poppy ben grace Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Hi all. Well i candled my eggs last night and think there are at least 3 good ones and my broody(who has 2) has 1 that is fertile. Will check them again in a few days as i am not over confident on my abilities despite viewing loads of pictures of candled eggs on the internet! Just wanted to ask your opinions on what to do if they do reach the hatching stage. My broody hen is a first timer and a sussex, the chicks will be pekins so will she be too big to be a mum to them? Also should i leave the eggs to hatch in the incubator, then put them under her when (if) they hatch? I have an electric hen and heatlamp but think if i can use the hen it would be better. Is it hard to introduce chicks that the hen hasnt hatched herself? Should i hatch them in the inci or put them all under her at the end, will she notice the extra eggs? Also my broody is in a coop within my wir with the girls as she wouldnt settle with the coop on the lawn so i had to put it back in the wir. I dont want to leave it in there if she has chicks as the other hens sit on it and poo through the wire. Would it be best to move her if / when she has some chicks hatched? Dont want to upset her as she is doing such a good job at the moment. So many questions and i dont even have any chicks yet! Thanks for reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfer_chicken Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 She will want to leave her chicks when they are 8-10 weeks old anyway, which is too young for them to be reintroduced to the others, but old enough to look after themselves, so either way will they will need introducing. (Mum won't treat them specially when they are reintroduced!) But the benefits is that she will look after them so it is a lot less work for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 A sussex hen should be fine with Pekin chicks I'd candle again around day 15/17 then place all good eggs back under the broody and let her do the hatching and raising It will be obvious which are good eggs by day 15 If then hen was unsettled when you moved her I'd leave her where she is for noe but maybe at least partially cover the run to keep it cleaner Once all chicks are hatched I'd move the small run on to clean fresh ground, the hen will be less unsettled once the chicks hatch and the chicks will have a chance of staying much healthier if the ground is fresh and hasnt been used by older chooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
