Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[angidee]

angidee wrote:
HELP!!!

My broody hatched 5 chickies a couple days ago. She has a bum leg. One chickie got squished after it was first hatched and didn't make it. This morning I found another chickie that appears to have been squished and didn't make it (it was 3 days old). I decided to take the babies away and give them to the other hen that just finished hatching 5 chicks.
The momma is now just sitting by the other momma's broody box, chirping to the babies.
I can't risk loosing more chickies to getting squished...how do I help momma get over not having chickies?????

This past summer i had a careless broody that went into the broody coop without her chicks, it rained hard that night and all the chicks died. She seemed quite depressed, it took over a month for her to start laying again. Your hen will eventually get over it, but for the chicks sake, do not give her back her chicks or give her new eggs.

I disagree with that, I think it is not fair to the broody to take the babies away and give them to another hen. Tne chicks could've died before she squashed them. Im not sure what the answer is, I guess it's your call, but we have had new mothers who have had some babies die for whatever reason but were good mothers for the remaining babies.

Last edited by chicknmania (Yesterday 3:50 pm)​

I agree with all of these.
I have no doubt if my broody had the use of both legs, she would have been the best momma hen ever!!!!
If I hadn't seen the half dead chickie getting squashed over and over as momma tried to regain her balance and gather up the chickies as I reached in to get the one out, I would have considered other causes. But, with her out in the run and I can see she is having a tough time standing and moving from here to there.
I have seperated her from the chickies, because she does want to momma them (which I have considered giving her some older stronger chickies to replace them for her) and indulged her in lots of yummies to get her mind off of it. Hopefully an afternoon in the sun free ranging will get her mind off of it.​

 

[stonykill]

day 18 for my Sumatra Black Broody. The countdown begins......

Blue Mama Sumatra is only on day 4, but she is called mama, because she has experience....

 

[GoChick]

Oh the wait... I put eggs under my broodie on April 4, around 9:00 PM... will they hatch on the 25th or on the 26th? I'm counting the minutes now, I'm so excited...

 

[Miss Lydia]

I had the same thing happen here today, let mama out of her brood box and instead of going back to her eggs she goes into the main coop and tries to force another hen off her eggs, so I pick up mama from one coop and put her back on her own nest. she was off the eggs for a good while i hope all is okay.

 

[quiltnchik]

Quote:
We cured our one rooster who had a biting problem...every time he tried to bite I would pick him
up and cuddle with him. He hated it, but he quit biting, and he is one of the tamest, nicest roos
we have now.

We cured our mean rooster, too, by sending him to "Camp Freezer," as my husband likes to call it...

 

[Miss Lydia]

quiltnchick, we have had to do that to a few of ours too. We have to very nice roos now.

 

[quiltnchik]

Quote:
Same here. My 3 roosters are wonderful. One of them is a JG and is bigger than my 16-month-old granddaughter, but she can go out in the yard and he never comes near her.

On a broody note, my Silkie ("Silkie Poof" as we call her) is on day 20, so not much longer now!!

 

[phasianidae]

Quote:
Looks like an excellent design

moving a partially broody hen to her own space may encourage her to become broody, which is what I did with a broody Silkie yesterday.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great news quiltnchick!!! lets us know and get them pictures posted as quick as you can, love them baby pics..

I really would like to get some JG one day they are awesome big birds. Largest I have are my Brahmas and the rooster we had to put in the freezer was one of them

 

[azhenhouse]

Hi all, Miss Lydia told me about this thread so I am here checking it out. I am relieved to know that my broody hen is normal. She seems to be going through pretty much everything you all are going through with your hens. My hen is a white rock sitting on a mix of eggs. None of them will be pure bred except for the Eater Egger egg. Of course it doesn't matter, as we are doing this all just for the experience of hatching our first chicks, ever. I don't even know if the eggs are any good. I am just waiting to see what happens. Wednesday will be day twenty-one. So, I am guessing that by Friday if there is no sign of life they weren't any good. This is the second time she has gone broody, and she is only 9 months old. This time she has fertile eggs under her, and I would love for her to be able to have some babies to look after.

I noticed with people who are using incubators that they use the term, "lock down". Do hens do this? Up until a day ago she would leave her nest to go dust bathe, eat, and poop, etc. Then, she would go and sit on a different nesting box. I would have to move her back to her nesting/brooder box where she happily snuggled back down with her eggs. Now, she isn't budging. She has no desire to leave. Is this her "lock down"?

Guess we will have to wait and see what happens.