PlymouthBR broody hatchalong.

[pepe1]

I had a Rhode Island red go broody and moved her after a couple of days to be sure she would stay broody to a brooder box i had made, placed 9 fertile eggs under her and seen the next day she had moved the nest and eggs to the other side of the box where she was sitting happily, did not disturb her any more except to refresh food and water. on September 4th she emerged with 9 baby chicks, what i am trying to say is move the broody to an isolated area, make a nest with the fertile eggs and leave her alone, she knows what to do and will take it from there, loud noises, other hens and constant supervision makes her nervous and will cause problems. This has worked for me many times. I hope your last eggs hatch, good luck!!

 

[L1sa]

Day 17

Everything is quiet and peaceful and all going along nicely. I noticed today that her visits outside have been much shorter than they have been.

I spent all afternoon today getting Doris's brooder ready and moved into the run. All that's needed now is Doris and some chicks

 

[L1sa]

Day 21

Last few days have been quiet and peaceful, no more calamaties. And no sign of any movement yet. Trying to stay focused at work, but it's hard! Haha. Hopefully when I go home there will be some sign of pips.

 

[L1sa]

Late day 22

Still not happening. We are coming to the end of day 22 and still no sign of anything.

I did water candle earlier and they both wiggled, one a lot more than the other, so not all hope is lost.

I have however picked up 4 x day old chicks today which I intend to sneak under her tonight. They are currently sitting in a box in my kitchen peeping away loudly, with a hot water bottle next to one end.

 

[L1sa]

The deed is done! Like a ninja, I snuck those babies under Doris tonight and they went from Peep Peep Peep to complete silence the minute they went under her. I went back to check on her half an hour later and she was all puffed up and covering all the babies. Success so far. Phew...

 

[L1sa]

Day 23

We have a pip!

 

[L1sa]

That's it. Baby is out and under mumma. So cute. So my hatchalong comes to an end.

Out of the 6 fertile eggs I put under her, all began to develop, but for this reason or that, they didn't make it through to hatch, apart from this one little cutie. I haven't seen her again since she wriggled under mumma, so not even sure what colour she'll be when she's all fluffed up!

I have certainly learned a lot along the way, so the next broody who happens to brood up will hopefully benefit from all this experience. And as I bought 3 x day old Silkies yesterday I'm sure that will happen not too far into the future!!

Thanks for following along, good luck to everyone hatching or just loving life with Chickens!

Lisa
X

 

[L1sa]

 

[L1sa]

Hi there,

Just thought I'd update.

Here is our little baby that we hatched (at 7 weeks) and I'm pleased to say I got lucky and ended up with a beautiful little girl, who hopefully will one day lay me blue eggs.

And here's one of the Silkies I bought as a day old, he's a bit of a feisty Roo!

My last hatch was a bit of a disaster, but boy did I learn a lot of lessons along the way.

I have a new broody and she currently has 6 eggs under her, due to hatch this weekend, and all have developed and are looking good. None have mysteriously vanished, been broken, or been collected!!!

What did I do differently? Pretty much everything! It started off by sorting out a seperate 'broody coop' and as soon as I realised she was broody, I moved her with fake eggs to the isolated broody coop (but still within the run).

I waited a couple of days until she was settled, then gave her some fertile eggs and let her set and left her alone.

I made sure she had fresh food and water every day and Didn't disturb her other than to candle the eggs a couple of times.

So many people on here gave me that exact advice, so thank you everyone, you were so right. Nature doesn't need me, it does a much better job without my constant interference!!

Here's to a successful hatch this time!!