Hatching with a Broody Hen All the Way - Setting, Incubating, Moving, Hatching, and Brooding! 

She's soooo cute and adorable and SHE'S SOOO FLUFFY 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😘😘😘😍😍😍😍😍💗💖💓❤💝💞💟💕💖💗💘💜

of all the female birds,hens is the cutest.

The way the babies quickly stick their heads out and in from the mama is so cute!

Perfect effortless presentation for dealing with a broody chicken. I like that you kept the other hens right next to her so they would integrate comfortably. My other hens always pick on my broody hens as they seem to weaken!

I have so many hens that I didn’t notice one of my silkie hens wasn’t going in the coop at night. Before you know it, out comes out a baby chick. To my surprise she hatch 6 baby silkies in the run. She raised them with out my help. I only supplied a chick waterer because I only have chicken nipples for my hens and I only hand scattered starter crumble in the run . Mama silkie taught them how to scratch and find food . 👍🏼 no incubator or brooder needed. 👍🏼

We have 23 chickens and none of them have ever been broody until now. I noticed 3 days ago that my hen was laying on a clutch of eggs and wouldn't move. So I moved her to her own nesting box/run and she's still sitting there happy. Fingers Crossed!

I'm hoping to give my first shot at hatching with broody hens thus spring! Two of my incubator girls from last year went broody together and won't leave eachother (they do everything together). I'm hoping they'll co parent if I give them some eggs 🤞

Fascinating! I have never seen this as I am just getting into chickens and don't even have any yet. I get pullets later this spring and just so excited for the journey. Thanks for sharing!!

I cant get over how much my broody today looks like your broody in your videos. I've always considered mine a barnyard mix, and she lays a green egg.

Great minds think alike!! I've been doing this same process for 20 years and it works every time!! I've told a few people about it but not sure if they've tried it. I loved seeing this on here. Thanks for your video.

I don't know why everyone rushes out to get a broody mom and put her somewhere else. I gradually stopped doing this when I spoke to an ol school farmer. He asked me if I thought farmers rushed out to fuss over a broody hen and chicks. I started leaving them alone in the main flock. Adjusting nest boxes and such I have 19 in my flock. 5 went broody and I have 25 chicks running with 17 hens and two roo's

I have 3 broody hens, and I'm going to put some eggs under a new broody hen, so we will see how we go!

My Mom hatched eggs under Broody hens successfully for nearly 50 years! The secret? You need an older "Legacy" breed of hen! The birds bred for "Factory Farms" will never do!

My kids wanted to watch a broody hen. This was the perfect video!! Thanks 🙏🏻 ❤

Lovely video and very easy to understand each stage of brooding

I had a broody that doesn't take breaks. So I had to force it to take breaks. After that it took breaks. As for free ranging, it depends on the hen's ranking and how well she can fend off the other hen's.

Our chicken is broody, we weren’t expecting it but we already started giving he eggs to sit on, I hope she succeeds :) she is our first hen to go broody the reason we didn’t expect it we only had her for a year and we got them as chicks we didn’t know they go broody so soon

I use a red lighted headlamp for all my chicken napping needs.

We have a broody named Elsa. Her eggs are from our hen we lost to heat (Florida) suddenly. Their mom Angel looked just like your broody. Elsa has naturally wanted to sit on eggs even though we have kept our accident roo from the main coop. We’re a small backyard flock of 5 with 3 egg potential.

You did a good job with this vid! Very informative! Excellant advice with the moving of the hen at night before hatching. I am doing the same thing with a 9 month old Buff Orpington that is super broody. I have no rooster so a friend that does let me have my pick of 2 dozen eggs. So she is now sitting on 7. I am trying the hens are in round eggs approach. Trying to see if there is any validity to that theory! Time will tell... and today is day 1... of 21. Central PA back yard farmer

AWW look at the yellow chickling at 8:51, it's like it's saying "hi mama"

i liked it. reason why i should even get more excited about mine which is three days into incubation

I really enjoyed your video. Thank you for documenting it and posting.

I had a couple brrody’s not even one year old, and I brought home 7 eggs that we thought might be fertilized from a friend. She sat on them for 21 days and i had 6 beautiful Barred Rock babies...That’s what my friends Roo was...

Helpful video. I have a broody and eggs in the mail. I have to get her in her own place as she keeps switching boxes in the coop and letting what she is sitting on go cold. Kind of made the decision for me that I have to move her. Hopefully she will stay broody but will make sure to move at night.

Omg my broody hen looks just like yours and her baby chicks look exactly like hers! One of white and the others are black with maybe a little bit of white

We have our broody about to hatch in a pen exactly the same as yours. We have shut off the door to the steep steps since we're sure the chicks could risk falling and will move her into a different pen after a few days.

These are the exact chicken I am working with thanks

I wish I could afford a separate coop like that. Brilliant idea. I have my first broody hen. She started out with 8 eggs and we're down to 4 now. They keep getting broken by hens crowding her nest. I have nowhere to move her. I won't be surprised if we lose them all.

I have my first broody hen! I've felt so bad taking her eggs, but I just wasn't ready. Going to go pick her up a little coop just for herself tomorrow. Found a little rabbit type coop that I think will be perfect! Thank you for the video, I learned a lot!

That's amazing! This is really helpful I've just got into this on a French farm we recently bought. I had no idea what to do when she became broody.....;)

I’m new at this I now have 2 broody he’s , sisters, olive eggers, my only 2 🫒🥚. I take them treats, egg yolks, cherries , watermelon, strawberries, grapes, and electrolytes, 1 will eat cat food and canned tuna, I force them off the eggs 1 x a day , or else they won’t get up at all. I reached out to a doko farms and they suggested I do treats for them and help them till they learn, they became dehydrated and sick from not getting off the eggs. For a week or two prior they were sitting on eggs and after a few days got bullied off, I think they became determined to not lose any more babies that way.

it looks amizing

I had a bantam silkie who hatched everything I would put with her. But she could only hold about 3 full size eggs!

beautiful hen

Great video! Very awesome and informative!

Answered all my questions thank you as I have a silkie sitting on 7 eggs and I want to move her to a smaller hen house so will do so tonight in the dark.

cool eggs

Thank you so much for sharing this...! Very well-conceptualized, enjoyable viewing. Transferring the Mama hen and the chicks from the nest after hatching has always been a concern for me. Your method is super efficient and effective: no more stress coz of the transfer, and the Mommy hen and the chicks can take their own good time before joining the flock. By the way, may I ask for the dimensions of your coop?

So adorable. I miss our chickens

Awesome video

Love this video thank you!

Going to try this for the first time wish me luck

Is it normal for a broody to go a little pale while sitting? My little Cochin went broody for the first time and I'm letting her sit but I've noticed shes a bit pale. I haven't seen any mites on her so I'm hoping it's just from not eating as regularly. She is pooping so i know shes eating.

I likw when they do this

Awesome content, thank you, we have 19 hens and one rooster, March is here and I want to try letting hens brood, I’m just not sure on our chicken coop being the best set up for it but I’m willing to make any changes possible to get chicks going

Hi hope you can still read this, my coop is similar, do you close the coop door for the first day or two when chicks are hatched so they don't tumble down the steps. And also after they are ready can they manage to get down from the coop into the run OK with the steps.

Thanks

Your video presentation is beautiful.

Thank you!

So adorable

I have been looking for a complete video for naturally hatching g chicks. I have let the hen hatch before but some of the chicks died via falling, ants, or other chickens. So I think separating them in their own coop will decrease the mortality rate. Thanks

She stayed in the coop for 5 days? I want to move mine into a nursery coop, away from the others, but not before she wants to move. The first chick hatched at day 20 (a wonderful surprise), it's now day 21... The nest she has them in is 2 feet above the ground, so I hope I am there to see her trying to move them so I can help :) I can't wait until they are safe in the nursery coop. I haven't been able to sleep or anything lol

When they become broody do they cotinue to lay fertile eggs or when they are brooding do they stop laying until all her eggs are hatched

Not sure if you'll see this, but I love this video! Seems I'm doing this correctly. My only question is what do I feed my chicks?

Do you need another coop or can you just keep them the whole time in the main one with all the other chickens??

The key is “situated”. Most important. Broody hens don’t eat good eggs. They are smarter than humans. Just don’t worry about her. The “go out” window is based on daily temperature and weather conditions

nice

Look so cute i am really happy with your content and nice to see thank+

such a great video.

This was great,thanks

I love chickens and chicks♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

So pretty 😍

Good idea with the butterfly net! I have a girl only with 1 chick so far hasn't left the nest! I hope this baby is eating..

Did the chicks walk down the ramp? Will they fall and get hurt? I have a similar coop I’m considering using

Do you collect the eggs every time the hen lays or do you leave them in the nest until she decides to sit on them?

Should the hen and her chicks just be able to wonder around the coop or should they have their own area?

She looked pretty comfortable where she was

Is ot bad i put food in small dish in the box with her close byso she doesn't even have to go looking with mealworms

Good mama! nice job.

My broody is due to hatch hers tomorrow and she is up in a nesting box - should I move her and eggs tonight lower down?

Why do you even need to move her? I’ve never been through this before and I don’t have a separate area to move mine. I am guessing our hen has been sitting on eggs for a week and all seems to be going well. I only have 4 hens and a huge coop and run. We also have about 3 fenced acres that they free range. We also have a rooster that is a great protector

Hi! Quick question. Do the hens go back to their nesting boxes to lay their egg or do they just lay them wherever while ranging? I free range my chickens after a certain hour because of this reason. We have a big piece of land and Im afraid they will lay eggs anywhere and I will never be able to find them 😊

What breed of chicken is this? I love the coloration of this hen!

My first time Broody and my first time too. She absolutely would not come off the nest. No eating or drinking and even pooing in the nest. I had to throw her out once a day and I did hand feed her twice a day. She is a wonderful momma and so much tamer/friendlier now! We bonded LOL

How do you acclimate them back into the flock?

So cute I hope I have the same luck

How many days would it take the eggs to hatch if a broody hen was to sit on them from day one?

Thank you for this video. I keep watching it over and over because my broody mama is getting ready to hatch her first set of chicks this weekend plus I have some eggs in the incubator. My question is when did you change out her nesting box (day or night?) and was it at the same time you gave her the chicks from the incubator? Mine is in a nest box size crate now but I want to put her in a big dog crate with her chicks plus the ones from the incubator. I’m kind of nervous about upsetting her.

Hi. I am new to chickens. I have a young broody silkie hen. She is small for a silkie, and was being tormented in the big coop where I have my easter egger rooster. She did not want to mate and the other hens wouldn't leave her alone. I took her out and put her in a smaller coop/run with 3 younger silkies. Now she's broody. and stopped laying. I was advised to give her a couple fertilized eggs from the big coop to hatch rather than break her, so she is sitting on one silkie egg and one ameraucana egg. I candled them a couple days ago and both have chicks. Today is day 15. Can I leave her in the smaller coop when they hatch? The oldest of the 3 younger silkies with her turns out is a rooster - he just started crowing. The other 2 it's too soon to tell. Will the baby chicks be ok in there with them or should I take her and the eggs out before they hatch? I really don't have another place to put her (or them) and I am anxious about it. Thanks.

Do you have to move the hen? I have a broody hen but the other chickens do t bother her is she fine staying in the nesting box? I do t want to separate her from the flock because I don’t want the other girls to forget about her

Pine shaving is not what you want to use in a brooder. Simple blue shop towel work best. You can scatter starter crumbles on the towels , at least until they know where their food is. Chick will eat the pine shavings and get compacted. They don’t know it’s not food.

I came here to see if I could add some extra incubator eggs to my broody hen I checked some of her eggs and they did not seem as far along as I thought she has been on them at least two weeks so I guess I’ll see what happens I am about ready to do lock down in the incubator maybe I’ll wait a few hours and research some more

I’m trying to find a broody hen box right now. What are the dimensions and brand of yours ?

This is my first time and the hens first time. All seems well. It is day 15 and I have not moved her to her area to raise the chicks yet. What is the best way to do it since I missed the window of opportunity you described?

2019, we have our chicken crispy, and acorn. They are in the same coop. They are pretty much brody buddies. They are both first timers. Is this fine? We have a very large coop. I don't know...Is this safe? I don't want them to starve, or any chicks to die. Plz answer back as soon as you can!

My aseel hens try to cover the chicks more half of her size and keeps an eye on them for a very long time.

I love your Broody hen coop. Do you mind telling me where you bought?

Did you open the door to the downstairs area the next morning? We are going to use a rabbit hutch which has a sleeping area but isn’t locked off from the main run. Now sure if we need to create a door to lock her into the sleeping area?

I built a second broody coop out of pallets. And let over stuff. It's next to the main coop and sectioned off. I sectioned it of after I found a dented egg after another hen laid in the clutch. Forgot to ask.. main reason for post.. do you leave the door open, I keep thinking the chicks are gonna swan dive to their death even though I have a ramp made

I have a silkie who is broody and hatching eggs too!!

I tried moving a hen after they were on eggs for 6 days at night, first time Broody and she freaked out, so tossed the eggs and kicked Broody hens OFF the nest now after 2 weeks still have 2 Broody hens, so gave them 4 eggs each...so now what...the nesting boxes are elevated they can't hatch them that high, but moving may not be an option, so next week we are going to drop the nests down to coop floor level...any suggestions?

Is it OK for young chick's to free range with old hens an roster that they mom came from

I enjoyed this video thank you for posting. My Bantam is Broody. She went missing for about 3 days I thought she flew over the fence and left usbut I ended up finding her in the woodpile sitting on ten little eggs. Sadly not fertile but we are getting fertile eggs tomorrow. I'm a bit worried about moving her but she has to because she is sitting on a metal bar. Can't be comfortable for her.

Why do you need to move them?

Why didn't you set the food and water upstairs WITH her in another corner? You may not have lost an egg (breaking) when she went downstairs.

how have your chickens that you hatched been doing? I have not attempted to put an egg under broodycute. but she never goes broody for long! Good luck!

Would isolating the chicken make them lonely and be harmful for them and ensue chaos?

My hen is around 21 days. If I don’t hear any chirping… no chicks yet, right?

You can hang the food and wather from the roof so they cant mess with it😉