Broody Hen Thread!

[FarmerBoy24]

Hey,

Everyone! this will be a thread about broody hens! Post pics, tell stories, ask questions, suggest, ANYTHING!!

GOOOOO!!!!!

 

[Lifesong Farm]

I risked life and limb to get this shot earlier. She has 11 chicks total. 2 Cochins and 9 Faverolles. I aslo have one trying to go broody. If she is still setting on Fri. she will get however many faverolle eggs I can collect out of 2 girls and 12 BCM eggs that I am getting.

 

[fisherlady]

Hubby sent me a picture... they have over 60 sq ft of coop space to spread out, and numerous boxes available if they want... so what do they do?? Pile up like a giant broody totem instead, of course!

 

[fisherlady]

Another proud mama!

 

[Sandy16]

we are in the second 'broody' episode from one of our buff orpingtons....sigh....we don't have a rooster, so there is no chance for the eggs to hatch, but she doesn't know that! We collect the eggs during the day so she is just sitting on litter. I remove her from the nest as many time as I can, but who knows how long it will take to break her. the first time she went broody, it took 6 weeks!

my favorite part is when I open the nest box door and she puffs up and makes the horrible shrieking sound at me.

I'll try to get a pic of her all puffed up tomorrow!

 

[Lifesong Farm]

Quote:
I love broodies WAY more than incubators. My silkiexaustrolop hatched ALL 1 dozen eggs! a couple of days ago. When your hens go broody do you separate her from the rest of the flock? or just keep them together?

I started with leaving her with the others but they kept laying eggs in with the others so I set the nest box into a kennel so she wouldn't be bothered. Then it got cold again so I took over the juvie brooder for her and the chicks. I plan to put her back outside next weekend and see how they do. I was worried about the cats eating chicks but not any more. I did a controlled test to see mommas reaction and I had to save the cat.

 

[Redhead Rae]

I got lucky this week!!! My Buff girl who hatched out 10 chicks last fall went broody again. A few days ago, I took the 11 LF Dark Cornish hatching eggs I had gathered for the week and gave them to her. She was all pancaked out when I lifted the lid to her box but was completely silent until I showed her an egg. She puffed up really big and started making contented broody noises and tucked the egg under her. She let me put the rest of the eggs under her, and she made happy noises the whole time! I’m really hopeful that she’ll hatch them out well. She mothered her last batch until 15 weeks. This was her the next morning. I have to go out once a day and take her off the nest because she doesn't think to get up otherwise.

She's a good Mama.

 

[HERSHORTNESS]

My little broody silkie satfor about 3 or 4 weeks before I let her keep eggs. I gave her 4 eggs. On day 6 I candles them and one was infertile. She continued to sit. She hatched all of them. On hatch day, all had pipped and i took this picture after she got up for her morning forage.

She took care of them in her Luxury suite until I reintroduced mom and babies back in with the rest of flock.

I was very proud of this little mama. She was from my very first flock which i got at the end of july in 2018. She was about 10 months old when she hatched these babies. They are all doing really well. So far i think all my new babies are pullets.

 

[fisherlady]

Can a hen go broody right after laying her first egg?

Yep, I have seen many pullet broodies.... however, with that being said, you should certainly give her a health check to make sure she doesn't have parasites and her weight is good.
If you lift her out of the box and you set her on the floor and she stays pancakes and cluck before finally getting up to walk around all puffed up and cluck then you have a broody. Have fun, most of mine who have broodied so young are frequent brooder.

 

[FarmerBoy24]

Quote:
Right now I have 2 broodies well 3 but one of them hatched her chicks a coulple of days ago. Under my Buff Orpingtion hen I have 2 dozen Splash, Cuckkoo, Golden Cuckkoo, and Blue Marans!, and under my other hen I have 1 dozen of BCM, Amerucan, Silver Laced Wyandotte and Olive Eggers. I can't wit for them all to hatch!!

. Why don't you get some fertile eggs and let her hatch them?