Broody Hen Thread!

[redsix]

I wouldn't give up hope on your first broody yet. Eggs are more durable than we give them credit for being. I would hang in there until day 8 and candle. My last broody was a space cadet. She kept rolling eggs out of the nest. 8 of 12 hatched fine. 1 egg was infertile 3 died in shell not from mom rolling them around but because she decided to poop on the whole bunch early on in incubation. It took me three days to bribe her off the nest for the first time. She was a first time broody so I'm cutting her some slack this time as she has been a first class little mom to her her babies-which are now almost 3 weeks old.

I have to agree with poppster and the others who promote isolating the broody in her own pen. It might not eliminate all the problems that can crop up with a broody hen but it can sure limit the number of hassles.

I have the hen who is sitting on the eggs in her hutch mounted on legs inside the chicken house. I have been leaving the door tot he hutch open so she can go get water and food. I could close the door and put feed and water in there with her, but then there is the poop build up problem. Two chickens did go in and lay in her next yesterday.

 

[windyhawk]

My hen hatched four adorable chicks and they appear to be active and well. The first hatched Tuesday afternoon. Mom is still sitting on 3 eggs in nesting box and the chicks are right beside her. We have put food & wet grass in the box which they all eagerly ate but there is no room for water. The water is close by but the chicks are not leaving Mom's side and she won't get up. I am concerned about the babies getting dehydrated. They were penned up but I have removed the grill and she can take her babies outside if she would GET UP. LOL I put oats around the door to encourage but she stood up pecked a couple and sat back in the nest. The nest box is about 4 inches deep and the chicks are easily looking over the edge. How long will they stick to mom if she won't budge?

 

[microchick]

The problem with letting other hens in with your broody is that you will wind up with a staggered hatch. My hens stay on the nest an average of 2 days after the first chick hatches so I do not let other hens donate to her broody cause nor do I add eggs under her after 24 hours.

I would put her in a secured area large enough for her to get off the nest and move around and secure enough that the other hens cannot disturb her.

 

[fisherlady]

My mama hens are still fighting! The two broodies started fighting the day after they got their chicks and had to be separated, each with her own group of chicks. For the last two weeks, I have given them separate times to free range, but I have also tried short periods of supervised free ranging with everyone together.  Every time these hens have access to each other they start fighting and end up bloody.

The other hens are getting fed up with it. Two of the other hens broke up the fighting 3 times this afternoon, and the broodies just went right back to fighting again and I separated them again. How long is this going to go on?? They are driving me crazy!

The hard answer is to let them fight it out...unfortunately it is nasty to watch and hard on the loser but until one accepts that the other is dominant it will continue fighting rather than retreating. Most all of my broodies come to a mutual agreement after a few knock down drag outs...as long as they happen in a location which allows chicks to retreat to safety.
So options are to allow them to continue fighting with frequent interventions, allow the fights to happen until one estabishes dominance (but be ready to intervene if one seems in real danger and the other doesn't quit) or keep them separate.
Not all birds follow the same rules, and broody hormones don't help, but pecking orders usually keep things peaceful enough for the good of the flock.

I'm sorry they aren't doing better for you, I can imagine it is rough for you to deal with on a daily basis!

 

[fisherlady]

My hen hatched four adorable chicks and they appear to be active and well.  The first hatched Tuesday afternoon.  Mom is still sitting on 3 eggs in nesting box and the chicks are right beside her.  We have put food & wet grass in the box which they all eagerly ate but there is no room for water.  The water is close by but the chicks are not leaving Mom's side and she won't get up.  I am concerned about the babies getting dehydrated.  They were penned up but I have removed the grill and she can take her babies outside if she would GET UP.  LOL  I put oats around the door to encourage but she stood up pecked a couple and sat back in the nest.  The nest box is about 4 inches deep and the chicks are easily looking over the edge.  How long will they stick to mom if she won't budge?  

They will need intervention if she doesn't get up by later today...you should pull and candle the remaining eggs and move them to an alternative incubator set up if they are viable. Staggered hatches are dangerous to both early hatchers and remaining eggs.

Block the other flock members from the nest area for this process....Prepare a paper plate of a finely chopped scrambled egg with a tablespoon or two of peep feed mixed in. Set it on the floor a foot or two ahead of the nest. Grab one or two chicks out of the nest and place them right in the middle of the plate. Tap the food with your fingertip while saying 'Toook!toook!, toook! in a soft but higher pitched voice, also have a chick waterer nearby and beak dip each chick. They should remain within sight and sound of the broody...after each has had a chance to eat and has been beak dipped they can return to the broody.

If the chicks are all out and eating and you have safely removed the eggs you can decide if you want to pull the broody out of the nest, I don't do this normally but you know your set up, hen and situation ...but be sure she has a clear path back to her nest if you do this, since she may panic and rush back to it and she will trample chicks.

Hopefully seeing her chicks out and eating will kick start the mothering instincts and pull her off of the nest voluntarily...

 

[rebrascora]

@windyhawk

Mix the chick crumbs to a thin paste with water so that the chicks don't get dehydrated. Don't put grass in there as the chicks will need grit to break it down and if the grass is too long for them they can get impacted. Better for them to break the grass off the stems themselves when they are old enough and their mother has taught them how to. The oats are not a good idea either as again they need grit to break the grains down. Just give them a sloppy mash of chick crumb and water until they are more mobile. Also it might be a good idea to barricade the chicks in the nest so that they can't fall out or build some small steps with blocks of wood on the outside of the nest so that they can get back in if they do fall out. It's awful when you come to check on them and find a chick has fallen out of the nest and is cold and almost dead.... or worse...just because it couldn't get back in!

 

[redsix]

The problem with letting other hens in with your broody is that you will wind up with a staggered hatch. My hens stay on the nest an average of 2 days after the first chick hatches so I do not let other hens donate to her broody cause nor do I add eggs under her after 24 hours.

I would put her in a secured area large enough for her to get off the nest and move around and secure enough that the other hens cannot disturb her.

The hutch that she is in has a floor area of 2 ft. by 3 ft. It's really the only place I have to isolate her. It will give her a little bit of move around space, if I lock her in.

 

[windyhawk]

@windyhawk

Mix the chick crumbs to a thin paste with water so that the chicks don't get dehydrated. Don't put grass in there as the chicks will need grit to break it down and if the grass is too long for them they can get impacted. Better for them to break the grass off the stems themselves when they are old enough and their mother has taught them how to. The oats are not a good idea either as again they need grit to break the grains down. Just give them a sloppy mash of chick crumb and water until they are more mobile. Also it might be a good idea to barricade the chicks in the nest so that they can't fall out or build some small steps with blocks of wood on the outside of the nest so that they can get back in if they do fall out. It's awful when you come to check on them and find a chick has fallen out of the nest and is cold and almost dead.... or worse...just because it couldn't get back in!

They will need intervention if she doesn't get up by later today...you should pull and candle the remaining eggs and move them to an alternative incubator set up if they are viable. Staggered hatches are dangerous to both early hatchers and remaining eggs.

Block the other flock members from the nest area for this process....Prepare a paper plate of a finely chopped scrambled egg with a tablespoon or two of peep feed mixed in. Set it on the floor a foot or two ahead of the nest. Grab one or two chicks out of the nest and place them right in the middle of the plate. Tap the food with your fingertip while saying 'Toook!toook!, toook! in a soft but higher pitched voice, also have a chick waterer nearby and beak dip each chick. They should remain within sight and sound of the broody...after each has had a chance to eat and has been beak dipped they can return to the broody.

If the chicks are all out and eating and you have safely removed the eggs you can decide if you want to pull the broody out of the nest, I don't do this normally but you know your set up, hen and situation ...but be sure she has a clear path back to her nest if you do this, since she may panic and rush back to it and she will trample chicks.

Hopefully seeing her chicks out and eating will kick start the mothering instincts and pull her off of the nest voluntarily...

Thank you for the help. I do have bricks around the nest and pine chips piled up around it. The chicks should be able to get back to Mama from any direction.

I marked six eggs early on and kept removing the new ones. No chicks have hatched since yesterday afternoon. I don't think the others are viable if they don't hatch quickly so if I can get Mama off the nest, and there are no noises or pips, the last two eggs will be removed.

 

[Honora]

The hard answer is to let them fight it out...unfortunately it is nasty to watch and hard on the loser but until one accepts that the other is dominant it will continue fighting rather than retreating. Most all of my broodies come to a mutual agreement after a few knock down drag outs...as long as they happen in a location which allows chicks to retreat to safety.
So options are to allow them to continue fighting with frequent interventions, allow the fights to happen until one estabishes dominance (but be ready to intervene if one seems in real danger and the other doesn't quit) or keep them separate.
Not all birds follow the same rules, and broody hormones don't help, but pecking orders usually keep things peaceful enough for the good of the flock.

I'm sorry they aren't doing better for you, I can imagine it is rough for you to deal with on a daily basis!

Thanks. I will try letting them fight a bit longer today and see how it goes.

 

[wannahomestead]

Well 2 of my 5 duck eggs I set show signs of development, but my broody got off the nest yesterday and was gone long enough for the eggs to get cold to the touch. She got back on the nest later, but I worry she may have killed the eggs.

I guess we'll see what they look like in a few days.