Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[stonykill]

Another of my RIR's has been sitting on a nest all day long. Wonder if she will commit

 

[Tanichca]

Ok, broody 2 has been moved to an adjacent cage to broody 1. Broody 2 is a rosecomb on 7 of her own eggs, day 3. Broody 3, silkie on silkie eggs, day 2, is still in the coop, but will be moved as soon as I find a spot to put her. Broodies, broodies, everywhere!!

ETA- I also found a hidden nest of EE and Australorp eggs in one of my hay barrels today, maybe someone else is getting ready to sit!

 

[stone_family3]

Okay I have an unusual question.

Noira (BA) has 12 eggs under her, she is notorious for breaking and eating eggs, but I'd thought I'd try it again.

Tonight I went out to check on her and the eggs. She still had all 12 eggs under her all still marked, but it appears to be wet in her nesting bucket. I've already collected the eggs from all my other girls.

Also we had some problems with another bird Olive (EE) who killed off all of my bantam's chicks. So I was thinking of moving Noira to the abandoned duck coop. It's 3'x4' and has a dog house that would make a great box for her and her new brood (if they get that far). Do you think the move would be worth it?

So I guess my questions are what is that wetness from and do you think moving her would be fine?

 

[stonykill]

Okay I have an unusual question.

Noira (BA) has 12 eggs under her, she is notorious for breaking and eating eggs, but I'd thought I'd try it again.

Tonight I went out to check on her and the eggs. She still had all 12 eggs under her all still marked, but it appears to be wet in her nesting bucket. I've already collected the eggs from all my other girls.

Also we had some problems with another bird Olive (EE) who killed off all of my bantam's chicks. So I was thinking of moving Noira to the abandoned duck coop. It's 3'x4' and has a dog house that would make a great box for her and her new brood (if they get that far). Do you think the move would be worth it?

So I guess my questions are what is that wetness from and do you think moving her would be fine?

wetness, no idea. Never seen it. My luck moving isn't great. But the way to do it is at night, cover her with a towel, place her in the new spot. Use some of the old nest if possible. I've probably only successfully moved 3 but tried dozens of times. Bobbies will fill in anything I missed. She has had luck with it.

 

[stonykill]

well the other RIR was in a nest tonight at lockup. 2 of them, side by side divided by a board. Pretty cute. If she sticks with it a day or 2 she will get the ceramic eggs removed and some real ones.
Another broody Sumatra hen in the Sumatra coop. That is 3 in there. 3 of 5 girls in that coop are broody.

I had to break a ferrel Sumatra broody last night. She was in an unsafe spot and ........ well it had to be done. She kept running back to the empty nest. Stubborn little thing.

 

[stone_family3]

Awesome thanks. I am picking up some wood shavings and hay tomorrow to fix up the duck coop.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Blarney - I hope the co-broody situation works out - do you have a cover for that pen? I'm sure you must, but if not, you'll want to put something over it so airborne preds can't get to the babies & hens.

Cute pix!

Hey Wynette!

Thank you! I am in broody heaven.. I saw a Brooder here on BYC and built it with some slight modifications as we really needed to get our Broody Mamma out of the main coop. (the first chick hatched was killed). We now have 3, yes THREE more broodys sitting on eggs! So we are building away and making more modifications ~ biggest modifications so far are to lighten it for ease of moving, bottom boards are cut into skids, again, ease of moving. I am, after all, just an old woman. And we figured out after a torrential downpour that we should have put the roof on an angle to allow run off. How nice of the broodys to give us three whole weeks to build homes for them. ; ) Tandem brooding is still going well. I believe it is because these girls were besties before they brooded.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thanks for the shout out Stony - I've had several successes after multiple failures doing the moves during the day.

Here's my secret:
1. make the new nest area ready and put a little of the old nesting materials in there (unless they were soiled - then skip this part)
2. move the pullet/hen AT NIGHT or IN THE DARK - don't skip this part and think it's almost dark so I'll be okay - it has to be dark enough that they won't see where they are after you move them. I've moved at dusk but my area where I put them is dark so they don't get light once I've moved them
3. put a towel or handtowel over her head to cover her eyes until after she's moved - she won't see the flashlight or moonlight this way. Make sure it's dark when you take the cover off her.
4. check the next morning, but don't let her out until she's sat for the whole day in that spot. You may still have to put her back in the nest a few times to help her "remember" where the new nest is located, but at least she won't fight you over staying there.

Hope it helps!
Bobbie

wetness, no idea. Never seen it. My luck moving isn't great. But the way to do it is at night, cover her with a towel, place her in the new spot. Use some of the old nest if possible. I've probably only successfully moved 3 but tried dozens of times. Bobbies will fill in anything I missed. She has had luck with it.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Nice broody setup! Don't tell my broodies about it or they'll want one too. It looks like you have hardware cloth around the top of the "coop" portion so that seems pretty secure against night time predators. Great job!



Quote:

Hey Wynette!

Thank you! I am in broody heaven.. I saw a Brooder here on BYC and built it with some slight modifications as we really needed to get our Broody Mamma out of the main coop. (the first chick hatched was killed). We now have 3, yes THREE more broodys sitting on eggs! So we are building away and making more modifications ~ biggest modifications so far are to lighten it for ease of moving, bottom boards are cut into skids, again, ease of moving. I am, after all, just an old woman. And we figured out after a torrential downpour that we should have put the roof on an angle to allow run off. How nice of the broodys to give us three whole weeks to build homes for them. ; ) Tandem brooding is still going well. I believe it is because these girls were besties before they brooded.

 

[mmg2681]

We bought fertile eggs June 25th. 21 days was July 16th. Out of the 30 eggs, we have 15 chicks that have hatched.
How long after the 21 days should we leave the eggs that have not hatched? I dont want to pitch them if there is a chance that there is a "late bloomer" in the eggs.
Today, we are on day 23 under a broody hen.