Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Broody hen?  (Read 4006 times)

Tregwyr

  • Joined Jan 2013
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2013, 09:45:29 pm »
We have been successful previously, though its a first time with duck eggs. Don't let the broodie go too far over the time to hatch and make sure she's fed and watered. I check mine and stroke mum every day so she gets used to me. The first time, I got the date wrong and replaced the eggs with some day old chicks as I thought they were all dud. Brought them in, tested them in some tepid water and the eggs started cheeping!

mab

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • carmarthenshire
Re: Broody hen? Update!
« Reply #16 on: April 10, 2013, 11:18:38 pm »
I think there are 7 of them  :)  (they keep hiding under 'mum') - there were 9 eggs and there are 2 left unhatched.


Pleasantly surprised as I hadn't realised the nest had gone down to the bottom of the box and the east wind had been howling under the slatted floor for a good while before I noticed and did something about it -brrr. she must have worked hard to keep 'em warm.


just got to keep them alive now  :fc:


m

HesterF

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Kent
  • HesterF
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #17 on: April 10, 2013, 11:28:52 pm »
Yay! So cute! You've beaten me to it. Mine is still sitting - hopefully the first batch of ducks will hatch this weekend - she will have been sitting for 35 days and we're into a good routine now. I suspect she's healthier now than she was at the start due to being dewormed, deloused, demited and fed treats (all while in the luxury of our house as I decided that she wouldn't survive the winds you describe - and the snow).

Enjoy your littlies and glad she stayed the course,

H

mab

  • Joined Mar 2009
  • carmarthenshire
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #18 on: April 11, 2013, 08:04:11 pm »
35 days? Oh - I guess that's 'cos they're duck eggs?


mine were ~22 days which is close to the nominal 21.


I'll keep my fingers crossed for your ducks.  :fc:

HesterF

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Kent
  • HesterF
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #19 on: April 11, 2013, 09:22:41 pm »
35 days because she was sitting on infertile eggs for a week before I candled them and realised and then switched to the duck eggs she's on now which are supposed to be around 28 days. They're at 26 days now and I can hear peeping inside  :excited:. As ever, I have to worry about something - they've lost quite a lot of weight so I hope they're not dehydrated (now started spraying them twice a day).

Hope your guys & girls are all still doing well,

H

Possum

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • Somerset
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #20 on: April 11, 2013, 09:54:16 pm »
I also have a young hen who has started to be broody. Is e-bay a reliable source of hatching eggs? If not, what is the alternative?

sokel

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • S W northumberland
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #21 on: April 11, 2013, 10:07:50 pm »
I have had both 100% hatch rate and also 100% duff eggs from ebay so its really luck of the draw
Graham

HesterF

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Kent
  • HesterF
Re: Broody hen?
« Reply #22 on: April 11, 2013, 11:15:15 pm »
Do you know what breed you want to hatch? I'm getting some duck eggs next week and I've gone straight to breeders because I want to be sure of the quality of the ducks I'm hopefully getting. Preloved is also a good place to look - they have more local poultry ads and if you can find the poultry, you can ask them for hatching eggs at this time of year (and if you can go and pick them up, that'll probably help the outcome). Or there may be people on here - there was a long list under Marketplace of hatching eggs for this year.

H

 

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