Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

My wife and I are new to the game and lost one egg my wife dropped, of course it was fertile and she was so upset I cleaned up the mess in the basement near the incubator( we had 20 eggs and put half in an incubator) Next I went out to Broody MC Buff and looked her eggs over, she was quite mad and if looks could kill. The results were one egg I took and cracked from the incubator and it was not fertile, left all 10 of Brody's eggs because at day 14 I was still unsure. I hope tomorrow when I remove the egg turner at day 18 I can cull anything that looks bad but I fear killing any chicks due to my lack of experience and I think JOSHU and others have a point about letting nature take care of things. Broody was so upset by my day 14 visit she had diarrhea all over the coop and so I had to give her acv water and bread with live yogurt culture. Did the trick but I think my visit and picking up eggs was the cause.

Broody poop can have a life of it's own! Bless your heart for having to clean up runny broody poop - I believe that's a hazmat situation - LOL - toxic clean up on isle 4.

We candled every day with our 1st incubator hatch as it was White Leghorn white eggs and we were studying it as our homeschool project. We tracked development and out of 13 shipped eggs had 6 hatch with 5 living past Day 3. 4 were cockerels and 1 pullet. That candling experience was wonderful because we had a clear picture inside the egg until day 17 when it was just a big blob. lol. The brightness of the flashlight was important as well as the darkness of the room. Even then we still went into lockdown with a few "unknowns" because I wasn't willing to toss anyone who may have been developing.

As far as whether or not to candle - it does take a lot of practice and even then doesn't guarantee a hatch just because you see something developing. Now I tend to err on the side of caution by leaving the eggs unless they are (1) clear (infertile or not developing) or (2) cracked/smelly (possible bacteria - may explode). If the embroyo is not developing properly the broody won't stay on the egg after everyone else hatches and most likely will abandon or kick them out of the nest. If they are developing properly - they will have a better chance of hatching if they are left under the broody's control and not messed with a great deal. Usually she won't abandon an egg with a viable chick in it. Smokey hatched her babies over 3 days. I've had left over eggs from my broody experiences and candling them showed either early quitters or late quitters - but not a chick still developing.

I believe the benefit to candling is mostly at the start and end of the time period - if the eggs aren't developing you can quickly slip new ones under her so she doesn't sit for 21+ days and have no result. And then if nothing has hatched by the 25th day after she started sitting, candling will help you see whether there is movement or life still in the egg. Otherwise, I like to leave the eggs alone to hatch as naturally as possible.

 

[bobbieschicks]

and now there are 10. A black Broody Sumatra joined the club

Congrats!

 

[JakRat]

I almost got one of those from a friend. I did some research and everything I saw said that they could but they dont normally.

I always wondered about the breeds of hens that dont go broody. I mean the breed would have to at some point or we wouldnt have any of that breed naturally... right???

 

[JakRat]

That's how most of them are LOL they decide to go for a stroll to the neighbors and the field across the street on the search for bugs and other goodies!
I think they forget about their eggs until they go

to roost at night and go "HEEEEEEY Thaaaaat's what I was doing before I needed a snack!!"

I do have one Mamma that is a full-time she just decided to put her nest under our steps into the house!! (Bad location) And Pretty Girl is pretty good, she took over two nests from RIR hens that are my part-timers and is trying to take care of the two nests at once! She rotates from one nest to the other!

I have double duty broodies right now so its really neat to watch. They take turns hanging outside for a bit and one always stays with the eggs. I gave my silkie one egg to sit on and my Speckled Sussex has the other 3. When the silkie gets up the sussex will get up and move the silkies egg into her nest box to sit on while she is away... the silkie hasnt quite figured how to get her egg back though and just sits there waiting for it... she is not the brightest crayon in the box! I cant wait till they hatch! I am curious to see what happens with the babies, like who will go under who!

 

[JakRat]

I also won't be that upset if Melows eggs dont hatch because the chicks will most likleys die, I can imagine Melow taking her chicks into the feild then coming back with none!

lol aww poor Melow!!! I am so interested to see what happens. Maybe once she hatches them out her mommy mode will kick in.

 

[JakRat]

I tend to think the same thing. Obviously, chickens hatch eggs without human help...and since I've just created more upset than nature, I think I'll just butt out.
Thanks for the response.

I agree, I only candled once just to see what was developing and what wasnt. The last hatch I had didnt go so well and I think it was because I was constantly candling. The only thing I have been doing the past few days is seeing if any eggs are pipping yet (I got the eggs from a farmer who was unsure how long they had been sat on) but I do that in the coop for about 20 seconds, so hopefully that didnt mess anything up. My last broody I had in the house and I was constantly watching her. Now that the same girl has gone broody with a friend I find it less stressful as her friend sticks up for both of them, so no problems this time so far. Always a neat experiment when it comes to chicken stuff right??

 

[annabell254]

o, no, not naturally...but we (humans) have been taking the eggs and hatching them ourselves for some time, and it has slowly been bred out of them, while other traits like egg laying ability or size for meat production has been bred into them...it is kinda like breeding dogs, I have to be there at the breeding and birth or I may not have a litter or they may all die at birth...and people will say 'they are only dogs' 'they have to be able to reproduce or there would be none haha'...but dogs have been kept by humans for so long that many breeds now rely on us to procreate them or there will be no more (most dogs are bred to apperence standards or work standards, not for the ability to survive or re-produce naturally)...some are to small to have a natural birth and have to have a c-section and some to large to be able to have normal contractions...not to mention in the wild they will have 14-22 babies and hopefully 2-3 will make it .... when humans get involved there is no natural selection (which would select for the ability to survive un-assisted) there is human selection which selects for things like egg laying ability or meat production or beauty or in some cases or broodiness...but for the most part if you need a hen to lay eggs either to produce babies for selling or eggs for eating, her going broody gets in the way... so for many this is an un-desirable trait... when it is easy to put some eggs in the brooder or under a hen who has been bred to do it.... and hundreds of years later....very few egg or meat hens will go broody...of course there are always exceptions and this trait could probably be bred back into a breed if you wanted to have a hobby for a few to a dozen years

 

[annabell254]

SORRY! I was responding to a question...but when I posted it, the question did not appear and I cannot find it!!! I must have been WAY back in the thread! SORRY!

 

[JakRat]

o, no, not naturally...but we (humans) have been taking the eggs and hatching them ourselves for some time, and it has slowly been bred out of them, while other traits like egg laying ability or size for meat production has been bred into them...it is kinda like breeding dogs, I have to be there at the breeding and birth or I may not have a litter or they may all die at birth...and people will say 'they are only dogs' 'they have to be able to reproduce or there would be none haha'...but dogs have been kept by humans for so long that many breeds now rely on us to procreate them or there will be no more (most dogs are bred to apperence standards or work standards, not for the ability to survive or re-produce naturally)...some are to small to have a natural birth and have to have a c-section and some to large to be able to have normal contractions...not to mention in the wild they will have 14-22 babies and hopefully 2-3 will make it .... when humans get involved there is no natural selection (which would select for the ability to survive un-assisted) there is human selection which selects for things like egg laying ability or meat production or beauty or in some cases or broodiness...but for the most part if you need a hen to lay eggs either to produce babies for selling or eggs for eating, her going broody gets in the way... so for many this is an un-desirable trait... when it is easy to put some eggs in the brooder or under a hen who has been bred to do it.... and hundreds of years later....very few egg or meat hens will go broody...of course there are always exceptions and this trait could probably be bred back into a breed if you wanted to have a hobby for a few to a dozen years

Thats what I was thinking too. I was just curious. Its just so weird when you think about it!!! I have two broody hens right now. That would be a neat hobby to breed broodies... hmmm do I hear a business venture in my future

 

[bobbieschicks]

I always wondered about the breeds of hens that dont go broody. I mean the breed would have to at some point or we wouldnt have any of that breed naturally... right???

If the instinct were not bred out of them, then yes they would all be broody at some point.

But breeds like White Leghorns have been bred to produce, not brood, so that it is very rare to find a broody WL.