Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

day 17 this is taking forever ... first time hatch with broody hen ... i hope most hatch out .. how many eggs can a bantam have ??

Depends on the hen really. My bantam brahma has eight right now. 4 LF and 4 bantam eggs.

 

[farmer boy]

okay well she has 8 eggs all bantams but 2 are standard size ... people always say that they can't have a lot but she is doing well she can rotate them all and move them if she has to ... and most i candled are fertilized

 

[bobbieschicks]

okay well she has 8 eggs all bantams but 2 are standard size ... people always say that they can't have a lot but she is doing well she can rotate them all and move them if she has to ... and most i candled are fertilized 

It's really dependent on what size eggs you are hatching and your broody, her size and abilities. My Topsy is a tiny Silkie, on her 2nd time I've given her three LF eggs. So far she's managing them well. My Smokey is a small Araucana and she has four LF eggs. Doing fine too. I could probably put more under Smokey, but last time I gave her LF eggs she only hatched three out of eight. They were shipped eggs, so that may have made a difference.

 

[farmer boy]

ya mine were all lay'ed ... ya 6 bantam eggs there are bigger and smaller bantam eggs and 2 standard eggs both pretty big

 

[darkmatter]

I've been chickenated:

 

[Miss Lydia]

I've been chickenated:

Look at all those eggs! Congrats !!!

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I've been chickenated:

Wowza! That is just amazing! Are those Australorps?!? If so, you have given me hope for one of my large girls to go broody.

 

[stonykill]

congrats darkmatter. I have been surprised this year by 3 of my RIR's and one white leghorn going broody. My Sumatra's I expect, the big girls and especially the hatchery white leghorn surprised me.

 

[Johnn]

Awww im happy for my friend, she has a chick hatching underher light sussex hen

 

[Tripp16]

Hi everyone!

Well some of you may know I got ducks a while back as ducklings. Well now they dont miss a day of laying and have a huge perfect nest under their house covered up with straw so I cant find them. But I would like to know. How do you know if a duck is going broody? The reason I ask if my Cayuga Lilly was walking around fluffed up doing a loud under quack but soon stopped when I cleaned their pool out.

Could that be her "broody cluck?" Also how long if she does go broody should I wait to see if shes dedicated?