The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[RedRidge]

Power finally restored... bators each got down to 93F
Chicks are fine... it's the eggs I'm worried about.
Guess I'll know for sure when the first group hatches on Thursday.
Someone tell me it's no biggy...

Will be a long 4 days.
Could have much longer and much colder so I'm going to think positive...

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Power finally restored... bators each got down to 93F
Chicks are fine... it's the eggs I'm worried about.
Guess I'll know for sure when the first group hatches on Thursday.
Someone tell me it's no biggy...

Will be a long 4 days.
Could have much longer and much colder so I'm going to think positive...

Hopefully it will just delay the hatch by a day or so.

 

[aoxa]

Power finally restored... bators each got down to 93F
Chicks are fine... it's the eggs I'm worried about.
Guess I'll know for sure when the first group hatches on Thursday.
Someone tell me it's no biggy...

Will be a long 4 days.
Could have much longer and much colder so I'm going to think positive...

I think it's no biggie! I had hens abandon eggs for half a day and they were stone cold, they all hatched after I stuck them in my bator.

93 isn't that big of a deal.

 

[RedRidge]

Power finally restored... bators each got down to 93F
Chicks are fine... it's the eggs I'm worried about.
Guess I'll know for sure when the first group hatches on Thursday.
Someone tell me it's no biggy...  Will be a long 4 days.
Could have much longer and much colder so I'm going to think positive...

I think it's no biggie! I had hens abandon eggs for half a day and they were stone cold, they all hatched after I stuck them in my bator. 

93 isn't that big of a deal.

Do you think I should delay lockdown for a day?

 

[aoxa]

Do you think I should delay lockdown for a day?

I say wait until they internally pip. That has been my very best luck with hatching so far, thanks to Delisha, PeepsCA and CelticOaks. I think a few others recommended it as well. I've had close to 100% since doing it!

 

[BlueMouse]

I have a broody! and it wasn't the hen I expected either! Mrs Bennet my flighty EE hen is busily sitting on the nest, puffing up like an irate cobra and growling if you come anywhere close to her, and I got pecked pretty darned hard checking under her for (real) eggs. she's keeping four plastic easter eggs toasty warm. If she sits tight for a couple days I'll give her a few of the eggs in the incubator to sit on.

I've never had a broody and I'm hoping that a couple of you broody masters can weigh in for me, do I need to do anything special for her? she came off the nest to eat last night, but I'm worried she won't get enough, should I try to provide her her own bowl at feeding time with extra BOSS or some other high calorie option? She's thankfully chosen a handy ground level nest, but I was thinking of moving the whole thing over into a more secluded corner, would that be prudent, or should I just trust her to protect the babies when they hatch?

 

[aoxa]

I have a broody! and it wasn't the hen I expected either! Mrs Bennet my flighty EE hen is busily sitting on the nest, puffing up like an irate cobra and growling if you come anywhere close to her, and I got pecked pretty darned hard checking under her for (real) eggs. she's keeping four plastic easter eggs toasty warm. If she sits tight for a couple days I'll give her a few of the eggs in the incubator to sit on.

I've never had a broody and I'm hoping that a couple of you broody masters can weigh in for me, do I need to do anything special for her? she came off the nest to eat last night, but I'm worried she won't get enough, should I try to provide her her own bowl at feeding time with extra BOSS or some other high calorie option? She's thankfully chosen a handy ground level nest, but I was thinking of moving the whole thing over into a more secluded corner, would that be prudent, or should I just trust her to protect the babies when they hatch?

She will be just fine. Broodies have been hatching chicks for centuries without any help from humans

Congrats on your first broody! No need to do anything special for her.

 

[RedRidge]

I have a broody! and it wasn't the hen I expected either! Mrs Bennet my flighty EE hen is busily sitting on the nest, puffing up like an irate cobra and growling if you come anywhere close to her, and I got pecked pretty darned hard checking under her for (real) eggs. she's keeping four plastic easter eggs toasty warm. If she sits tight for a couple days I'll give her a few of the eggs in the incubator to sit on. 

I've never had a broody and I'm hoping that a couple of you broody masters can weigh in for me, do I need to do anything special for her? she came off the nest to eat last night, but I'm worried she won't get enough, should I try to provide her her own bowl at feeding time with extra BOSS or some other high calorie option? She's thankfully chosen a handy ground level nest, but I was thinking of moving the whole thing over into a more secluded corner, would that be prudent, or should I just trust her to protect the babies when they hatch? 

My experience is with broodys, I'm pretty new to incubators. If I get one that goes broody in a group nest I just leave her unless... The other hens want to lay in that box and bother her. If that's the case I use a doggie x-pen to block off that area around the nest she is in and provide her her own food and water. If they are bothering her I ignore her until 24 hrs prior to hatch and put xpen up at that time so she and the chicks have their own "space" within the coop for a day or two after hatch.

 

[RedRidge]

Ugh... Gonna be a long 4 days.
It's much less stress letting my live incubators do this, but I didn't have one broody when I got these eggs. Those wonderful live incubators don't care if the power goes out.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Ugh... Gonna be a long 4 days.
It's much less stress letting my live incubators do this, but I didn't have one broody when I got these eggs. Those wonderful live incubators don't care if the power goes out.

Broody is the only way I hatch. I have a broody now that will be getting Blue Marans eggs next week so I can start a project color of Blue Wheaten Marans. My broody got done raising 2 chicks for 10 weeks, laid for 2 weeks then went broody again, and she is not a Silkie. She is a hatchery BO.