so excited!! It's my hens first time, and she's seems to be doing great!! I can't wait!!!
Click to expand...

thumbsup.gif
let us know when the big day gets here and always excited to hear of new mamas and chicks plus lots of pics.
jumpy.gif
 
Hello, I just found this forum. This is my first year of hatching my own eggs. I have put 46 in and incubator for hire that is on a webcam http://cmfarm.us/cam_4.html on Mar 3rd. I also had a hen go broody that weekend and put 14 eggs under her on Mar 5th. Some of the other hens where picking on her and making her get off her nest. So, I put her and her eggs in the chicken tractor. A nice dry safe house for her. This is about as much as I have found out so far about broodies. She gets off the nest about 1 time a day. She keeps her nest very clean. I was surprised. I was wondering how I was going to clean it out with her on it. She comes out drinks, eats a little and 1 big poop then back on the eggs. It is amazing how the system changes so fast. Since she eats very little now I have been given her the high fat bird seed I put out for the birds in winter and spring, nut and fruit mix as well has the layer pellets. She also gets the left over fully cooked eggs. I know she will be hatching these lil chicks real soon. I'm guessing mar 26th-27th. What I need to know is what next? Do I take the chicks away and put them with my incubator chicks and stick more eggs under her? Or, do I let her raise her little family? The last one has it's own set of questions. Do I keep the family away from the flock? Keep them in the tractor for a couple weeks? How about food do I feed them the same as my indoor brood? Or do I let the family out and mix and forge with the flock? Setting chick feed out with the flock will make a huge mess and the adults will eat it and not let the babies in. If I keep the tractor open and put feed in it the adults will crowd into the tractor. I seen them do it when I used it as a half way house for chicks later year. See I said I have a lot of questions! Should I move the family into the main coop? Maybe put them in an empty corner?

Buffy my broody BO in the chicken tractor.


The main coop before we where finished. Well we still need to finish the closet on the end.

The tractor we built a couple years ago. It was built to house our 2 fat EE's. While we lived in the city. No chickens in our city
so we had to keep a low profile. Then we bought a place in the country and expanded. Then it was used a a halfway house for chicks.
Too big for brooder too small to forge. Last year we had around 50 chickens.
We got rid of all the rooster except 1 and all the breeds I didn't want to breed RIR,golden comets and cali whites.
Now just 2 Marans, 7EE's ,1BO and 1giant silverlaced cochin the kids pet. The only reason I still have the BO is she went broody LOL
The day I sold all the other hens she went broody she knew how to stay! By the end of the season I hope to have 14 EE's and 14 BCM
Keep it under 30 maybe. Too much coffee this morning I rambled sorry.
 
Welcome! Looks like you have plenty of room for those chickens :)

As far as what's next - you will need to play it by ear a little and trust in your broody. I kept momma and babies in their side of the coop for a couple of days because I was worried about possibly needing to separate my chicks & broody from the others since my lead rooster flung one of the 2 day old babies by the neck. But she quickly moved in and showed me that she can keep them safe and take care of them. She fended off all the others, including the roosters. The best part is that she watches out for the babies & will run off anyone who comes too close. She's gotten a little laxed since they are now 3 weeks old, but she still stays close nearby. She takes care of them and I don't have the dust/mess in the house. Within a week she had the babies out of the coop and down around scratching the ground.

The only part I don't like is that they are with her and have imprinted with her - so they don't come near me :( but I know it's better for their safety and merging into the flock for her to have control over them.

As far as food goes - I have found that the younger chicks and babies don't eat the layer feed or the oyster shell even though it's laying around freely offered to the others. But it seems everyone wants to eat the babies food! LOL! I put out dishes of MannaPro Medicated for the babies since that's what I had on hand, then when those bags were gone I switched them to Grow & Start Medicated and they will eventually stop eating that and start with the pellets when they are old enough. I put several bowls of baby feed under the eaves of the coop and the big chick feeder hangs in the coop. They don't squabble too much over the feeding stations and everyone seems to be eating plenty.




Peach2u said:
Hello, I just found this forum. This is my first year of hatching my own eggs. I have put 46 in and incubator for hire that is on a webcam http://cmfarm.us/cam_4.html on Mar 3rd. I also had a hen go broody that weekend and put 14 eggs under her on Mar 5th. Some of the other hens where picking on her and making her get off her nest. So, I put her and her eggs in the chicken tractor. A nice dry safe house for her. This is about as much as I have found out so far about broodies. She gets off the nest about 1 time a day. She keeps her nest very clean. I was surprised. I was wondering how I was going to clean it out with her on it. She comes out drinks, eats a little and 1 big poop then back on the eggs. It is amazing how the system changes so fast. Since she eats very little now I have been given her the high fat bird seed I put out for the birds in winter and spring, nut and fruit mix as well has the layer pellets. She also gets the left over fully cooked eggs. I know she will be hatching these lil chicks real soon. I'm guessing mar 26th-27th. What I need to know is what next? Do I take the chicks away and put them with my incubator chicks and stick more eggs under her? Or, do I let her raise her little family? The last one has it's own set of questions. Do I keep the family away from the flock? Keep them in the tractor for a couple weeks? How about food do I feed them the same as my indoor brood? Or do I let the family out and mix and forge with the flock? Setting chick feed out with the flock will make a huge mess and the adults will eat it and not let the babies in. If I keep the tractor open and put feed in it the adults will crowd into the tractor. I seen them do it when I used it as a half way house for chicks later year. See I said I have a lot of questions! Should I move the family into the main coop? Maybe put them in an empty corner?

Buffy my broody BO in the chicken tractor.


The main coop before we where finished. Well we still need to finish the closet on the end.

The tractor we built a couple years ago. It was built to house our 2 fat EE's. While we lived in the city. No chickens in our city
so we had to keep a low profile. Then we bought a place in the country and expanded. Then it was used a a halfway house for chicks.
Too big for brooder too small to forge. Last year we had around 50 chickens.
We got rid of all the rooster except 1 and all the breeds I didn't want to breed RIR,golden comets and cali whites.
Now just 2 Marans, 7EE's ,1BO and 1giant silverlaced cochin the kids pet. The only reason I still have the BO is she went broody LOL
The day I sold all the other hens she went broody she knew how to stay! By the end of the season I hope to have 14 EE's and 14 BCM
Keep it under 30 maybe. Too much coffee this morning I rambled sorry.
Click to expand...
 

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