thinking of broody instead of incubator

[Chickie'sMoma]

i'm thinking of using one of my broody bantam cochin hens to hatch out a small clutch of eggs, instead of using my foam incubator. i'm hoping for a x-mas/new year's hatch.

i'm just wondering if i should bring her inside so it would be warmer and a little calmer than out in my garage coop with 14 pullets and a cockerel. the nights have been getting down into the low 40's and very high 30's so far for this time of year. i am just a little worried that if she got off the eggs for too long that they might get too cold without her. or the chicks could freeze when they've hatched if it got too cold out there.

my hen might like to come inside away from my young cockerel anyways, but i am wondering if this is a good idea.

 

[hujabuga2]

I really like the idea of going old fashioned. With that temperature I think I would bring them inside to hatch them.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

i haven't had much luck with the temp on the foam bator when i started early this year. and my dh tried to fuss over it while i was at work to keep it at the right temp after being told to leave it alone unless it looked like it was going over the 101 degree mark. he wasn't home one day when we had an early warmth outside that affected the house temperature and it hit 107 degrees inside the bator and i lost the full batch of eggs.

i also don't want my electric bill to go up for the 3+ weeks while it is running. plus, i'm secretly trying to hatch these as a gift to myself since we probably won't be exchanging presents this year with him out of work still.

we decided that before anything else came into the house we had to get rid of 2 items in order to bring in 1 new item. we sold off a lot of my jams and jellies, and flea market items this summer and fall so i figured that allowed me to have my little chickes hatching!

 

[farmin'chick]

I'd say go for it -- if you've got a large cardboard box, you can put your henny and her nest in it. She'll only hop off to eat, drink, or poop and occasionally to stretch...but you'll have to pooper scooper her every day! Those broodies save it all up and make gimongous stinky poops.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

heh, thanks for the warning on the poop!

 

[Hozer]

My neighbor has 2 banty cochins that both go broody each spring. The problem with them being in the general population is,...they bump each other off the nest and get confused and get interrupted by other hens trying to lay on top of them, etc.

My point is, it would seem the best to isolate her so she doesn't get interrupted and distracted. Is it possible to make a little wire mesh "tractor" inside the big pen with her own little feeder and waterer?

I used a similar set up with 2 banty polish hens I was trying to introduce to my chickens. They were getting a little beat up and roosting outside in the cold. I made them a little house in the run with their own waterer and feeder (and treats). With a little experimenting, I made the entry hole just big enough so only they could get inside. The full size hens couldn't fit. They spent their nights in there and could get enough food and water and get away from bullying. After about a week, they were eating and roosting with the rest of the birds.

 

[phalenbeck]

I just had a Cochin hatch out and I did Nothing. She stayed with the 10 adults in the coop/run. Not a problem. I currently have a Silkey doing the same. Why bother with brooders and all the stuff when chickens have a pretty good idea how to raise chicken? The others seem to stop laying for a bit if the prime nesting box is in use, but it seems there problem not mine.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

ok, so i just grabbed 3 of my other girls' eggs to put under my broody banty cochin.

should i grab a few more and how many more should i wait for to put under her?