Will broody Mom take care of everything??

[VolailleAmant]

Hi!
I just had 3 Silkie-Brown chicks hatch on Saturday-Sunday.
The Dad is a Silkie, and the Mom, which is the broody is a ISA Brown hen!
Anyhow, out of 8 eggs, 3 chicks have hatched so far, and I am wondering if the Mom will really kick the eggs out if they won't hatch? I didn't even keep track of the days, because if I know myself, I will count down the days and get agitated if they don't hatch right on the dot of the day. Please share any personal experiences or anything!
Thank you
-VA

 

[PD-Riverman]

You should Always keep track---well its best---Is this the only hen? Was all the eggs set at the same time/day/hour/minute?

If not the only hen, did you mark the original set eggs and remove any fresh layed daily so you do not have a staggered hatch?

I have a lot of experience with broody hens---over 150 set in just 3 years! 72 of those in just 2015.

 

[SuperMell]

We just hatched our first clutch with a broody (Buff Orpington). We set 12 eggs from a local breeder with her on June 12th. 5 chicks hatched on June 30th (one shrink wrapped though & didn't make it) & 2 more hatched on July 1st. Of the 5 that didn't hatch, 3 were duds & 2 were malpositioned & couldn't pip. We took the first chicks from mama on the 30th & put them in a brooder during the day so she wouldn't leave the nest while any others hatched. At night we put the chicks back with mama. Did the same thing on July 1st & 2nd. Since there were no other hatches by end of day on July 2nd we pulled the eggs from the nest & gave the chicks back to mama. She's doing great with her chicks but the last one to hatch is struggling a bit since it is smaller & weaker than the other chicks. Hopefully with some extra care for the next couple days it will be fine.

Good luck @VolailleAmant

 

[VolailleAmant]

You should Always keep track---well its best---Is this the only hen? Was all the eggs set at the same time/day/hour/minute?

If not the only hen, did you mark the original set eggs and remove any fresh layed daily so you do not have a staggered hatch?

I have a lot of experience with broody hens---over 150 set in just 3 years! 72 of those in just 2015.

Thank you for your input!
I know that I should've kept track, but I wasn't quite sure when she started....My bad
Wow! That is a lot of broodies! Do you hatch poultry as a hobby?

 

[VolailleAmant]

You should Always keep track---well its best---Is this the only hen? Was all the eggs set at the same time/day/hour/minute?

If not the only hen, did you mark the original set eggs and remove any fresh layed daily so you do not have a staggered hatch?

I have a lot of experience with broody hens---over 150 set in just 3 years! 72 of those in just 2015.

Yes, this was my only successful broody hen, I have other hens though.
I think that a couple of hens went in on top of the broody ISA and laid new eggs within the beginning weeks of incubation...I just left everything as is with the hen and let her do her thing. That was my problem with my last Silkie-broody, I interfered too much

 

[PD-Riverman]

Thank you for your input!
I know that I should've kept track, but I wasn't quite sure when she started....My bad
Wow! That is a lot of broodies! Do you hatch poultry as a hobby?

Well you gotta like it to do it---I call it a hobby, but if I hadn't been making some money at it I would not have done it. BUT the bird-flu scare a couple years ago messed up things----I have only hatched about 4,000 in the last couple years, compared to over 6,000 in mid 2014 to 2015 and I am still slowing down even more----I do not like it----but it is what it is. I got less than 200 total/chicks and adults now---I sold about 40 the weekend but it will probably be a few more weeks before I sell some more. SOOOO my Hobby seems to be ending unless something changes. Things like Eggs at 20 cents a Dozen makes a lot of people not want to mess with chickens!!