The great broody experiment (new pics p 18)

[me&thegals]

Morel, I lifted my red EE off her nest to check the eggs and found them just like that! And she was sitting right down in the nest. This poor gal is more broody than she is normal...she has two huge lines of flesh showing on her breast from the sloughed feathers and down. A born broody hen, if I ever saw one. I finally had mercy on her and let her sit.

Uggh! Sleeping on an egg configuration like that ranks right up there with sleeping on your belly during the third trimester!

We got chick number 2. Again, I endured a vicious attack on my sweat-shirted arm to satisfy the kids' (ok, and mine) curiosity. And there was chick #2. BUT, she had abandoned the remaining 6 eggs in the broody box and had moved herself and 2 chicks to the shavings in the enclosure. The eggs were cold, but I had son distract her while I shoved the eggs back under her. There were poking out a bit. When we double checked her later, she had poked them back under her.

Might these hatch? I don't know how long she was off, but it could not have been more than 24 hours and they are on full broody day #19 (she was on and off her nest for a couple days before we moved her to her own broody spot).

 

[Beekissed]

I had the opposite problem....I had a broody that hatched 4 chicks and wouldn't leave the other eggs, so two of my chicks left the nest and died of exposure because they couldn't get back in the nest.

I changed my nesting areas now and keep a board at the base to keep eggs from rolling out but will remove it when the chicks hatch. I'm hoping this will encourage the chicks to seek water and food and still be able to get back in the nest with mama.

I don't know what I will do if she abandons eggs to be with chicks. I'm hoping the chicks will just crawl back in with her while she finishes the hatch.

 

[Patch of Heaven Farm]

Morel, I lifted my red EE off her nest to check the eggs and found them just like that! And she was sitting right down in the nest. This poor gal is more broody than she is normal...she has two huge lines of flesh showing on her breast from the sloughed feathers and down. A born broody hen, if I ever saw one. I finally had mercy on her and let her sit.

Uggh! Sleeping on an egg configuration like that ranks right up there with sleeping on your belly during the third trimester!

We got chick number 2. Again, I endured a vicious attack on my sweat-shirted arm to satisfy the kids' (ok, and mine) curiosity. And there was chick #2. BUT, she had abandoned the remaining 6 eggs in the broody box and had moved herself and 2 chicks to the shavings in the enclosure. The eggs were cold, but I had son distract her while I shoved the eggs back under her. There were poking out a bit. When we double checked her later, she had poked them back under her.

Might these hatch? I don't know how long she was off, but it could not have been more than 24 hours and they are on full broody day #19 (she was on and off her nest for a couple days before we moved her to her own broody spot).

They may!! I have chukar eggs in the incubator and it got unplugged for over 12 hours and the eggs got cold but I plugged it back in and the eggs are pipping today!!

So hopefully they will be ok.

Bee my bantams pull thier feathers on thier chest out when they go broody. I was told this is because skin has a better warmth transfer.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep, I know its supposed to happen....but she has been broody for so long and so many times that she has permanent landing strips!

My other broodies are not quite so.....thin....on bottom!

 

[Patch of Heaven Farm]

poor girl!

 

[Beekissed]

Well, the poor girl hatched out two fine chicks a couple of days early! A black one with a red hed and a golden one with red stripes down its back. Very healthy peeps. No more pips on the other eggs, but I will try to be patient.

This nest isn't like my previous one and the chicks can easily make it to food and water and back to mama without problems.

Very cute and sweet babies. I just don't see how hatching in an incubator could match seeing those babies peeking out from under a wing!

 

[me&thegals]

Oh, absolutely! Tonight we got to watch the babies run out from under mama, and then dive back into her fluffy body again! Absolutely amazing!

The other eggs remain unhatched, but we will give it until Wednesday. Everybody has access to food and water and she seems content to sit on babies and eggs simultaneously.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, absolutely! Tonight we got to watch the babies run out from under mama, and then dive back into her fluffy body again! Absolutely amazing!

That is my favorite part...the epitome of motherhood! Right now, my older chicks are so comical! They have learned to fly up on the roost with mama but still want to be under her, so they roost between her feet~the poor gal! I'm amazed at how they have adapted to flock living in just a few days. They don't even have all their feathers yet!

I introduced them slowly, a day here and there free ranging with the flock and back in the broody pen at night, then opened up the divider between the pens so they can see each other through the wire. Then it was out in the big coop, sink or swim. They are swimming nicely!

 

[me&thegals]

It reminds me of when my kids were little and I would be trying to work in the kitchen with them literally underfoot What a good mama hen you have! I'm glad you described their introduction to the flock, which is something I have been wondering about for when they're older.

Also, we have 42 mail-order chicks in the garage right now, 2 weeks older than broody's babies. Do you think it would be wise to move them in with her? We have to get them out of the garage soon and into the barn.

 

[Beekissed]

My sis did this and the mama hen was seriously hurting the older, strange chicks. Every time one wandered near her brood, she would come down on him...but hard! The poor things didn't know what to do, so they just huddled in the corners and were scared to come out to eat and drink. Maybe a situation where they can run under something to get away from her?

I have the same problems at my place....I have two places for chickens. The big coop and the much smaller broody pen. Not many options and I don't plan to develop anything else. I want to learn to make do with what I have and come up with inventive solutions. So far, it has made me design a better broody nesting situation so I won't lose good chicks to exposure.