Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[perchie.girl]

How many times can a broody come off the nest for how long before it causes problems? Summer spent maybe five this morning to eat and poop but DH said he saw her sitting under the coop when he left to pick me up. When I checked she was back to setting, about 15 min later but there is no telling how long she was out. Could this become an issue after we give her the hatching eggs?

Off the nest for fifteen or twenty minutes is fine, if I remember correctly.

deb

 

[bobbieschicks]

My dom hen with the four chicks didn't come home tonight!  Today was their first day out in the run and the chicks went out of the run and so did mama.  She toured them around the yard and was showing them how to forage.  No big deal, she normally lives kind of wild.  But I wasn't home at dusk so I have no idea where she is!  I have to leave for a 10 day trip Tuesday so I guess I just have to trust her and pray that nothing eats them/her tonight or while I am gone.  I thought having hens hatch eggs was less stressful than mail order or incubator.  Nope.  No. Nay.  It is not!

Then she's probably got them hidden somewhere with her. Both my EE and Silkie momma pullets tried to stay under the coop with their new babies at night. I forced them to come out and go into the coop. She's probably doing what comes naturally. Hope they can stay safe. She will do her best to protect them.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I confess I have not read 1100+ pages but I have a question, if it has already been addressed I'm sorry.

I have a hen that is a first time broody (for her and me) she just has 2 eggs (horrible heat here over 100) so have just let her keep the two.  Anyway I have eggs in the incubator that will hatch before hers are ready (if they even make it w/ this heat) so how old can I introduce chicks to this broody and her raise them???

Introducing chicks to a broody is trickier then giving her eggs to hatch. A lot of the time it depends on the breed and temperment of the broody as to whether things will workout.

The way a hen acts normally may be different from her broody state. My EE Smokey was flighty and standoffish before she was broody, but gentle and approachable during broody. She readily accepted all changes to her eggs (her 1st set were duds so I gave her shipped eggs which extended her hatching time) and nest (moved her three times during the daylight hours). Once she was done being broody around the chicks 4th week she was right back to same old mean Smokey.

If possible you may consider letting her finish the hatch by giving her all the eggs at day 14 from the incubator. She will manage them and hatch them around day 19 or 20. The two she is sitting on will most likely be abandoned if they are lagging behind the incubator eggs by greater then two days.

I've given eggs that were on day 14 in the bator to my pullet that was only sitting for a week. She hatched them a week later and raised them just fine. You can shorten and lengthen their sitting time but the eggs will still need 21 days or so to hatch.

If you must give her chicks make sure to remove any eggs she is sitting on at the same time unless they are due that day. Otherwise she will most likely abandon the unhatched eggs in favor of the chicks. My broodies will only wait a day for the unhatched ones.

People have had various levels of success putting chicks from 1 to 3 days old under the hens at night. However a few have even slipped in week old bantams and somehow managed to have the babies and hens get along. That scenario is rare. The issue past a few days old is more about whether the chicks will listen to the hens then whether the hen will accept the chicks.

A few have experienced the hen rejecting and even killing the day old chicks that she finds under herself in the morning, so be sure to check status of chicks and hen in the morning.

Eggs under her are less of a crap shoot then chicks. The hens can sense their chicks by sounds and smells even before they hatch. They can tell who owns which chick even when we can't. I've had my broodies fight over the babies and the babies knew which pullet was their mom from day one. So for a hen to accept a chick she didn't hatch she has to really really really want to be a mom. Not always the case with first time moms.

Let us know how things work out!

 

[Kassaundra]

bobbiechicks, thanks for the answer. She wasn't broody when I got the eggs and there is an approx 10 day diff in time of start setting. These eggs and chicks are to important to me to trust to a first time broody anyway, sounds like I won't try and let her raise them either, just thought it might be easier to have a real chicken mom brood them instead of me.

 

[bobbieschicks]

bobbiechicks, thanks for the answer.  She wasn't broody when I got the eggs and there is an approx 10 day diff in time of start setting.  These eggs and chicks are to important to me to trust to a first time broody anyway, sounds like I won't try and let her raise them either, just thought it might be easier to have a real chicken mom brood them instead of me.

That's just the way it goes, when you want a broody - nada! When you don't want one, they all go broody! Lol!

You could try letting her have one chick and see how she does with it. If it survives the night put out the rest. Or even let her hatch out half the eggs when they are ready to hatch. I love using a broody. I don't have to have them inside my house dusting stuff up and they get integrated into the larger flock easily. There are occasional problems with it, but overall it's so much simpler than the bator to brooder to coop method I was using.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Naima's family of 3 ....



Although it's still only day 22, there was no action at all overnight and Naima is pretty restless on those 5 remaining eggs. The 3 chicks she does have are on the move and stressing her. I've listened to the eggs and tapped. Didn't hear a thing. I'll leave them another day, assuming she continues to sit on them, but I think we may be done. I couldn't be more thrilled with the 3 I do have - got my ever so coveted splash, against ALL odds, and swanky feathered legs on the other 2. I couldn't ask for more!!

 

[bobbieschicks]

Gorgeous! I'd leave the eggs until she moves off them - she'll probably give up soon. I noticed once Smokey got restless it wasn't long before she was done. And those eggs were either early quitters or duds.
Congrats on those beauties!

Naima's family of 3 ....



Although it's still only day 22, there was no action at all overnight and Naima is pretty restless on those 5 remaining eggs. The 3 chicks she does have are on the move and stressing her. I've listened to the eggs and tapped. Didn't hear a thing. I'll leave them another day, assuming she continues to sit on them, but I think we may be done. I couldn't be more thrilled with the 3 I do have - got my ever so coveted splash, against ALL odds, and swanky feathered legs on the other 2. I couldn't ask for more!!

 

[stonykill]

my broody Mama is just an amazing Mama. I always provide fresh water for any mama and babies even though they all free range. Well so far anyway they do. I have 2 broody's sitting in a coop/enclosed run. But I digress. Mama, who is a professional in my eyes passes by the supplied water and brings her 11 lil ones to a mud puddle to drink. As if to say to them "we need to be self sufficient" . If I didn't have so much to do today I would do nothing but watch her and her 11 lil ones.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

She left them. They were all clear. She is in major-league mother mode now!!!!

She has an ACTIVE trio!!!!

Gorgeous! I'd leave the eggs until she moves off them - she'll probably give up soon. I noticed once Smokey got restless it wasn't long before she was done. And those eggs were either early quitters or duds.
Congrats on those beauties!

Quote:

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

She left them. They were all clear. She is in major-league mother mode now!!!!   She has an ACTIVE trio!!!!

Sooo cute.