Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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We are having the coop enlarged this weekend, and a whole new pen built, so mama and babies ( due to hatch Friday/Saturday is still in the hutch and will be until the work is done , when they hatch, how soon before they eat, and want out of the nest box? And will mama eat the chick crumble with the babies? I'm not sure what to have ready and when. ( first time broody with eggs) I need to know what to provide and how long she will stay in the best or want out side with the chicks. Thanks
 
karlamaria said:
We are having the coop enlarged this weekend, and a whole new pen built, so mama and babies ( due to hatch Friday/Saturday is still in the hutch and will be until the work is done , when they hatch, how soon before they eat, and want out of the nest box? And will mama eat the chick crumble with the babies? I'm not sure what to have ready and when. ( first time broody with eggs) I need to know what to provide and how long she will stay in the best or want out side with the chicks. Thanks
Click to expand...

Momma will show them the food as soon as you stick it out there or at least mine did. It wont hurt your momma hen to eat chick crumbles just have some layer feed for her to eat later on. Thats just what I do.

My hen tried taking her 3 out on the 4 foot balcony the DAY they hatched!
ep.gif
So it all depends on the hen. As soon as the last egg hatches she will probably want to get out on the move with them, believe me she has list of things to show them in short time she mothers them! (Its very cool to watch!) Enjoy!!
 
BTW everyone! I am Scarlett456 I just changed my name to a more "manly" name.
lau.gif
Tripp16 is my new name because my name is Tripp and (right now) I have 16 chickens.... Which is always changing.
lau.gif
 
...and the drama continues.

I had 2 hens on eggs a week apart. I tried to move the first one with her eggs to a safer location, and she gave up on the eggs, so that batch was lost. She left the eggs a day i was at work and they were very cold when i got home.

The second hen I left alone and her eggs started hatching a few days early and continued to hatch for 3-4 days. At first it was great; I saw one fluffy yellow butt, then two, then a darker one and finally four chicks. I came home yesterday to see that she brought them down the mini ramp I made her to the food and water i set up. I peaked in the nest box she hatched her eggs in and saw one dead chick, which i assumed was natural cause or suffocation or something that wasnt too worrisome. Then I opened the side door to look in at her and the chicks and there was another one dead on the floor and she was chasing one around pecking it. I didnt realize what was going on until she pecked it twice more, and to its death right in front of me. I got my husband, we ran her out of the coop and collected the babies. 8 out of 10 eggs hatched, she killed 3 and I now have 5 in my garage under a lamp away from mama. All 3 chicks she killed were dark Dorking chicks, shes a Buff Orp and did not seem to be bothering the light colored chicks.

Did she kill them because they werent 'her' chicks? Or maybe she was distraught once they went down the ramp and didnt come back up to sit under her, but that doesnt explain why she killed the one in the nest box.... Im just not sure this whole 'chicken life' is for me.
 
Tripp16 said:
BTW everyone! I am Scarlett456 I just changed my name to a more "manly" name.
lau.gif
Tripp16 is my new name because my name is Tripp and (right now) I have 16 chickens.... Which is always changing.
lau.gif
Click to expand...

HOw do you change your name on here? I was even thinking about starting over with a whole new profile to change my name.
 
jgervais said:
...and the drama continues.

I had 2 hens on eggs a week apart. I tried to move the first one with her eggs to a safer location, and she gave up on the eggs, so that batch was lost. She left the eggs a day i was at work and they were very cold when i got home.

The second hen I left alone and her eggs started hatching a few days early and continued to hatch for 3-4 days. At first it was great; I saw one fluffy yellow butt, then two, then a darker one and finally four chicks. I came home yesterday to see that she brought them down the mini ramp I made her to the food and water i set up. I peaked in the nest box she hatched her eggs in and saw one dead chick, which i assumed was natural cause or suffocation or something that wasnt too worrisome. Then I opened the side door to look in at her and the chicks and there was another one dead on the floor and she was chasing one around pecking it. I didnt realize what was going on until she pecked it twice more, and to its death right in front of me. I got my husband, we ran her out of the coop and collected the babies. 8 out of 10 eggs hatched, she killed 3 and I now have 5 in my garage under a lamp away from mama. All 3 chicks she killed were dark Dorking chicks, shes a Buff Orp and did not seem to be bothering the light colored chicks.

Did she kill them because they werent 'her' chicks? Or maybe she was distraught once they went down the ramp and didnt come back up to sit under her, but that doesnt explain why she killed the one in the nest box.... Im just not sure this whole 'chicken life' is for me.
Click to expand...

I am so sorry this has happened, thank goodness you were able to get the others away to safety. I cannot say what was going on in her mind as to why she killed only the dorking chicks. were they the ones that followed her outside? please don't give up. It's not a good way to be introduced into broody moms for sure but you have 5 healthy chicks.and hopefully more broodys that will be great mamas. When I have a hen go broody and she doesn't live up to the name mama she doesn't get to go again. maybe I'm wrong but It's just me.
 
Update:

I checked the chickens around 9:30 this morning. Upon aproach, I spotted first my other hen who I swore wasn't in the pen last night when I locked up. Next I spotted Chickie and finally her one lone chick. It was lying down in the straw on its side with it's eye half closed. OH NO!!

It was still alive but weak. It perked up a bit with a little water and gentle handling. It apparently was taking a nap. Or trying to. I'd heard of chicks getting so tired that they fall asleep where they're standing. That's sorta what she did. At first it looked like she was really done for. I put her in the nest and left. When I checked on her again about 30 minutes later, Chickie was back in the nest sitting on her and she seemed better.

I tried to check her little crop to see if she'd been eating but everything is so tiny that I have no idea I'd know what I'm feeling anyway. I've seen the chick peck at stuff so I know she's probably got the idea down. Chickie has been trying to show her how to eat too, like pecking food and dropping it for her.

Anyone have any ideas on what might be going on or what I can do to help see that this chick makes it? This might be the only one that she hatches so it is important to me that it survives.
 
jgervais said:
...and the drama continues.

I had 2 hens on eggs a week apart. I tried to move the first one with her eggs to a safer location, and she gave up on the eggs, so that batch was lost. She left the eggs a day i was at work and they were very cold when i got home.

The second hen I left alone and her eggs started hatching a few days early and continued to hatch for 3-4 days. At first it was great; I saw one fluffy yellow butt, then two, then a darker one and finally four chicks. I came home yesterday to see that she brought them down the mini ramp I made her to the food and water i set up. I peaked in the nest box she hatched her eggs in and saw one dead chick, which i assumed was natural cause or suffocation or something that wasnt too worrisome. Then I opened the side door to look in at her and the chicks and there was another one dead on the floor and she was chasing one around pecking it. I didnt realize what was going on until she pecked it twice more, and to its death right in front of me. I got my husband, we ran her out of the coop and collected the babies. 8 out of 10 eggs hatched, she killed 3 and I now have 5 in my garage under a lamp away from mama. All 3 chicks she killed were dark Dorking chicks, shes a Buff Orp and did not seem to be bothering the light colored chicks.

Did she kill them because they werent 'her' chicks? Or maybe she was distraught once they went down the ramp and didnt come back up to sit under her, but that doesnt explain why she killed the one in the nest box.... Im just not sure this whole 'chicken life' is for me.
Click to expand...

This is really interesting! That she pecked the ones that weren't light colored. I'm sorry that happened to you (and them). I think you did the right thing taking them out from under her.

I think you'll do fine in the 'chicken life'. I know for me this whole hatching business can be intense. Other than that, I love having chickens :)
 

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