February Broody On 14 Eggs BRR!

One of my barnyard mixes went broody about 4 days ago, unfortunately she is a rescued hen and is not as sweet or trusting as the rest of my flock. I was surprised to find that she is setting on 14 eggs, most likely more since she appears to take every egg she can out of the adjacent nesting boxes. Now I am in central Wisconsin were at the moment temperatures with the wind chill are around 20 below. I do not heat my coop and haven't decided yet if I should move her so I could give her some supplemental heat. She appears to leave the nest for a brief moment to do her duties and grab a bite. I've never interfered with any of my broodies before no matter how unusual their choice of a nesting spot, but I've never had a broody this early in the year. I of course am hoping that this cold snap ends this week. My coop is draft free but when I open the pop door, depending on which way the wind is blowing she may or may not be directly affected. Not sure what I will do yet. Most of my girls are large breeds but this girl is medium sized and is puffed up so big trying to cover all of those eggs and of course she picks me when I try to remove some of the unmarked eggs from her clutch. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks

I'm having the same issue here in So. IL. One of my BOs went broody about a week ago. Every once and a while I get girls wanting to set very early in the year. Little stink pots. Anyway the low here is about -10 with wind chills at about -15 to -20. Weathermen are saying all-time records may be set. I have a separate "broody coop" so I always separate to prevent other hens from picking on the broodies and to prevent the broodies from stealing other eggs. This coop is not heated and the hens have always done well in the cold, but as it is so unusually cold here, I have moved her into the barn with a heat lamp near her to be safe.

I successfully moved my broody today to a small coop. She has a heat lamp and is sitting nicely. At first she went crazy not understanding thAt her eggs were with her. We left her alone and in 20 minutes when we checked she was back on them sheww.. if it is still to cold when they hatch I will take them inside. I have 34 eggs in the incubator in the house too so the chicks would only be a week apart if I did have to bring them in. We had a beautiful day today, 21 degrees! We worked outside all day improving our coop system and cleaning with just a sweatshirt, I think us wisconsinites are just tough lol. Back to cold weather though next week.

crazyfeathers said:

I successfully moved my broody today to a small coop. She has a heat lamp and is sitting nicely. At first she went crazy not understanding thAt her eggs were with her. We left her alone and in 20 minutes when we checked she was back on them sheww.. if it is still to cold when they hatch I will take them inside. I have 34 eggs in the incubator in the house too so the chicks would only be a week apart if I did have to bring them in. We had a beautiful day today, 21 degrees! We worked outside all day improving our coop system and cleaning with just a sweatshirt, I think us wisconsinites are just tough lol. Back to cold weather though next week.

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Sounds good! I believe the high here is 36 today , then like you said, back to cold again next week. So, no heat lamp for broody today or tonight. I may end up putting it back on her depending on how cold it gets later in the week. Good luck with your momma and I'd love to see the babies when they hatch!

Wow 36 that is Sun tan weather! So you have had March chicks hatch outside before? Did they do well? I had to get the broody out of my coop not only for weather reasons but broodiness is contagious in my flock.

Sun tan weather, I wish! Yes I have had broodies hatch babies early in the year. They've done fine with their momma. My broody coop does have a small run, so I only allow the "families" out to free range when the temperature is appropriate.

Good to know. This will be the first time brooding for this hen " Mary's chicken" I got her last summer from Mary, she had a predator problem and got rid of 12 chickens. One is a lavender orphinton and she brooded 10 chicks in the fall, 3 were roosters.

Had a beautiful day today. Temperature was around 25 although a bit windy, we are back to single digits tomorrow. Mary's chicken is being a perfect broody, the big news is I candled 4 of her eggs and 3 of them were making great progress! I think she pecked me 4 times as well. That is all for now.

crazyfeathers said:

Had a beautiful day today. Temperature was around 25 although a bit windy, we are back to single digits tomorrow. Mary's chicken is being a perfect broody, the big news is I candled 4 of her eggs and 3 of them were making great progress! I think she pecked me 4 times as well. That is all for now.

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Glad to hear she's making progress and that you have such a good momma. My BO pecks the life out of my hands when I candle. She definitely does not appreciate being bothered! Her babies are due to hatch this Sunday. Lockdown begins Friday so I will NOT be disturbing her then!

I am unsure of her hatch date, unfortunately, I am going to candle tonight again and remove the unfertile eggs. I am not sure why but some of my girls lay eggs that look porous, not sure if that is the right word. The egg shells have spots, when you candle them it is obvious. These eggs never produce chicks. I am not sure if its a bacteria or eggs from my older girls. Good luck on your hatch! I'd love to see pictures please! I am so eggcited for chicks, It made my day when I candled Mary's chicken eggs and seen they were fertile and then I candled a few eggs in the incubator and there is life! Its a bit early to candle but who can wait! LOL