Broodys all over the place!

[Beekissed]

Oh, that would be awful!!! I had a rooster that tried to stomp little chicks when they came to the feeder, but he was taken out of the breeding pool since then....had to pen him up when the chicks were tiny so he couldn't step on them.

 

[Beekissed]

My current mama, which is wild as a garter snake, so it's tough to get close enough for a clear pic of her and the family. Last year this hen established her nest out in the woods and raised her family in the woods and at the edge of the meadow...I rarely got to see those babies during the day time. She's sort of doing the same this year, though not hugging the woods as closely as she did last season.

She's so wary that I had to take these pics from inside the house and she still started to move away from me and my pesky camera. I LOVE this hen!!! She's my favorite WR and I hope to keep her genetics going along.

This is her and her wild wood's bunch last season....she was just a pullet then.

I've got two more sitting on nests right now and due to hatch this coming weekend. Since they are hatching at the same time, it's likely they will brood their chicks together...I've had that happen a couple of times in the past.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I have chicken chaos. I believe there are 4 sitting on eggs, but two of them are confused. The original is settled on a nest and should be hatching next week.

That is a good mama you've got Bee!

 

[Beekissed]

NH, we'll have hatches together!!!!

It's so very fun to have broodies and babies, though a pain at times, it's still a miracle to watch them each year. God sure made them ready for life right out of that egg!

Last year black snakes got 20+ chicks right after hatch, so this year I'll be thanking God over and over when these hatches actually make it.

 

[NH Homesteader]

snakes! We've never had a broody hen. This is a first! My husband had chickens as a kid that all raised their own, he never had an incubator. But none since we've had chickens. It's exciting!

 

[Beekissed]

Awwwwwwww!!! You will absolutely LOVE this then! It's the funnest thing ever to see the chicks loving on their mamas, running their little legs off to keep up with her, riding on her back, etc.

I can't wait until you get to experience this...there's no going back to buying them at the feed store or incubating them when you see how easy it is to brood chicks when you have an expert to keep them warm, show them food and water and keep them safe.

I've only incubated eggs twice, once with a heating pad on a natural nest situation and another time in an actual incubator...both times I realized just how fragile those little lives are and that I had no business messing with any of that if I could do it differently. With broodies, I can get chicks done by the experts and I don't have to worry so much.

 

[baymule]

I had a broody hen several years ago, I lived in town then and didn't have a rooster. I got fertile eggs from a friend and she hatched 5 out of 7. Everything you said is true, Bee. I loved watching her with her chicks.

I bought an incubator and hatched 14 chicks. They are in the brooder on the porch. I set 27 eggs day before yesterday. I wouldn't mind having a broody hen....

 

[Beekissed]

I had a broody hen several years ago, I lived in town then and didn't have a rooster. I got fertile eggs from a friend and she hatched 5 out of 7. Everything you said is true, Bee. I loved watching her with her chicks.

I bought an incubator and hatched 14 chicks. They are in the brooder on the porch. I set 27 eggs day before yesterday. I wouldn't mind having a broody hen....

You will again one day soon, Bay, with all those chicks popping out! What breed(s) are you getting, Bay?

 

[baymule]

I have an Easter Egger rooster with 3 hens in a coop apart from the layer hens. He is about to go in the soup pot. He's mean as a junk yard dog, he hates me and I hate him. Now that I've set these eggs, the clock is ticking for him!

 

[Beekissed]

I hope you don't get little copies of him running around! Make good eatin' if you do, huh?