Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Sydney Acres]

I decided to let Bella have the day out today. Here and her chick were really active and wanting to move about, so because she will be stuck in all week I decided to let her. I left her alone for 5 mins, came back and she had a dust bath!! It was straight back to bed for her! Had to rinse the wound out to get the muck out then put some more spray on. Her and her baby enjoyed the day out though

Oh Johnn, I'm so sorry this happened to Bella. Hopefully the dog will not be able to return.

It's wonderful that she feels good enough to take a dust bath, even though it's not good to get all that debris into the wound. I'm sure the day in the sunshine was good for her spirits, which can help her heal. Moving around can also keep her from getting too stiff. Is there a safe place where a small run could be set up for her that is on grass only, with no dustbathing dirt available? That might allow a better recovery for her than staying inside. Or maybe if there will be just a few minutes when she can't be supervised, can you have a pet carrier available to put her in to prevent dustbathing?

Whenever a bird is injured by a predator, it always scares me to wait on antibiotics. Admittedly, many injuries will heal without antibiotic coverage, or will give you enough warning that you can safely monitor the wounds to see if infection sets in. But that's not always the case. Some wounds look great for a while, and then the bird turns very sick before the infection becomes obvious from the outside. So it is a bit of a risk, especially if any deep punctures or large wounds are involved.

I hope Bella does well though this whole ordeal, and recovers quickly. She is a beautiful girl.

 

[Tabatha]

Location: Broody jail
# of inmates: 2

Inmate #37462727
Janet
AKA Dammit Janet
Armed with 11 phoenix eggs on day 17+hours
crime:allowing a hen half her size to root her out of her nest on a daily basis.

Inmate #8493928
Cheshire
AKA Broody Demon
Armed with 2 juvenile delinquents hatched day before yesterday & 8 more mixed mutt eggs on day 21
Crime: abandoning eggs to frolick with said juvenile delinquents. Not cool to let the eggs cool!

Ok. On a serious note, broody demon's remaining eggs will be on day 22 tomorrow. Candling isn't working because the eggs are too full of chicks. I water tested and got some wiggles. If broody jail doesn't work and she pushes the eggs out again, I'll make an incy. But. BUT. What if they don't pip? Tomorrow morning is day 22. What then?

broody demon has one more pipped! Finally! She hates me, but she's hatching! Thanks guys for the emotional support!

 

[GuineaFowling]

Location: Broody jail
# of inmates: 2

Inmate #37462727
Janet
AKA Dammit Janet
Armed with 11 phoenix eggs on day 17+hours
crime:allowing a hen half her size to root her out of her nest on a daily basis.

Inmate #8493928
Cheshire
AKA Broody Demon
Armed with 2 juvenile delinquents hatched day before yesterday & 8 more mixed mutt eggs on day 21
Crime: abandoning eggs to frolick with said juvenile delinquents. Not cool to let the eggs cool!


Ok. On a serious note, broody demon's remaining eggs will be on day 22 tomorrow. Candling isn't working because the eggs are too full of chicks. I water tested and got some wiggles. If broody jail doesn't work and she pushes the eggs out again, I'll make an incy. But. BUT. What if they don't pip? Tomorrow morning is day 22. What then?

For Broody Demon I would take the 2 delinquents away. I had a Guinea with a staggered hatch who decided to take her baby out to eat leaving the other eggs. I didn't have an incubator at the time so I took the keet away and put it in the brooder in the house. The hen returned to her eggs and hatched the rest. After all were hatched I returned the first one to the little flock. Good Luck. I hope they hatch!

 

[Tabatha]

For Broody Demon I would take the 2 delinquents away. I had a Guinea with a staggered hatch who decided to take her baby out to eat leaving the other eggs.  I didn't have an incubator at the time so I took the keet away and put it in the brooder in the house. The hen returned to her eggs and hatched the rest. After all were hatched I returned the first one to the little flock.  Good Luck. I hope they hatch!

So far, one more has pipped. Since i put her and her nest in a guinea pig cage, she has not got up. She gives me the stink eye when I go near her, but at least she is giving it a chance. The 2 3day old chicks love it. They scratch in the food and run around like crazy. Hope the rest go fast from here on out so that the jd's don't leave the new babies behind.

 

[poodlechicks]

I'm loving the pictures. I had good laughs with the "inmates"! Congratulations to all new hatches!

My broody Summer is on lockdown. Today is day 20 and nothing is happening yet. It's so hard to wait! Even though water and food are provided for Summer RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, she won't even move her neck to eat or drink, so I've been syringe feeding her since day 18. I'm glad she is so committed, but I didn't expect she would be so much work. Still, I'm so excited to see the little peeps! I'm off to check on her once again.

 

[Tabatha]

I'm loving the pictures. I had good laughs with the "inmates"! Congratulations to all new hatches!

My broody Summer is on lockdown. Today is day 20 and nothing is happening yet. It's so hard to wait! Even though water and food are provided for Summer RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, she won't even move her neck to eat or drink, so I've been syringe feeding her since day 18. I'm glad she is so committed, but I didn't expect she would be so much work. Still, I'm so excited to see the little peeps! I'm off to check on her once again.

I check mine every waking hour. They are probably sick of me. Janet is refusing her FF, but will eat black berries and blue berries (and of course, mealworms). She usually loves watermelon and strawberries, but is turning her beak at them. Wonder if it's a broody/red thing...anyway...happy hatching!

 

[Johnn]

Thanks everyone!

 

[boomchicken]

At 4 weeks 2 days since hatch my broody has transitioned to "part-time": The chicks are roosting at night and this morning, she laid her first egg since going broody! It's amazing how much more precocious my broody-raised chicks are compared to my brooder chicks.

Here's a pic of her and 2 of the chicks; one is piggy-backing... I wonder if she slept like that at night?

 

[chickenlisa]

I love this thread...lots of broody Mamas and their babies.

Here is my contribution for today...This is 'Meanie' mama and her 1st baby to hatch. Such a sweet looking little chick, as soon as she saw me, she burrowed under Meanie's wing and disappeared. There are more peeping noises under her and I"ve seen pips in eggs that are sticking out a bit too...more tomorrow hopefully.

 

[MistyMountain]

I love this thread...lots of broody Mamas and their babies.

Here is my contribution for today...This is 'Meanie' mama and her 1st baby to hatch. Such a sweet looking little chick, as soon as she saw me, she burrowed under Meanie's wing and disappeared. There are more peeping noises under her and I"ve seen pips in eggs that are sticking out a bit too...more tomorrow hopefully.

"Meanie" is beautiful!! Cute chickie too!!