Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

Lets go back a few 1000 years---before you and I started raising chickens----they must have gotten of the nest---to eat/drink/poop etc because they survived---LOL. Did your last hen poop all in the nest and all over the eggs??? If not she got off the nest when you were not looking. I set 150 in the last 3 years, I did not touch them---to make them get off the nest, eat, etc---they all did good. If you let her stay with the rest of the hens----she might not want to get off the nest very much because of other hens getting in her nest while she is off---but she will get off. I move all mine to a private hatching pen---the hen learns quick that there is no threat of other hens so my hens usually get off the nest at least once daily till getting close hatch time. Food and water is out of her reach so she has to get off the nest to eat etc. This allows her to stretch her legs, poop etc. "I" feel placing food next to her nest causes problems so I do Not do that-----some do---in my case with 150 broody hens I have never had one to poop in the nest----if I left food close---they will poop all over it or they will have to get off the eggs at hatching time to poop----which is not good in ""MY"" opinion. Good Luck

I do not have 150 broodies-not even over the last ten years, but...X2.

I'm with PD-Riverman and nchls school on this one....I've not done anywhere near 150 broodies, but I've done a few over the years, and I have never had a healthy broody not take care of herself well enough from brooding to recover.

If she doesn't do well, it isn't from brooding but from an over growth of worms or other latent health issue that caused the problem.

I think it would be an error to blame brooding in itself for any harm to the hen.

But it is like running a marathon, and the hen does need to be in good health or don't use her.

Be sure she has been seasonally wormed and is not carrying a load of body lice or mites which can drain a hen very quickly. Broodies are prone to external parasites because they are not taking as regular dust baths. It can help to sprinkle them with poultry dust throughout the brood or even use some Ivermectin.

Think power boost as well. Place Chick Saver in the water and feed the hen the higher protein chick start feed during the brood. She doesn't need the calcium. Give her high energy treats like BOSS or meal worms. Think of her as a trained athlete and treat her as such. She is a valuable member of your flock.

I offer food and water a reasonable stretch away from the hen but close enough so she can see it to entice her when she rouses.

But more than anything, I avoid over handling my hens as that causes way more problems.

Just my thoughts among the many voices here on BYC. Review it all, and then make the best decision for your flock as you can read the signs and get a sense of what will work better than anyone else.

LofMc

 

[goldie1234]

I have two broodies. First time for both. One has been sitting seriously for about a week or ten days. The other about a week. I want to give then eggs. I found some eggs I really want but I can't get them until middle of next week. Is that young to be too late?

 

[varidgerunner]

No nest pooping here. These game hens like to leave once a day. They fly straight up maybe ten feet and then go horizontal about a hundred feet, cackling the whole way. All the roosters give a warning sound like a hawk is flying over. At feeding time broody hens will be launching in from all directions. Quite comical. I guess the cackling thing is an old instinct, maybe to draw predators away from the nest. They eat a bite, leave a big glob, get a drink and go sneaking back.

Must not be too hard on them, brood after brood, year after year. Some of these girls are getting some age on them. Still going strong.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

No nest pooping here. These game hens like to leave once a day. They fly straight up maybe ten feet and then go horizontal about a hundred feet, cackling the whole way. All the roosters give a warning sound like a hawk is flying over. At feeding time broody hens will be launching in from all directions. Quite comical. I guess the cackling thing is an old instinct, maybe to draw predators away from the nest. They eat a bite, leave a big glob, get a drink and go sneaking back.

Must not be too hard on them, brood after brood, year after year. Some of these girls are getting some age on them. Still going strong.

Varidgerunner, that is hysterical. Yes, I am sure it is left over of the jungle fowl in them to fly straight up then away cackling in distraction as a diversion to any predator that might be looking for nest eggs.

My ladies will rouse as if cold water has been thrown on them, then amble out cackling loudly. Apparently they failed to get the memo about straight up and out 100 feet.

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I have two broodies. First time for both. One has been sitting seriously for about a week or ten days. The other about a week. I want to give then eggs. I found some eggs I really want but I can't get them until middle of next week. Is that young to be too late?

That would mean the brood would be extended to 4 weeks to 4 1/2 weeks.

A good brooding hen on average is genetically encoded to sit about 5 weeks....give or take depending upon how "broody" prone the hen is.

Some have just enough "broody" in them to make the 3 weeks; others, can be very broody and will easily sit the 5 weeks, or longer, until they see a little beak.

It is a risk with shipped or purchased eggs that a new hen will quit before they are hatched. (I know from personal experience).

You can try it, but definitely have a back up plan if they break at or before 3 weeks.

Usually those hens that would make it to the end will extend once they hear the babies in the shells, but not always. Those typically were not serious brooders in the first place but more of what I call "sulking" than brooding. They typically are not particularly good at brooding, and I don't use them as they generally are not trust worthy for the task.

But you don't know until you try. I've had some excellent first time brooders...and some brooded superbly once and never again.

Do provide good quality high protein feed and vitamins/electrolytes in their water as they will be extending. Also sprinkle poultry dust around now or use Ivermectin to help fend off pesky body parasites.

Let us know how it goes.

Lofmc

 

[fisherlady]

That would mean the brood would be extended to 4 weeks to 4 1/2 weeks.

A good brooding hen on average is genetically encoded to sit about 5 weeks....give or take depending upon how "broody" prone the hen is.

Some have just enough  "broody" in them to make the 3 weeks; others, can be very broody and will easily sit the 5 weeks, or longer, until they see a little beak.

It is a risk with shipped or purchased eggs that a new hen will quit before they are hatched. (I know from personal experience).

You can try it, but definitely have a back up plan if they break at or before 3 weeks.

Usually those hens that would make it to the end will extend once they hear the babies in the shells, but not always. Those typically were not serious brooders in the first place but more of what I call "sulking" than brooding. They typically are not particularly good at brooding, and I don't use them as they generally are not trust worthy for the task.

But you don't know until you try. I've had some excellent first time brooders...and some brooded superbly once and never again.

Do provide good quality high protein feed and vitamins/electrolytes in their water as they will be extending. Also sprinkle poultry dust around now or use Ivermectin to help fend off pesky body parasites.

Let us know how it goes.

Lofmc

X2

 

[RachaelR32]

Candled on day 5 and I saw veins in 5 of them. Good to know she's got a good chance of getting something from this. One looks infertile but I stuck it back under forfor now as last time a lot that I thought looked infertile hatched as my candling is not great! One with a blood ring I removed. 16 days to go.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Candled on day 5 and I saw veins in 5 of them. Good to know she's got a good chance of getting something from this. One looks infertile but I stuck it back under forfor now as last time a lot that I thought looked infertile hatched as my candling is not great! One with a blood ring I removed. 16 days to go.

Yay....good luck to her!

LofMc

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Some photos of my current broodies...sorry for some of the blurriness....I put scratch out to draw them together and of course they were busy scratching...but you can see Olive with her foster baby... my first Barnebar OE (CCL/Barnevelder)....which has a mere whisp of white on its head so likely is a boy, but I'm hoping yet. Olive is black rescue momma (Marans/Isbar OE).



And of course proud pappa (with some of his harem)





Then here is the other CCL/Barnevelder baby...which I think is definitely a boy (white head dot)...this one was rescue hatched after Olive abandoned it to foster the first, Splash momma abandoned chick (Splash ditched mothering at 1 week, and the weather was turning really cold again, almost freezing at night, so I in emergency gave Olive the baby).




And Rosie who is now sitting on the next 2 CCL/Barnevelder eggs to hatch in about 2 1/2 weeks....the Silkie has taken over the rescue hatch babe but still doing a lot of sitting, baby has free run of the hutch with the other 6 week old red laced (Barnevelder/Red Star) who is keeping it company as well as Auntie Mimsy, who co-hatched the 6 week old....I think they will bond and it will scratch with those 2 as the days are warming substantially.

@PD-Riverman feed and water are this close only for this special situation wherein I saved a hatchling, then a hatch, and ended up splitting my co-broodies duties...both gals poo off nest just fine, but I want the little lonely only hatchling to have easy access to food and water as Silkie still seems to want to sit rather than brood chick (she was only 3 days into her brood when I stuck the 14 day developed abandoned eggs under her...she saved one and lost one which had died at abandonment...which were abandoned when I stuck the abandoned 1 week old hatchling under Olive, who had lost her first baby to being crushed, and then she tended to that baby (yeah) but left her 14 day old developed eggs to save the abandoned foster chick (not surprised, double brood can be tough)...yes, it's been musical nests here....and this is WHY YOU DON'T INTERFERE PEOPLE! You create more problems for every fix.

LofMc

 

[varidgerunner]

That would mean the brood would be extended to 4 weeks to 4 1/2 weeks.

A good brooding hen on average is genetically encoded to sit about 5 weeks....give or take depending upon how "broody" prone the hen is.

Some have just enough "broody" in them to make the 3 weeks; others, can be very broody and will easily sit the 5 weeks, or longer, until they see a little beak.

It is a risk with shipped or purchased eggs that a new hen will quit before they are hatched. (I know from personal experience).

You can try it, but definitely have a back up plan if they break at or before 3 weeks.

Usually those hens that would make it to the end will extend once they hear the babies in the shells, but not always. Those typically were not serious brooders in the first place but more of what I call "sulking" than brooding. They typically are not particularly good at brooding, and I don't use them as they generally are not trust worthy for the task.

But you don't know until you try. I've had some excellent first time brooders...and some brooded superbly once and never again.

Do provide good quality high protein feed and vitamins/electrolytes in their water as they will be extending. Also sprinkle poultry dust around now or use Ivermectin to help fend off pesky body parasites.

Let us know how it goes.

Lofmc

Last year I ordered eggs, put them under a hen that had been setting a week, had them turn out all blank, put some random eggs under her after 23 days which she hatched and raised, this after hatching and raising a brood earlier in the season. She was an asil. Because asils almost have to be hen raised, they have been selected for their broodiness. None of that "sulking" you describe, not real brooding, just being aggravating. I think some of the wannabe broody hens I have had in my egg layers were just lazy and wanted to sleep in a nest box instead of on a roost pole. Some definitely have it, and some don't. I like dependable broodiness if they are going to do it at all.