So, how does hatching work?

[TreesAndBrees]

I am new to chickens and want to let mine breed when they are ready. I don't want to use an incubator. I have lots of questions.

1- Can you buy a dozen hatching eggs online and stick them under a hen? How would that work? Does she need to be broody already, or can you stick 12 under her while she's in the nest, or do you stick one at a time under her?

2- If you try to make a hen go broody by removing an egg and replacing it with, say, a golf ball, how long can eggs sit without a big hen on top and still be hatched? Can a hen hatch an egg that she laid a day ago? A week ago? If so, how do you store fertile eggs until the hen goes broody?

I know nothing about this and as I browse other forums I get more and more questions! Thanks for helping me!

 

[Y N dottes]

im not all that experienced with how u would handle fertile eggs, but I can say that if u do have a broody hen u could put hatching eggs under her, but yes she must be broody.

 

[TreesAndBrees]

Ooh, also, say I do get successfully hatched chicks, do I need to turn the brooder lamp back on and keep them in the brooder? Or does the mom hen keep them warm all the time? i.e., Should I separate the chicks from the big chickens or let them roam with their mom and everyone else?

Also, can chicks eat a homemade food (such as wheat berries, oats, sunflower seeds, corn, etc) right away or do they need commercial feed? I just hate how all commercial feed has soybeans, so I would rather feed them as naturally as possible, in combination with free range.

Thanks again!

 

[Aacre]

You can store fertile eggs with the big ends up for about a month at the longest, I think. After a week or so, the eggs will kind of lose their viability. I don't know what other people do, but I try to sit the eggs at a 45 degree angle and switch sides twice a day so that the inside of the egg is exercised and doesn't stick. This can be achieved by putting the eggs in an egg carton and using something under one side to prop it up at the angle you want. Oh, also, You will want to make sure they are in a cool space- nothing too hot and nothing too cold. 55 degrees is usually about right.
As for the chicks after they are hatched, they can stay with mom unless mom decides to reject them, or one or two. You will just have to watch to make sure she is tending to them all. If not, then you can take the rejected chicks and put them in a brooder box.
Chicks require a high protein diet- more protein than what your adult chickens eat. I'm not sure what you could give them to increase the protein, but if you can, I say go for it. Be sure to provide them with grit if you go this route! Otherwise, I would suggest getting some chick start. Chick start can be found medicated and non-medicated, just in case you do decide to get it but don't want the medication in it. Hope this helps!

 

[TreesAndBrees]

You can store fertile eggs with the big ends up for about a month at the longest, I think. After a week or so, the eggs will kind of lose their viability. I don't know what other people do, but I try to sit the eggs at a 45 degree angle and switch sides twice a day so that the inside of the egg is exercised and doesn't stick. This can be achieved by putting the eggs in an egg carton and using something under one side to prop it up at the angle you want. Oh, also, You will want to make sure they are in a cool space- nothing too hot and nothing too cold. 55 degrees is usually about right. 
As for the chicks after they are hatched, they can stay with mom unless mom decides to reject them, or one or two. You will just have to watch to make sure she is tending to them all. If not, then you can take the rejected chicks and put them in a brooder box. 
Chicks require a high protein diet- more protein than what your adult chickens eat. I'm not sure what you could give them to increase the protein, but if you can, I say go for it. Be sure to provide them with grit if you go this route! Otherwise, I would suggest getting some chick start. Chick start can be found medicated and non-medicated, just in case you do decide to get it but don't want the medication in it. Hope this helps!

Thanks! Helps a lot!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Looks like you need to spend some time in the Learning Center at the top of this page.

The hen needs to be broody before you give her hatching eggs. You cannot make a hen go broody on demand. She decides that on her own. If a hen is thinking of going broody already, putting a bunch of eggs might kick her over to full broody mode, but there are absolutely no guarantees with that. I’ve tried that four times and had one go broody. I don’t know if the eggs helped or if that one time was just a coincidence.

As part of your homework, I suggest you read this article. It’s really about hatching eggs with an incubator, not a broody, but it has a good section on storing eggs for incubation that is good for both methods.

Texas A&M Incubation site
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/...e-Cartwright-Incubating-and-hatching-eggs.pdf

The hen will provide all the heat the chicks need. Broody hens have been raising chicks by themselves with no human intervention for thousands of years on instinct alone. They can handle it.

Many of us really prefer a hen to raise the chicks with the flock. She handles integration so I don’t have to worry about that. Some people separate their broodies and chicks. That works too but I don’t like the extra work and worry that causes me. Bad things can happen with either method, but normally they don’t. Having extra space is a big help, but if you don’t have enough space for a broody to raise her chicks with the flock, you probably don’t have enough room for a successful integration when they are older.

The chicks need a balanced diet, just like older chickens. Whether that comes from a commercial feed, a blend you put together, forage, or a blend of these is up to you. If they are eating anything other than commercial feed, they need grit to grind it up in their gizzard. If you have decent forage a hen can raise them just on that. By decent forage I mean different grasses and weeds, grass and weed seeds, and all kinds of creepy crawlies. A manicured lawn would not work. They will find their own grit if they have access to the ground.

When a broody hen takes them off the nest, about the first thing she does is get them pecking at the ground. This gets grit inn their system plus they find food in there for nourishment, probiotics from the other chickens’ poop, and they get the microbes necessary for them to start working on flock immunities and strengthen their immune system.