fuzzi's Chicken Journal

[lightm]

Remember I lost Daisy, my 9 yr old Cream Legbar a while back?

I still have 3 of her sisters Dixie, Dot and Dahlia. Their birthday is this month and they are now 10 years old!

Yesterday Dixie laid a pretty blue egg!!!!
Perfect shell, too!!!

I am amazed!

View attachment 3741525

Happy 10 years birthday, Dixie, Dot, and Dahlia! That is for sure a big thing to celebrate!! Your servant must be doing the job right.

 

[fuzzi]

You can leave them on the kitchen table in a carton if you wish, but yes, I would also do as suggested and change the position of the eggs too.

Usually I just roll them around/turn them about once a day since I place eggs I'm collecting for hatch in a bowl.

That's what I started doing. I'm writing the date on one end and flipping it over when I add more the next day.

 

[fuzzi]

Remember I lost Daisy, my 9 yr old Cream Legbar a while back?

I still have 3 of her sisters Dixie, Dot and Dahlia. Their birthday is this month and they are now 10 years old!

Yesterday Dixie laid a pretty blue egg!!!!
Perfect shell, too!!!

I am amazed!

View attachment 3741525

Congratulations!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Remember I lost Daisy, my 9 yr old Cream Legbar a while back?

I still have 3 of her sisters Dixie, Dot and Dahlia. Their birthday is this month and they are now 10 years old!

Yesterday Dixie laid a pretty blue egg!!!!
Perfect shell, too!!!

I am amazed!

View attachment 3741525

Go Daisy!
That's a pretty egg.
10 is a milestone for those Ladies.

That's what I started doing. I'm writing the date on one end and flipping it over when I add more the next day.
View attachment 3742075

Good idea!

 

[fuzzi]

Three! Woo!

It's hard to tell from the photo, but one of those eggs is larger...the one in front.

Go, gals!

 

[fuzzi]

So...today I have spent some time here searching for how others have handled a broody hatching chicks within the flock. Most of what I have read refers to flocks that free-range, not seen anyone else with the hoop coop. Some members say "Do it, worked for me!" while others say "No! The flock killed my chicks!"

My hoop coop is 16'x8' = 128 sq ft. I currently have 7 bantam hens, one roo.

Points to Ponder

1. Eggs and broody would probably be in one of the nest boxes, which currently have a lip and are elevated
2. Where would I place feeders and waterers that the chicks can access?
3. I could move the broody on the nest into the dog crate brooder but with the door open (offer some protection for the chicks once they hatch and their food/water)
4. Use the highest ranking hen if possible

If you have any input on this or can steer me to more information I would appreciate it. I may create a thread as well in the hatching or chick forums.

Here's the brooder I used for my day-old chicks:

Nesting boxes:

 

[NanaK]

Lot's of people let broodies sit and raise chicks within the flock. Some have good success.

I only did this one time with my first broody hatch. She started out with 9 eggs which I had marked.

The main problem I had was the other hens in the flock keep getting in the nest box with the broody and adding eggs to her clutch. So I went out daily when she took her break to eat and removed all the newly added eggs. Thankfully, the hatching eggs were marked.

After a few days of this, I went out to do the routine. I found yolk on most of the eggs in her nest and 2 marked hatching eggs were missing. Evidently they were the broken ones. The commotion of the other hens laying more eggs in the nest caused the problem. She still had 7 left to hatch and they had yolk on them. I didn't want to move her at this point. I clean up the nest box and put those back. She came back in and went right back to sit.

Later I had another broken one. Clean up again. I was really worried about bacteria growing because of the yolk mess.

In the end, she hatched 4. 1 female and 3 male.

I was too "chicken" to try it again. So we added a broody box/run area for the next broody.
Next time I had broodies, I had 3 go all at once!
Juggling chickens.

This may not happen to you.

 

[fuzzi]

Lot's of people let broodies sit and raise chicks within the flock. Some have good success.

I only did this one time with my first broody hatch. She started out with 9 eggs which I had marked.

The main problem I had was the other hens in the flock keep getting in the nest box with the broody and adding eggs to her clutch. So I went out daily when she took her break to eat and removed all the newly added eggs. Thankfully, the hatching eggs were marked.

After a few days of this, I went out to do the routine. I found yolk on most of the eggs in her nest and 2 marked hatching eggs were missing. Evidently they were the broken ones. The commotion of the other hens laying more eggs in the nest caused the problem. She still had 7 left to hatch and they had yolk on them. I didn't want to move her at this point. I clean up the nest box and put those back. She came back in and went right back to sit.

Later I had another broken one. Clean up again. I was really worried about bacteria growing because of the yolk mess.

In the end, she hatched 4. 1 female and 3 male.

I was too "chicken" to try it again. So we added a broody box/run area for the next broody.
Next time I had broodies, I had 3 go all at once!
Juggling chickens.

This may not happen to you.

I appreciate your input!

I've been thinking of possible set-ups, but since none of the gals are currently broody, it's a bit of a moot point.

 

[fuzzi]

Made a thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-set-up-in-hoop-coop.1611144/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I've hatched within the flock before, you do want to mark the eggs. A broody is fierce when she has babies, so generally the other hens won't mess with her. Now if a chick happens to wander and is "alone" that may be a different matter. Depending on your rooster, he often keeps the peace when babies with a broody are running about.

I'd do it again. But I've read some threads where things just didn't work out either. You just never know. Chickens will be chickens at times.