Using a Broody Hen for the First Time

[Madie'sOddFlock]

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I haven't been able to get my silkies to go broody... I have 3 silkie hens and 3 other hens in a coop, and I left them to do their thing, just checking in on them in the coop, long enough for them to accumulate 20 eggs(that's like a week and a half of eggs...). There was still no signs of them going broody, so I gathered all the eggs up and plopped them in my easter egger pen where I had a cochin x going broody on air for days. I figured if she would go broody on nothing for longer than some of our hens go broody on eggs, I'd try slipping them under her. I didn't move her, and we just accepted that there would be plenty of extra eggs under her... we haven't collected eggs from that coop in 3 weeks(they're everywhere...). Anyway, her sister joined her about a week in, and 3 days after that her other sister joined in. Somehow we ended up with 5 broodies on a seemingly endless clutch of eggs. The 4th would have made exactly 3 weeks since I had put eggs under her, and I haven't candled at all because I didn't want to risk moving her off the eggs(she's a very mean broody with a nasty bite) to check on them if she might not come back. This is the first time that we'll have mother-raised chicks and I'm so excited. I just want one, I seriously don't care how many hatch so long as it's at least one. I've been checking to see if I can hear any peeping, since there's 5 of them in 2 nesting boxes, so I can't really see underneath them... Last night I believe we heard some peeping(and that was over the guineas yelling in the background). Can't wait to check on them this morning!

 

[The Happster]

Personally I'd decide how many you want to hatch/care for the chicks and remove the others, and then separate.
I would be worried about the hens attacking the chicks if there is more than one.


Have you ever hatched before at all?
It's so much easier with a broody.
And I love watching them teach the chicks
Hopefully you'll get a nice number of chicks.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

Personally I'd decide how many you want to hatch/care for the chicks and remove the others, and then separate.
I would be worried about the hens attacking the chicks if there is more than one.


Have you ever hatched before at all?
It's so much easier with a broody.
And I love watching them teach the chicks
Hopefully you'll get a nice number of chicks.

I've been hatching since September of 2018(one hatch then, and multiple hatches the last 2 springs). But of course, that means covering the living room in chick dust from early March to late June... I have no idea how many eggs they have... I do know that there's 14 or 15 hens and we usually get 12 eggs from in there, and I started them off with 20 eggs... so I'm guessing there's somewhere around 100 eggs in there... But a lot of them are obviously newer and won't be hatching any time soon, so I'll be taking those away and all of the eggs that haven't hatched by probably Wednesday will be going to the pig(oh the wonders of a backyard garbage disposal).

 

[The Happster]

100 eggs....
Most I've ever hatched at once is 6.
I can never get rid of roosters so I can never hatch very many at a time.
Let me know how many hatch!

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

100 eggs....
Most I've ever hatched at once is 6.
I can never get rid of roosters so I can never hatch very many at a time.
Let me know how many hatch!

We are lucky enough to have an auction relatively nearby that I trust for bringing my birds, so I'm usually okay at getting rid of them when I have to(says the one with over 40 roosters/cockerels in the yard right now(I swear, all the young ones are going to auction!) oops...)

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

Well, time for disappointment overload... there were 2. One is probably the one that I heard last night since it was nice and fluffy, the other must have hatched recently... The fluffy one was probably attacked by the other hens, and the other one I don't know because it didn't show any signs of attack but it was wet and cold. If I had gone out to check on them just a little bit sooner I probably could have helped the little silkie because it was still nice and warm... I guess we'll see what they hatch the rest of the day... but I don't see external pips anywhere else. I think that it's down to just 2 hens, one per box since I moved them to check for other chicks. The coop has a door that only flaps outward and not inward(usually would get opened and latched up), so I might just keep it shut for today, and see if that helps any...

 

[The Happster]

We are lucky enough to have an auction relatively nearby that I trust for bringing my birds, so I'm usually okay at getting rid of them when I have to(says the one with over 40 roosters/cockerels in the yard right now(I swear, all the young ones are going to auction!) oops...)

I would have 40 roosters if I could.
Sadly my family put a limit on the amount I am allowed.
I have two mature roosters. This year I have three chicks. Two of which are definitely roosters, and one of which I am suspicious of.
I was hoping for one girl...is that too much to ask??

Well, time for disappointment overload... there were 2. One is probably the one that I heard last night since it was nice and fluffy, the other must have hatched recently... The fluffy one was probably attacked by the other hens, and the other one I don't know because it didn't show any signs of attack but it was wet and cold. If I had gone out to check on them just a little bit sooner I probably could have helped the little silkie because it was still nice and warm... I guess we'll see what they hatch the rest of the day... but I don't see external pips anywhere else. I think that it's down to just 2 hens, one per box since I moved them to check for other chicks. The coop has a door that only flaps outward and not inward(usually would get opened and latched up), so I might just keep it shut for today, and see if that helps any...

Well two is better than nothing.
You might have some hatch in the next couple days.

The one that was attacked -is it ok?

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

The one that was attacked -is it ok?

Sorry, I guess I could have been more clear, they both hatched fully, but they both died... On the plus side, it's actually just one hen who's in the coop and laying on eggs now(and she's laying on a majority of the ones I wanted them to hatch). Hopefully, the next few days go okay. I might try and figure out how to set up a small dog cage in front of her, so that the others can't get to her, and so the chicks can't wander off either...

 

[Cheryl lowe]

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I haven't been able to get my silkies to go broody... I have 3 silkie hens and 3 other hens in a coop, and I left them to do their thing, just checking in on them in the coop, long enough for them to accumulate 20 eggs(that's like a week and a half of eggs...). There was still no signs of them going broody, so I gathered all the eggs up and plopped them in my easter egger pen where I had a cochin x going broody on air for days. I figured if she would go broody on nothing for longer than some of our hens go broody on eggs, I'd try slipping them under her. I didn't move her, and we just accepted that there would be plenty of extra eggs under her... we haven't collected eggs from that coop in 3 weeks(they're everywhere...). Anyway, her sister joined her about a week in, and 3 days after that her other sister joined in. Somehow we ended up with 5 broodies on a seemingly endless clutch of eggs. The 4th would have made exactly 3 weeks since I had put eggs under her, and I haven't candled at all because I didn't want to risk moving her off the eggs(she's a very mean broody with a nasty bite) to check on them if she might not come back. This is the first time that we'll have mother-raised chicks and I'm so excited. I just want one, I seriously don't care how many hatch so long as it's at least one. I've been checking to see if I can hear any peeping, since there's 5 of them in 2 nesting boxes, so I can't really see underneath them... Last night I believe we heard some peeping(and that was over the guineas yelling in the background). Can't wait to check on them this morning!

It’s soo exciting isn’t it . We let a broodie hatch some eggs a few weeks ago. When I was listening for noises I nearly cried when I heard a chirp !!good luck!

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

I would have 40 roosters if I could.
Sadly my family put a limit on the amount I am allowed.
I have two mature roosters. This year I have three chicks. Two of which are definitely roosters, and one of which I am suspicious of.
I was hoping for one girl...is that too much to ask??

Haha... technically there was a limit... I don't remember what it was... But we have a huge flock. Right now we're at close to 200 birds(not enough for the # of roosters, but we're working on fixing that). We have 19 mature roosters and at least(at last count) I think 24 cockerels... But believe me, I had one hatch, that I sold 10 of so I don't know the full true numbers, but there's 13 of them left, and only 3 of them are hens... The next two times around I got lucky and of 37 chicks 27 appear to be hens, but they are only 7 and 8 weeks old now, so we'll see if those numbers change a bit...