Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[countrygirl911]

I am glad its working so far when i get home from work will check on them and make sure but they made it thru the night the chicks i used were silkies which are still very small so maybe that made a difference. will the second broody sit in the new nest for 3 more weeks if so i might just leave her to sit if not then i will try to give her 3 chicks tonight

 

[Atomic Ranch]

So, she's out in the run with baby already?!

After reading about broody/baby integration, I noticed many said to not keep them cooped up too late the following morning to avoid stress of close quarters. So I opened the hatch at 6am, saw that there had been no mayhem, and went back to sleep (I work nights). At 9am, I came out to see momma and baby pecking around the run, under the coop. The ladies were mostly leaving them alone. Either baby fell out, or followed momma out. No harm, cushy landing. But it's a bit chilly... maybe 72 now, and 85 later. Baby is not quite 6 days old.

If it gets sleepy, with momma sit? If it gets cold, will she keep it warm? The ramp is back on the coop, and I'm convinced baby can get back up. Any problems, or should I "encourage" them to go back in the coop?

 

[Atomic Ranch]

Hi everyone thank you so much for the help yesterday well yesterday my husband took one broody and moved her next box to its side si the opening is not straight up we use milk crates as the nests and made a little ramp so the chicks can get out in the middle of the night we took a week old chick out there and let the hen listen to chirping and she started to cluck and look around so we placed the chick next to her nothing happened chick chirped broody hen happy then we placed the chick under her during this whole thing she could not see us or the chick after a few min the chick got quiet so DH thought she has smuthered the chick so he went to look and she pecked the crud out of him and the whole time she has been broody she has never done this so we decided to take the chick out and brink it in because we realized it was limpy it gets arounf good but did not want it to get hurt since it already has a limped leg and did not know how the mom would act towards an injured chick once the sun came up so then we got 3 more chicks and as we placed one we took out eggs then we placed the second toop out eggs then placed the third broody hen repositioned herself and settled down chicks chirped a while then settled in to. this morning we checked on them they were all nesstled under her when DH checked on them to make sure they were all there they came out from under mamma and u would think they were gripping at DH with all the chirping so we put mamma back 2 went back right under her to snuggle the 3rd stooed there looking at DH crirrping so he picked it up and placed it back under her and they all got quiet. is this a good sign all went well. will mamma take them out of box and into the muddy run and floor of coop our coops floor is the ground and we hat 12hrs of rain straight and it has everything a mess this summer we plan on putting down a wodden floor.

ok another question what about the second broody she has given up on the first next after 18 days and decided to start over in a new box do i let her sit another 3 weeks or try and slip a few chicks under her to.

also when mamma takes babies out will the other hens and roo hurt them i was not able to move her to second coop that is empty a tree fell on it during storm and put a hole in the roof

I'm just now experimenting with this too. So far, the mother has been very protective. The other hens have taken curious pecks at the chick, but too much and she'll retaliate. There was one pretty big scuffle with another hen (a RIR) yesterday, and I was surprised by the absolute pummeling the mother administered to her. So far, so good, but I'm not comfortable leaving them for too long without checking in.

Glad it's going well for you! Keep us posted... get some pics if/when you can

 

[Oakieridge]

Well I have my first official broody hen!!!

She has been on little nest of 10 eggs for a week now. We had to move her out of her normal coop because she was stealing all the eggs from the other hen she was in with. Plus the roo was paying a little to much attention to her, he kept running around their yard crowing and squaking I couldn't take it anymore. The only pen I had empty was our feedhouse with a little yard attached to it for her to go out in. My question is I didn't have an official nest box for her so put her in a milk crate with straw in it. Will she be okay in that after the chicks hatch? She is a Cukoo Marans hen. She definatly is comfy now because she bit me last night when I went to check on her eggs, lol. She is normally very laid back and has fussed at me when I checked them before but last night she must have had enough, lol. I'm not sure if I will let her keep all the chicks that hatch or just a few. The way she was stealing eggs her poor things will be hatching for several days. I may just let her keep any sexlink roos that hatch out and take all the cukoo marans in to brood in the house.

 

[Angiebubs]

I am hoping for some advice (I have been a chicken mom for 9 months and experience raised exotic birds in the past).

My situation:
coop 10 x 24 ft...with outside run aprox 20 x 30 with 11 hens and 1 roo
I have 2 broody hens....they have been broody for about 3 weeks so far. I wanted to wait until after my vacation and now want to put fertile eggs under them this coming weekend.

Is it possible they will loose their broodiness half way through sitting on fertile eggs since this has been going on so long?

I really would prefer to not seperate the hens out from the rest of the hens-no real way to do this without upsetting either the broodys or having to buy and put up new nestboxes for the rest of my girls and closing off their normal laying area. I would love to hear success stories of people that left hens in witht he rest of the flock & any advice on tips for this?

When you talk about putting a broody in a dog pen with eggs-the hole son this would allow babies to escape once hatched? how soon after hatching do you take them out of cage? Could trying to move her into a dog pen-cause her to losse/give up on sitting?

I sell eggs at my work-last week-one of my customers left a pkg on desk with a note "Please save baby duck egg". After talking to others with more experience_ I went ahead and put this one lone duck egg under one of the broody hens. I am thinking if I wait until one week after Broody mom has been sitting on this, I should be able to then add fertile chicken eggs and they would all hatch around the same time? Ducks=28 days, chickens 21 days). Any thoughts on this working?

 

[bobbieschicks]

She will stop and let the baby under her to get warm - she will take very good care of that baby.

Here's a pic of momma Smokey letting her 3 catch some heat. Can you spot 3 babies?

So, she's out in the run with baby already?!

After reading about broody/baby integration, I noticed many said to not keep them cooped up too late the following morning to avoid stress of close quarters. So I opened the hatch at 6am, saw that there had been no mayhem, and went back to sleep (I work nights). At 9am, I came out to see momma and baby pecking around the run, under the coop. The ladies were mostly leaving them alone. Either baby fell out, or followed momma out. No harm, cushy landing. But it's a bit chilly... maybe 72 now, and 85 later. Baby is not quite 6 days old.

If it gets sleepy, with momma sit? If it gets cold, will she keep it warm? The ramp is back on the coop, and I'm convinced baby can get back up. Any problems, or should I "encourage" them to go back in the coop?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Congrats on the broody! The chicks should be fine in that set up - momma will take good care of them.

Well I have my first official broody hen!!!

She has been on little nest of 10 eggs for a week now. We had to move her out of her normal coop because she was stealing all the eggs from the other hen she was in with. Plus the roo was paying a little to much attention to her, he kept running around their yard crowing and squaking I couldn't take it anymore. The only pen I had empty was our feedhouse with a little yard attached to it for her to go out in. My question is I didn't have an official nest box for her so put her in a milk crate with straw in it. Will she be okay in that after the chicks hatch? She is a Cukoo Marans hen. She definatly is comfy now because she bit me last night when I went to check on her eggs, lol. She is normally very laid back and has fussed at me when I checked them before but last night she must have had enough, lol. I'm not sure if I will let her keep all the chicks that hatch or just a few. The way she was stealing eggs her poor things will be hatching for several days. I may just let her keep any sexlink roos that hatch out and take all the cukoo marans in to brood in the house.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Congrats on the broody - she may go the extra distance if she's very dedicated. But she will need extra watching and good nutrition to stay another 3 weeks worth of time. You may want a back up plan if she abandons her clutch.

As far as ducks, I don't know - hopefully Miss Lydia will chime in since she does ducks.

I am hoping for some advice (I have been a chicken mom for 9 months and experience raised exotic birds in the past).

My situation:
coop 10 x 24 ft...with outside run aprox 20 x 30 with 11 hens and 1 roo
I have 2 broody hens....they have been broody for about 3 weeks so far. I wanted to wait until after my vacation and now want to put fertile eggs under them this coming weekend.

Is it possible they will loose their broodiness half way through sitting on fertile eggs since this has been going on so long?

I really would prefer to not seperate the hens out from the rest of the hens-no real way to do this without upsetting either the broodys or having to buy and put up new nestboxes for the rest of my girls and closing off their normal laying area. I would love to hear success stories of people that left hens in witht he rest of the flock & any advice on tips for this?

When you talk about putting a broody in a dog pen with eggs-the hole son this would allow babies to escape once hatched? how soon after hatching do you take them out of cage? Could trying to move her into a dog pen-cause her to losse/give up on sitting?

I sell eggs at my work-last week-one of my customers left a pkg on desk with a note "Please save baby duck egg". After talking to others with more experience_ I went ahead and put this one lone duck egg under one of the broody hens. I am thinking if I wait until one week after Broody mom has been sitting on this, I should be able to then add fertile chicken eggs and they would all hatch around the same time? Ducks=28 days, chickens 21 days). Any thoughts on this working?

 

[mstricer]

My Marans girl is at it again. She must have caught wind that the poultry auction is next week and she was going. So she decided that if she was going she'd sit on eggs, who can take a mommy away from their babies.

 

[Glasshen]

The dog crate could have some hardware cloth with 1/2 inch spaces attached to the bottom half of the crate walls on the inside if you want to be extra safe. Mom will keep. The chicks really close, they really listen and obey. And after a couple of tries, the other girls will not dare come in the crate if mom and chicks are there.

It was the coldest part of the winter when I was going through this, so the first bit with the crate was in my basement, but that was an over reaction. But if I were doing it now, I would use the crate and a day or so after the hatching I would leave the door propped ajar so they can go out when they want. Mom has a long list of things to teach and she will want to get started.