Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

adorable!

Our last chick finally arrived tonight! Hoping she pulls through after a good dry out.

Here are the 3 chicks we hatched:

#1 Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Roo X Black Jap Hen



#2 Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Roo X Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Hen (broody mom)



#3 Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Roo X Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Hen (broody mom)

JUST HATCHED OUT - a few minutes old!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Sounds like you will have your hands full with broodies and chicks

I have five buff Ameraucana pullets that I got from Michigan breeder John Blehm last year.

They are still not yet one year old, but to date every one of those little ladies have hatched at least one clutch of baby chicks. One of the little pullets just hatched two more babies just this week -- it is her second successful clutch of babies. Two more pullets are currently sitting on eggs and will hatch them in about 18 days from now.


To date, these five pullets have successfully hatched 18 babies (pretty good success rate, given the fact that I only give them four eggs to sit on at one time.)


Of course, the two setters are sitting on another eight eggs as I write this (for per pullet), while the two little chicks born this week sleep nearby underneath the protective wings of their broody momma.


I am sitting here wondering how many little chicks these five pullets will have given birth to, by the time they celebrate their first birthday on April 12'th?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Congrat! Can't wait to see pics of the babies

That's a very nice broody box - she will enjoy hanging out in it with her chicks once they hatch. You will want to add some hardware cloth to the lower sides unless you've already done that.

As far as how many eggs - it depends on the initial size of your broody and temperatures where you live - because they will rotate the eggs in/out and around in the nest to get the best hatch. They can really flatten themselves out to cover up as many eggs as possible - but if they can't rotate them in and out of warmer weather, some may get delayed in development and then not hatch.

My Smokey is a smaller LF EE and she had 8 under her - only 3 hatched even though I believe at least 7 were viable when I put them under her. However, it was still winter here so temps fluctuated between 20s to 40s at night AND they were shipped eggs with which I've never had better then 50% hatch rate. So that could have made a difference. Still I don't think I would put more then 6 under her next time. However, when my Lavender Orpington's go broody I could probably slip a dozen under one of them as they are HUGE!

Here's a pic of Smokey before she hatched her babies.

Hello to all you fans of broody hens. I have been keeping chickens since last summer and have definitely caught the chicken bug or addiction lol. We had fourteen chickens total and the first Two birds we got turned out to be roosters. We ate One and decided to keep one just to piss of the neighbors lol. Well recently One of my hens decided to go broody she kinda toyed with it for a few days sitting in the nest all day and squawking at me when I went to check for eggs, but then sleeping on the roost at night. I decided to give this broody thing a try, I gave her a bunch of fake eggs to sit on and four days ago I went out to check on her after dark and she had decided to stay in the nest full time. Great now I need to learn all about broody hens but byc is a great resource for learning and now I can also share my experience so yay byc!!! I built her a broody box out by modifying a dog crate and building a stand for it so I don't loose and square feet of the coop. I moved her in to the box on to her new nest last night and she was still on her nest in the morning! I was in and out of the coop all day and she did get out to stretch her legs and take a massive poop. She is still on her nest and we are well in to night Two in her new nest. Since we have a young stud of a roo in our flock and we only have Eleven hens I'm pretty sure most of my eggs are fertile, I have been saving all the nicest looking Ones for the last Three days and was thinking about setting a clutch tomorrow. I'm not sure how many to set I was thinking somewhere between Ten and Fifteen? My Wife said Three but I'm definitely going to set more than that lol.

here is the set up I built her, I will post pics of her in the coop tomorrow

Oops I thought i had a more complete pic I built a better nest box and lined the bottom with hardware cloth

 

[bobbieschicks]

Pictures please

Well we found something interesting in the corner nest box this morning. Actually 4 of them, kittens!

Our barn cat had kittens in the corner nest box and no one seemed to care. When I checked on them this afternoon there was an egg in there with them. I'm guessing it was laid while mom was up at the house around lunch time. DH said we should move them so the chickens won't attack them. I seriously doubt mom would let that happen, or maybe it hasn't occured to her. I know they were no worse the experience of sharing with the hen that laid the egg.

That pen is pretty quiet, there are EE's and Welsumers in there who take turns free ranging. We have seen the two barn cats sleeping in the nest boxes before, so I can't say I'm surprised she picked that spot. It is very cute tho.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Hey don't fret - I'm sure the ones that were going to hatch will still hatch. As far as candling the eggs - I don't bother past day 18 because all you will see is a big black blob and it will be hard to determine anything by then. Just leave them and wait - it could take up to Day 26 for hatching if they are slower or the calculations were off. Hang in there - not much longer now!

Oh my goodness, I think I must be going crazy with waiting. The 3 'sloshy' eggs that I removed...I check them again about 2 hours later and now I can't see liquid inside! I could swear I saw it moving around before as I gently tipped the egg from side to side. One egg doesn't even sound sloshy now, while the other 2 do a little bit although I think I can see about 3/4 darkness in all three eggs. Arrrrgh!!!! I've put all 3 back under my broody. Does anyone have any photos of what a 21 day fertile egg should look like please? And - does ANY sloshiness at all mean a rotten egg? Might those 2 still be viable (assuming I haven't killed them now!!)?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Aww, I am in love!

Our last chick finally arrived tonight! Hoping she pulls through after a good dry out.

Here are the 3 chicks we hatched:

#1 Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Roo X Black Jap Hen



#2 Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Roo X Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Hen (broody mom)



#3 Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Roo X Blue Splash Dutch Bantam Hen (broody mom)

JUST HATCHED OUT - a few minutes old!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Update on my broody silkie with the infertile eggs. I stole them from her today. She had 12 eggs total and none of them appeared to be fertile. I candled them and they were totally clear and she has been on them for a week. I gave her 7 eggs out of my incubator that are definately fertile and developing. It was so neat! I videod her taking the eggs. I had never seen that before since I am new to having a broody. I'm glad she will be able to have some babies now (hopefully). I'm a little nervous she might not do a good job since it's her first time. She is setting on 2 of my hens eggs which will be 1/2 guinea and the other half chicken (RIR and Black Australorp) and the other 5 eggs are from my father in law and he has a blue cochin rooster a blue cochin hen and a mixed hen I hatched out last year. I really hope he gets some blue cochins and that she hatches out my guinea/chicken mix because I want to see what they turn out like.

If I can figure out how to upload the video I will. It's really cute!

There is an owl after my guineas! This is the second night he/she has came. I am setting up a game camera tomorrow. I don't know what to do about it. They are protected.

If the guineas are protected then the owl can't get to them right? and congrats on getting mama to accept the eggs, My first time broody she just turned 1, is doing an awesome job, I think the key is to not over whelm them with too many eggs to sit on and hatch. just my opinon though. Keep us updated and hope we can see the video..

 

[Miss Lydia]

Hey don't fret - I'm sure the ones that were going to hatch will still hatch. As far as candling the eggs - I don't bother past day 18 because all you will see is a big black blob and it will be hard to determine anything by then. Just leave them and wait - it could take up to Day 26 for hatching if they are slower or the calculations were off. Hang in there - not much longer now!

X2 just for your enjoyment...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pictures-and-videos-of-candling-chicken-eggs

 

[silkymom1986]

Hey everyone!!! Today is hatch day for my broody hen, she has 4 eggs under her, this is her first hatch, mine too with a broody hen, so I'm excited and nervous, I can tell she wants to be a mommy so bad, she has been sitting the whole time, with exception of about 10 minutes a day when she would get up to eat real fast, how will I know if they hatch???

 

[Frost Homestead]

X2 just for your enjoyment...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/pictures-and-videos-of-candling-chicken-eggs

that video is awesome