Broody Hen Thread!

[cfbrown]

We only have 4 hens, no roosters. (Black copper maran) One of which is broody. We are interested in finding a some fertilized eggs. If we let our hen hatch them, do we have to separate them from the other 3 hens.

Where do you find fertilized eggs?

Thank you

 

[fisherlady]

We only have 4 hens, no roosters. (Black copper maran) One of which is broody.  We are interested in finding a some fertilized eggs. If we let our hen hatch them, do we have to separate them from the other 3 hens.

Where do you find fertilized eggs?

Thank you

Welcome to the boards!

Separating the hen depends on the flock dynamics...with this being a first hatch I would at least place her in a nest which can be easily closed off from the other hens if any problems. Often the other hens will attempt to lay eggs in her nest and the scuffles over nesting privileges can result in broken eggs.
Some hens have no problem defending their nest space and can spend their whole broody time in a nest of their choice and never be infringed upon, but those are rare. Some hens will abandon a nest when they are pushed off of it by higher pecking order flock member.....most hens fall somewhere in the middle of the 2 extremes.

If you have the space I would provide her a large cage or crate in the coop, allow her to hatch in there, where the other 3 can see and hear her and the chicks and then open the cage a few days after they hatch (when you can supervise) and let them interact with the other hens. Once you see how the other hens act you will know if they can remain in the coop with the others or if you will need to continue separating them.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Lady of McCamley
I would put the baby on the roost with mama. I think the chick just hasnt figured out how to get up there with her. I just had a silkie broody that had her chicks on the roost at one week. They are five weeks old now and she is still going strong on mothering them.
Marie

Thank you for your perspective. I will see what I can do. I have roost poles though, and often I've observed baby chicks falling a time or two before they get the hang of it. This would be a bit of a drop, late in the night, with no hope of getting back up.

I may continue to use Olive at night and let Splash momma roam during the day for a few more nights....it's supposed to turn really cold before it turns warmer again.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Well, Olive settled things tonight for me.

She moved chick over to the small coop where the rooster and the Splash momma are.

That means she left the 2 eggs she was sitting on, but they were still warm at lock up, so I moved them back under her in this nest.

I figure worse comes to worse either the chick will wander over to the others during the day and back to Olive at night, or Olive will break her brood (this is her second one back to back) and take care of chick...but that was one of the reasons I gave her the chick when Splash momma left it as Olive has already sat 3 weeks, lost that chick, and now reset into the next 10 days...I've been expecting her to break but giving her a chance to have chicks if she persists. (These Marans are that broody).

If she does stop brooding to take care of this chick, it will be easier on her system. If she doesn't, then she's integrating the chick now with the others by her presence in this other coop and will hatch the next 2 in a better nest box situation.

Hopefully a win/win.

LofMc

 

[BackyardMarana]

14 days ago my jersey giant hen hatched 20 chicks .13 days ago my game hen hatched 11.2 days ago my Wheaton ameraucana went broody .1 day ago my black favaucana went broody ..!!! Yay so many chicks and 2 days ago I filled my incubator with eggs I'm so excited to see what hatches ..
I will let everyone know

 

[Lady of McCamley]

We only have 4 hens, no roosters. (Black copper maran) One of which is broody. We are interested in finding a some fertilized eggs. If we let our hen hatch them, do we have to separate them from the other 3 hens.

Where do you find fertilized eggs?

Thank you

Fisherlady gave you good advice about whether to separate or not.

As to fertile eggs....depends upon where you are.

You can look on Craigslist to find some local poultry owners around you (always buyer beware with anything on Craigslist...but I've met up with some good poultry people that way...and some not so good). A number of feed stores sell fertile eggs or can link you to someone who does. Check Facebook for local poultry meet up groups and poultry classified ads. Breeders often frequent those. Also, check your local 4H Extension office. Usually they have a list of poultry people who may have eggs to sell.

Also try the BYC buy/sell forum. You may be able to link up with someone in your area through your state group on BYC as well.

If all else fails, you can purchase eggs from a number of the big hatcheries...but shipping is pretty exorbitant. I've also purchased from eBay with moderate success. That will be expensive for shipping, and shipped eggs typically have a much lower hatch rate because the eggs are jostled in shipping.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

LofMc

 

[Prettypenny]

You can leave it in her brooding area, just place it at the far end so she has to get up off of the nest to reach it.

You can continue to let her out daily, our hens get themselves out whenever they want and are frequently off of the nest for short breaks even on day 20...there aren't many absolute rules, just guidelines for average behaviors which you can tailor to suit your hen's personality, flock and coop situations.

Thankyou so much! I love no absolute rules. Lol! The first thing she after I enlarged her broody pen was move the eggs right into the corner, so I just put her and water at the far end. I think it's plenty of room.

 

[16 paws]

Thank you for your perspective. I will see what I can do. I have roost poles though, and often I've observed baby chicks falling a time or two before they get the hang of it. This would be a bit of a drop, late in the night, with no hope of getting back up.

I may continue to use Olive at night and let Splash momma roam during the day for a few more nights....it's supposed to turn really cold before it turns warmer again.

LofMc

I just wanted to add that I have a ladder going up to one of my roosts and that is where she chose to take them up.Very smart of her to pick that place right? I use the ladder because I have a lot of bantam chickens that cannot get up on the roost without it. Works great for chicks also.
Love hearing about others stories and projects with their chicks. Good luck with yours.
Marie

 

[mymilliefleur]

Update: My broody hen got off the nest this morning, and she had 6 chicks + the 2 Barred Rocks! That means that 100% of the chicks survived and hatched.

Here are a few (lousy) photos of the first 2 broodies to hatch.
Below is Dandelion. This is her first hatch, and she has 10 chicks. She is an excellent mother. NO ONE messes with her chicks!




Daisy below has 11 Easter egger and d'uccle chicks. This is her second brood. she is doing a good job with them.

 

[FaerieChicken]

Were all these eggs set under her at the same time/day---fresh layed??
That's Broody Poop, is she pooping in her cage. You are NOT putting food next her nest where she can eat/drink while on the eggs are you??? She needs to get off the eggs to eat. poop, dust bath, etc.

She is in a wire crate/dog kennel, and there is straw in it, then I have little attachable cups that I put food in 1 and water in the other, but they are not next to her, the cage is quite big. I have a large milk crate in there with the shavings and her with the eggs inside, so she has to get up off the eggs to get to the food n water. Ill take a pic this weekend and post, my silkie is in the same set up, and I have done it this way last 3 times as well. She had not wanted out of the cage but she had been up off the nest a few times.
Eggs, most are from my neighbor, he had been hoping for a broody hen himself and when I told him about this hen being broody and that I didn't think I wanted more babies right now, I offered to put some of his eggs under her, so I am not sure how freshly layed they were. He had them setting out on his counter, like how I have mine usually. I had put 4 eggs with his 8 originally, and mine were fresh, with in 2 days of being layed, but 2 of my 4 were the ones that were broke.