Broody Hen Thread!

[BackyardMarana]

Sorry I meant two of my red sexlinks are broody ,

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Usually it is soon after they leave. However, different hens stay with their babies for longer than others. As with most chicken questions, the answer is "it depends".

 

[Selsley]

we only just recently started keeping chickens
and about a month after her 1st egg one of our chickens started staying in the nest box,.
after 2 days of removing eggs, we found her sitting on an empty nest so we decided to try her out with some eggs,
as we have a couple of euro araucana (which i doubt really are) we sat her on 4 blue eggs and an egg of our best biggest egg layer
(will be an EE) all was good for a few days she would leave them once or twice a day for a short time, and then return.
i then read on BYC that they should be lower down or in a nursery, since it was an on the spot thing, we moved her under the nest boxes which had been set aside for the goose, who in actual fact, never goes in it. the area she has is a bit wider than the chicken nests and 3 nests long. we did this in the evening as not to cause too much alarm and she settled straight down on the eggs,

the next morning i found her sitting up top on an empty nest, but since the eggs still felt warm (no colder than they would be if she had gone out for a run) i lifted her back down, and she settled straight back on the eggs(with an extra blue coz the araucana always lays under the boxes), from here on is where we had problems, every time she went out she would return to an empty next and have to be put back, she has been closely watched and never stays out for more than an hr then runs back in to the empty nest, so the eggs never overly cooled,
eventually i decided to fence her exit and kept her in for 3 days. after removing the fence, she stayed in the nest for 3 hrs b4 she came out, low and behold she went back up top, after a few more days of letting her out and putting her back down and fencing her in, i have decided to keep her in. and will only remove the fence if its really hot out. at which point she will be watched, at 2 weeks it would be ashame to lose her hard work.

photo taken with flash, its much more shaded and cooler than when she was in the nest box,
where she seemed to always have her mouth open. the nest you see takes up about 40% of the space she has

 

[Monstro]

How many to put under a broody?

We have 2 broodies. A Lt Brahma, first time. A mix breed, 2nd time. The mix disapeared last fall and returned early winter with 3 trailing her so we put her somewhere safer. Turns out later we found about 14 more babies frozen they weren't all with her, oops had no idea they were stuck in the tack room.

Both have been sitting just over a week

 

[lydiagirl99]

MY BABIES HATCHED. 2 Silkies and 1 Cochin. Weasley, Potter, and Granger.

 

[16 paws]

MY BABIES HATCHED. 2 Silkies and 1 Cochin. Weasley, Potter, and Granger.

They are so cute and your pictures are so clear. What kind of camera did you use????

 

[lydiagirl99]

They are so cute and your pictures are so clear. What kind of camera did you use????

Just my Android Phone ! Samsung Galaxy S4. And Thank you !

 

[microchick]

You need to hang on to that first picture and submit it when they start asking for pictures for the 2017 BYC calendar.

Congratulations on the new babies!

 

[16 paws]

Just my Android Phone ! Samsung Galaxy S4. And Thank you !

Wow!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

I bought some hens today some red sexlinks ,and 2 of the are broody

and I think one of the white leghorns is too ,I have a question once a broody leaves her chicks when will she begin to lay again ?
Thanks for any help

Mine remained with her chicks for over 2 months (hatched May 2nd), she started laying about 3 weeks ago. She is having issues....Went back too the main coop last week, her kids are in the grow-out pen during the day, and in the large container at night. Mama comes up to the deck looking for her chicks during the day, and all she finds is my other hen with her 2 1/2 week old chicks. She has this very confused look on her face. My daughter takes her over to where her chicks are, but she still comes back to the deck.