Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

Question for the seasoned gals and guys here.
In march my broody hatched out 2 chicks, after 8 weeks the broody just up and walked away, leaving them to fend for them selves. She started to lay, then bam right back into being broody . Right now she is sitting on 6 eggs and 6 hatched yesterday. I also have apther broody who is sitting on 10 eggs that will be hatching put this cming Sunday.
We are not keeping but a few chicks, as there promised to a gal who lost hers to a coyote. My question is, will these babies we do plan to keep do ok with the adult chickens once mama decides she is done being mom? The last two were always being picked on by the older girls, though its fine now as there grown it was rough on them, especially when one had to go to another farm as he turned out to be a rooster,
With the long winter coming on I hate to think there going to be picked on constantly and I do not have a separate coop . Summer was not bad as I let them out all afternoon, with winter it's not going to be possible as the snow is just to high . They will need to stay in there pen for the winter months with the big girls. What do you all do ?

My babies have done fine once the mommas have left because the mommas did a great job integrating them into the flock. That doesn't mean they won't be pecked on at any time as they still have to merge into the pecking order on their own. The mommas just help get them the introductions. In the winter you can put out things for them to hide behind and under - a milk crate or box with open sides where the babies can dash but bigs can't get in. You can also hang stuff like cabbage and suet for them to peck at -- get a flock block or two for the run and let them peck those things. I find the chickens tend to bond more when it's cold and they are forced to huddle to stay warm.

 

[3 NH reds]

Question for the seasoned gals and guys here.
In march my broody hatched out 2 chicks, after 8 weeks the broody just up and walked away, leaving them to fend for them selves. She started to lay, then bam right back into being broody . Right now she is sitting on 6 eggs and 6 hatched yesterday. I also have apther broody who is sitting on 10 eggs that will be hatching put this cming Sunday.
We are not keeping but a few chicks, as there promised to a gal who lost hers to a coyote. My question is, will these babies we do plan to keep do ok with the adult chickens once mama decides she is done being mom? The last two were always being picked on by the older girls, though its fine now as there grown it was rough on them, especially when one had to go to another farm as he turned out to be a rooster,
With the long winter coming on I hate to think there going to be picked on constantly and I do not have a separate coop . Summer was not bad as I let them out all afternoon, with winter it's not going to be possible as the snow is just to high . They will need to stay in there pen for the winter months with the big girls. What do you all do ?

They should be fine. MY Jersey Giant chicks got picked on by the Older Rangers but once pecking order was in place everthing was good,

 

[Silkie Chicken]

In that case they should all do just fine together in the same housing - the only thing I would do is mark the eggs you put in there if the others are currently or start laying. That way if anyone gets on her nest you won't have eggs developing at different times. Congrats on the broody!

Thx so much for the info the others are not laying yet so I will not mark the eggs thx so much for everything

 

[karlamaria]

Question please how long do I wait for unhitched eggs ? They were suposed to hatch yesterday, but not yet when she went broody we, put 6 under her, the next day 6 more, Sunday we got the first 6' but so far not from the others that were due yesterday. how long before we toss?

 

[Silkie Chicken]

Question please how long do I wait for unhitched eggs ? They were suposed to hatch yesterday, but not yet when she went broody we, put 6 under her, the next day 6 more, Sunday we got the first 6' but so far not from the others that were due yesterday. how long before we toss?

What I heard it was 2-3 days. Thats what it says in all my chicken books.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Hey there, I hope I'm not out of line responding, since I only have experience with 2 ducks, and just in the past couple weeks... But in my Ducks' cases, the first chick hatched on Day 34, and the other Duck's babies started hatching on Days 33-34. Everything I read said 28 days. So I guess I'd wait a few extra days. Hopefully someone with more experience responds.

 

[karlamaria]

She is. Still sitting on them, I am going to leave them several days, the last time she sat on eggs we removed 3 on day 3 and when I. Opened them they were fully formed

 

[Kagu]

Question please how long do I wait for unhitched eggs ? They were suposed to hatch yesterday, but not yet when she went broody we, put 6 under her, the next day 6 more, Sunday we got the first 6' but so far not from the others that were due yesterday. how long before we toss?

give her about 4 days... Ours hatched 3 days after it was supposed to.. day 24.. god it was hard to wait for her... she was adorable.. her mom sucked tho and she ended up dying

But we have another broody hen to wait for hers to hatch!

 

[3 NH reds]

She is. Still sitting on them, I am going to leave them several days, the last time she sat on eggs we removed 3 on day 3 and when I. Opened them they were fully formed

I have seen stories here of day 25 hatching so yea wait it out. Yesterday I went in on our broody to get ready for a new batch of eggs. The nest was a big mess of old egg goop. She would not leave so I switched out nesting boxes and took the ceramic eggs to wash, she sat there in a daze in an empty box while I cleaned the ceramic eggs. Last night I got 2 dozen fertile eggs from a guy who gave better vibes, he even offered to replace any eggs that didn't work. So Buffy has 12 and the incubator has 12 . Poor buffy felt so thin and she had plucked alot of feathers to regulate temp and humidity, just hope they grow back soon after the hatch as Fall is here.

 

[Aris]

Now this conversation makes me wonder ,what affects the hatching period except the broody ? Could it be environment temperature and humidity, what else? Because no mater if it's March or August my broody hens ALLWAYS hatch their eggs during the 20-21 days ,rarely a chick comes the 19th day ,most of the chicks have hatched by the end of the 21st day ,22th day the morning they leave the nest .

My broody no4 for 2012,which was also no2 ,it's her second time, just hatched a chick ,it's 19th or 20th day for 2 eggs I'm not sure they were already at the nest, and 18th for 5 eggs ,started with 13 eggs and crushed 6 ,it's my fault cause I hadn't prepare the broody nest well.