Today will be three days. I'll probably let her go to the weekend and when I set the incubators again, give her whatever doesn't fit. I've never fostered chicks under a broody hen unless she already had babies. But usually if I move her covered at night when the hen can't see, when she wakes up on her new nest, she'll stay put. I don't dare let her incubate in the breeding pen. Too many snakes for that. And i just happen to have a roll of hardware cloth that I can put over the tractor to make it even more secure.
My goodness! I've had large fowl hens with 2 dozen. I can't imagine a bantam with 3! lol I'll bet it is adorable!
I'll probably put less than a dozen under her. She's not gigantic, and if she breaks easily I don't want to lose a lot of eggs or chicks.
Speaking of chicks I've had four little Silver-laced and two Whites make it out. I had to pop them into the brooder this morning. They were making things very difficult for their unhatched brothers and sisters. I left the newest one in the incubator to finish drying up and letting the navel close completely. I saw another pip or two, but I think that I'm not going to get a really great hatch out of the N360 this first time. I didn't calibrate the internal thermostat, so I wonder if it was just running too warm. That would explain the early hatch and the DIS I'm suspecting. I also had a white pip and not make it out of the shell last night. It had died by the time I got to it this morning.
