Broody Hen Thread!

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mrstodd said:
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OK, you could do what I do for when the kids get lice... Cover everything in mayo and let sit for 20 minutes before washing out and blow drying. It gets the eggs unstuck from hair, smothers all the lice, and conditions. I retreat in 10 days just to make sure I got everything. You can even make your own mayo with egg whites, lemon juice, and salt. Try some wood ash in the coop with the DE (to help the DE) and clean out all bedding so you can get as much of them as possible out of the coop.
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tankgirl88 said:
Do people have a lot of success with getting chicks and giving them to the broody to adopt? The more I think about it, this is the only was to insure(mostly) that I don't end up with a rooster. I don't think we can have them where I live, and I'm not really too keen on having one at the moment.
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Some do some don't, it depends on how determined the broody is to be a mother. For best results slip the chicks under her at night after a couple of weeks sitting.
 
tankgirl88 said:
LOL....I get the funniest mental picture when I think about slipping lil' chirping baby chicks under a sleeping hen!
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Yeah, imagine waking up in the morning with a bunch of babies in your bed????
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tankgirl88 said:
I just went out there again and now I'm wondering if she really isn't sick. I took her out of the nesting box and set her on the floor and she just kinda plopped down to sitting position. She is very very calm. Way more than normal. I took her outside to the water feeder and she didn't want any, so I dipped her beak in it and she drank a little. All this time still sitting down. The dog even came over and sniffed her and she just sat there. Normally she would run from him. Then I took her back in the coop, put her on the floor and got a handful of food and put it right infront of her and she wanted nothing to do with it.
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I'm contemplating more that she might be sick...because you described her bum and vent as very messy with green/white poo...was it runny? How messy?

Broodies don't normally have a messy bum. Broody poo is very big, very stinky and little runnier, but still not the messy glop of diarrhea or soft poo caked into the bum feathers. Is this "normal" for her? She might have vent gleet...a yeast overgrowth. Giving her yogurt or probiotics in her water won't do her any harm and might help, even if she is just broody.

I personally would wait a few more days, maybe a week, to see if she is sick before giving eggs or chicks for her. Broodies CAN act like they are sick because they don't move around, don't want to eat or drink, comb will look pale...but they shouldn't have a really messy bum BEFORE they start sitting....they can and often do mess themselves when they go in the nest instead of getting off of it...but it isn't the same as the look of poo running down from the vent soaking the feathers or lots of poo sticking onto the feathers because the bird is going too often and the poo is too soft.

If all looks well, and she looks just broody, then by all means give her eggs or chicks.

I personally do better with hatching eggs in winter/cold than fostering chicks as feed store chicks have gotten used to a heat lamp. I find I have a couple of days transition time before the chicks are comfortable with the idea of running to the hen for warmth...some run right into her feathers, others are hesitant and can hang back...that's when they get too cold, and some I've had have succumbed to the cold before they adjusted. It was just too much of a shock going from hatchery to store to another place to adjusting to a hen.

Many use a heat lamp in with the hen while fostering chicks so that they can run to familiar light warmth while they grow used to the hen and learn to obey her clucks. I burned a coop down with heat lamp use, so I don't use heat lamps, hence I only foster in the summertime and hatch in the winter (and spring, and summer).

My experiences and thoughts.

Good Luck with her...hopefully she is just broody and you'll have great success with eggs or fosterlings.
Lady of McCamley
 
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I agree with you on the waiting for a few day just to make sure one way or the other. The feathers below the vent are sticking together quite a bit. Probably about a 2-3 in radius. I think it smells pretty gross too. I can't really comment on the size of the poo however. I'm not sure which one was hers. I will have to try an watch her more closely tomorrow and see if I can catch her doing her business. and her comb is definitely pale looking in comparison to what it normally looks like. Powdery almost.
 
tankgirl88 said:
I agree with you on the waiting for a few day just to make sure one way or the other. The feathers below the vent are sticking together quite a bit. Probably about a 2-3 in radius. I think it smells pretty gross too. I can't really comment on the size of the poo however. I'm not sure which one was hers. I will have to try an watch her more closely tomorrow and see if I can catch her doing her business. and her comb is definitely pale looking in comparison to what it normally looks like. Powdery almost.
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I'm erring on the side of caution with what you have described... all of our broody hens will sit in a trance for a few minutes if removed from the nest, then they 'wake up' and get up and start scratching and eating or drinking for a short while then hurry back to the nest. What you describe sounds much more 'lethargic' than what I have seen with ours.

They use cool, or cold baths for breaking a broody.... I don't know if a warm soak would do the same thing, but if you choose to bath her, you can use a hair dryer to dry her so she doesn't get chilled. I would rather risk breaking her broodiness than risk missing an illness until it is too late to intervene. What Lady said about the yogurt or other probiotics is good advice, it certainly doesn't hurt a broody and it may help if it is something else. Also, spoiling her with some good quality food to help her out is next on the list.

If you rule out illness then you will have a broody who is clean and has a happy belly to start her sitting... so nothing lost.
 
tankgirl88 said:
I agree with you on the waiting for a few day just to make sure one way or the other. The feathers below the vent are sticking together quite a bit. Probably about a 2-3 in radius. I think it smells pretty gross too. I can't really comment on the size of the poo however. I'm not sure which one was hers. I will have to try an watch her more closely tomorrow and see if I can catch her doing her business. and her comb is definitely pale looking in comparison to what it normally looks like. Powdery almost.
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If her vent is smelling gross (as opposed to the poo that is in the coop), then yes, I would definitely want to rule out vent gleet. It can smell pretty gross and can make a bird fairly lethargic as it creates inflammation in the egg tract if it goes unchecked.

Just on the far chance that it might be vent gleet, I'll link a good site on how to treat it.

I had one hen that had minor vent gleet and responded very well to yogurt, probiotics, ACV in the water (after lots of yogurt first), and gently cleaning her up and spraying Tinactin spray on her vent, which was a bit red looking. I treated for about a week, and kept her on the yogurt for a week more and she looked great afterwards and has had no further trouble.

Lady of McCamley

First normal poop and broody poop (photos are included in article):
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html

Vent Gleet (hopefully this is NOT it):
I can't find my favorite link (somehow misplaced that), but these articles do a decent job with the exception that vent gleet is not contagious...it is a yeast overgrowth within the individual bird brought on by a dip in their immune system or poor water or stress...however it can pass to other susceptible birds...and a few days of yogurt is not enough...I recommend treating for at least a week beyond symptoms if you've got to the stage of messy bum...and the photos are worse than what my bird had...she had mess just around and a couple of inches down from her vent....distinctly messy but not gross...and smelly...definitely smelling with a smell that stayed with her.
http://www.mcandyfarms.com/vent-gleet-rid-vent-gleet/
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html (You don't need Nystatin unless it is a severe case)
 
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