They hatched!!! supplemental heat?

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive @azygous can you help with diy set up for eggs abandoned by broody? It's a staggered hatch.

I wouldn't consider this abandoment. She has chicks that are 5 days old already, how much longer would you expect her to sit on eggs when she has chicks to tend too?
Usually a broody is up and out moving with chicks, eating/drinking within 24-48 hours of hatch.
I do have a question - there's a mention that the broody was let off the nest to go potty in the yard, so is she tightly confined with the chicks and eggs? Broodies need space to get off the nest with their chicks to scratch around and to show them food/water.

The broody may take in any chicks that hatch now or she may not. Be prepared to brood them yourself.


For the eggs that remain, if they are still viable and you need an emergency way to heat them, try a crockpot.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-and-they-are-peeping.1302920/#post-21227393

I went to let momma off her nest to potty in the yard

The oldest is 5 days old today.

 

[RobinS1217]

I wouldn't consider this abandoment. She has chicks that are 5 days old already, how much longer would you expect her to sit on eggs when she has chicks to tend too?
Usually a broody is up and out moving with chicks, eating/drinking within 24-48 hours of hatch.
I do have a question - there's a mention that the broody was let off the nest to go potty in the yard, so is she tightly confined with the chicks and eggs? Broodies need space to get off the nest with their chicks to scratch around and to show them food/water.

The broody may take in any chicks that hatch now or she may not. Be prepared to brood them yourself.


For the eggs that remain, if they are still viable and you need an emergency way to heat them, try a crockpot.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-and-they-are-peeping.1302920/#post-21227393

This momma and her 4 chicks and 5 eggs are in a brooder set up. Momma had been picked on while sitting in the coop. A chunk of her comb was taken off. Even through that she refused to leave her nest so I thought it would be best to move her. The coop she was in was 86in long by 48 wide and 48 tall - elevated 48 off the ground. Because of the height from ground I imagined it wasn’t a good idea to have the chicks there anyways. And this momma is low on pecking order. Our rooster is pretty rough too. Their run is attached by 4 fr chicken tunnel to our main run (not sure measurements) which our first batch of layers have claimed that coop and won’t share at night. There is just fencing on that side and the chicks could escape. I was/am concerned how that would play out. I have a 84x48x48 mesh wire wrapped separate run that is against the main coops run so they can acclimate through the fence. I am working on building a mini coop house with appropriate height roost for momma and the babies. We have Fox and raccoons and it being spring I wanted to be sure they had a safe place to sleep before I put them out of the brooder. The brooder they’re in is about 40x30x18. I have seen the mom showing them out to eat and drink. Yesterday was when she got up and was showing them how to scratch. That’s when I said she wasn’t being careful around the eggs. She was burring them in pine shavings and kicked one around without paying attention. She went back to her nest last night about 7 and is still there- so another 12 hours. Should I let the one pipped hatch under the mom? Or move them all to crock pot? Do you have any comment about the green spot on the egg from above?


(Chicken tunnel and run behind shed which is in between coops not shown in photos)

 

[RobinS1217]

Hey! Anymore chicks hatch?

One of the remaining 5 hatched under the momma overnight after last update. Momma left it instantly in the morning. So we put the runt with her in the brooder until they were both strong enough to join the day run with their hatch mates. Then after the 4 eggs were moved to my other broody bird because momma “abandoned”, she hatched out one more on Saturday morning.The newest/last one was one week after the first batch from original 9 eggs under my first broody momma.so we got 6/9 for her first time hatching! I let the chick get fluffy under its step mother (lol) which happened quick and then put her in the brooder with the tiny runt that was 5th to be born. It’s going well. The mother has accepted the last 2 every night to keep warm. We give them some time in the hatchling run/coop with their hatch mates and momma but not too long because mom won’t sit on them during the day and high has been 45/60. We got a new coop built today for the babies to be in with their mom until they’re big enough to handle the other coop. Not that mom couldn’t protect them, just the ladder is pretty high off the ground! I got rid of the last 3 eggs today….I wasn’t brave enough to crack them. But when they dropped in the trash I instantly smelt a FOWL smell. 2/3 had green spots on them. 99.9% sure they’re were all foul/not viable.

Now…to hatch our next staggered hatch momma again in 18 days glad we have the proper set up this next time.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Congratulations ! Yay!

 

[HuffleClaw]

Theyre hatching!

We’re 3 years into chickens and finally got a broody momma who hatched out! So far 4/9 have hatched. It is 60-75 here during the day and 40-55 during the night. I have the momma (still sitting but doing well with her babies) and her chicks in a separated brooder coop. It’s wrapped in 2x4 with thin slits for ventilation with an “open air” lid enclosed with wire grid (mind is blanking on name of product).

Question: will momma keep them warm enough? We’ve had the heat lamp on at night because the babies don’t always stay under the mom who is still sitting on eggs. They seem to already come and go as they please on day 1&2.

Heat lamp? Or is momma sufficient?


(Photo with eggs/chicks is when momma was escorted to yard for 60 seconds to poo. She wasn’t leaving her nest to do so and it was a MESS. ended up having to cut her fluffy butt to clean her up. Manually helping her to hard and she poos and goes right back to babies)

So adorable! Congrats!!

 

[RobinS1217]

So adorable! Congrats!!

They’re mesmerizing!

 

[RobinS1217]

Congrats on the hatch! Momma is able to keep them warm enough without the heat lamp.

Thanks for the reply! Definitely different than when we picked them up locally. Seeing the mom show them how to eat and the little noises she’s making for her babies is pretty cool. As I said, this is our first time letting any hatch out- and now we’ve had another gi broody, sitting on 8. Both our first momma and now second started with just 2-3 eggs and seemed to steel eggs from other nesting boxes for 4-5 days. Does that mean I should wait 4-5 days for these others to hatch? Is there a limit how long I should let her sit on them before I should assume a loss?

 

[RobinS1217]

Sometimes moms only wait 48 after first one hatches then they leave the nest and eggs
Do you have a bator you could have ready in case she does
She may not but most do

She’s still sitting on them. She’s on her nest in a separate little coop with her babies.

 

[SilverBirds]

I will candle again tomorrow and have my daughter help me get pictures. Will it hurt to keep candling?

Sounds good. Candling itself doesn't hurt the eggs.

 

[RobinS1217]

Sounds good. Candling itself doesn't hurt the eggs.

So I went to let momma off her nest to potty in the yard and I noticed one is pipping but one has a green spot…is it rotting? .