Broody Hen Thread!

[sniffyjosie507]

i wish my hen would go broody!

 

[ocap]

i wish my hen would go broody!

what kind of hen, where did you buy her, what part of the world are you living, post a picture of your hen when you have time

welcome to BYC

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So, "Grandma Diane" (named after my MIL), one of our 30 week old Light Brahmas is in full broody mode. She passed the "two days/two nights - I'm serious" test - so we went ahead and gave her a few eggs (2 EE/EE and three that are likely EE/SLW or GLW - wanted to have her hatch out all EE, but my two EE girls chose now to take a few days off of laying, so I only came up with two eggs from them in the time I was accumulating hatching eggs for her).
I discovered that there was an unforeseen benefit to the way DH built the nest boxes, I was able to construct three panels that are able to be attached/detached around the base of them as needed to create a pen within the coop - not a *huge* space, but sufficient to provide a private area for her and the tote nest I moved her into as well as a little move around area. She chose the favorite nest to claim when she went broody, and it was really wreaking havoc with the rest of the flock, so it worked out best all around to go ahead and move her to a private area.
Here she is before we moved her

 

[fisherlady]

So, "Grandma Diane" (named after my MIL), one of our 30 week old Light Brahmas is in full broody mode. She passed the "two days/two nights - I'm serious" test - so we went ahead and gave her a few eggs (2 EE/EE and three that are likely EE/SLW or GLW - wanted to have her hatch out all EE, but my two EE girls chose now to take a few days off of laying, so I only came up with two eggs from them in the time I was accumulating hatching eggs for her). I discovered that there was an unforeseen benefit to the way DH built the nest boxes, I was able to construct three panels that are able to be attached/detached around the base of them as needed to create a pen within the coop - not a *huge* space, but sufficient to provide a private area for her and the tote nest I moved her into as well as a little move around area. She chose the favorite nest to claim when she went broody, and it was really wreaking havoc with the rest of the flock, so it worked out best all around to go ahead and move her to a private area. Here she is before we moved her

She is beautiful! I do love that feather pattern...in fact I have a number of light sussex that have about the same pattern. I hope she does well for her brood!

 

[ChickyChickens]

Moonshine, had a 100% hatch rate(10/10) but 4 got taken by hawks

!


Here she is, before she went broody!!




And here she is with her 6 chicks when they are 2 days old!!!

 

[A6chickenhome]

To answer your first post.... yes it sounds like the hen is trying to go broody again, though to be on the safe side you should check her vent area for any mites/lice (which can cause some lethargy and explain her just wanting to lay around) and check her poo for any blood or worms. 
Some hens just don't care about outside temps when they are in the mood to hatch chicks!

To answer your second question... every one of us use different methods to give our broodies a place to raise their little ones.  Some are still in the coop, others are separate coops altogether and every combination in between.
The easiest way to get visuals on how we are set up is to go to the right side of the page where the 'recent images' are shown.  At the top of it you will see a link for 'view all'.  This will give you a good view of thumbnails for all pics posted and you can scroll through them and look at the many, many set ups folks use.  Some are very simple, others more involved but they all work for the individual's set up.
You can also check the 'old fashioned broody hen' thread and do the same.

Thanks for that. You are right, my hen is now setting the nest all day and night. She chose a different nest this time around, one that is "popular" with the other hens. They are all getting in the nest with her and stepping on the eggs and moving her to the back and off the eggs. When they get in with her, she tries to relocate the eggs to the rear of the box and back and forth. This morning I decided to relocate her and the eggs to the box she used during her last broody spell while one of the other hens was in trying to lay next to her. That hen followed her to the box I moved her to! I put some golf balls in the empty nest to encourage the interloper to move back and she did. Do you think this was a good move or should I have just left her in the box she originally chose to set? I wonder if chickens instinctively lay in the same nest so the eggs will get hatched by a hen that is broody at that time?

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks for that. You are right, my hen is now setting the nest all day and night. She chose a different nest this time around, one that is "popular" with the other hens. They are all getting in the nest with her and stepping on the eggs and moving her to the back and off the eggs. When they get in with her, she tries to relocate the eggs to the rear of the box and back and forth. This morning I decided to relocate her and the eggs to the box she used during her last broody spell while one of the other hens was in trying to lay next to her. That hen followed her to the box I moved her to! I put some golf balls in the empty nest to encourage the interloper to move back and she did. Do you think this was a good move or should I have just left her in the box she originally chose to set? I wonder if chickens instinctively lay in the same nest so the eggs will get hatched by a hen that is broody at that time?

As long as she is in the main coop and/or accessible to the other hens they will probably try to continue to add to her clutch.... I believe it is just instinctual because they want 'their' special egg to get hatched, no matter who does it! You can maybe minimize the issue by placing a screen of some type or barrier in front of her, but you will have to remove it after the normal laying time each day to allow the broody a chance to get out for her break.... or if you are lucky you may be able to distract the other hens by the method you are already using... the golf balls.... sometimes it does work, but you will have to be vigilant about getting imposter eggs out daily.
Some broody hens do defend their nest well and intruders cease to be a problem after a few attempts are rebuffed with a full broody roar! I have two hens who are absolute monsters to other birds who try to get into their nests.... they can brood wherever they darned well please and everyone gives them a wide berth!

... but others who are routinely pushed around when they try to set, so other interventions are needed. It is a matter of trial and error (to see if location helps) and sometimes it takes multiple broods to figure out what will work best for your flock... bad news is that as soon as you seem to have it working well for you there will be a new broody or flock member who throws a whole new wrench into the works!

So remember... there is no 'normal' or 'routine' when it comes to dealing with our broodies, even those of us who have a lot of them are constantly adjusting to make it work for current situations.

 

[sonderah]

Well, its hatch day for 1 of my girls! So nervous that I have more chickens coming into this world that I may have to cull. But they were too far along to not let her finish when idk for sure what's even wrong with my sick ones yet. :/ My other Silkie is setting too, but thinking (hoping) I'll know for sure before time for them to hatch.

Idk how many eggs today's hatch even has. Lol I have TOTALLY left this one alone and let her do her thing. I know the other hen will not lay in that nest, so I wasn't concerned about more eggs being added.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Well, its hatch day for 1 of my girls! So nervous that I have more chickens coming into this world that I may have to cull. But they were too far along to not let her finish when idk for sure what's even wrong with my sick ones yet.

My other Silkie is setting too, but thinking (hoping) I'll know for sure before time for them to hatch.

Idk how many eggs today's hatch even has. Lol I have TOTALLY left this one alone and let her do her thing. I know the other hen will not lay in that nest, so I wasn't concerned about more eggs being added.

for you and your girl today

 

[Blooie]

Oh, my, this is gonna be long....but I'm glad that I found you! I have posted this story elsewhere on BYC so if you've already read it, forgive me. This is just a better thread for it.

We have an 8 year old granddaughter who lives across the street and a 9 year old grandson who lives 2 blocks down. They are my "chicken sitters" when my husband Ken and I leave town, which we do frequently due to his responsibilities. Evan tolerates the chickens - does his chores very well and is very meticulous when it's his turn but doesn't go all ga-ga over them. Katie is chicken obsessed - she writes children's brochures about caring for chickens and has one chicken, Agatha, that she has decided is hers and hers alone.

Before we left for a weekend trip, we neglected to tell the kids that Agatha was acting broody. Katie and her mom were concerned because she wouldn't leave the nest. Finally on Sunday when we were on our way home Jenny called me and said that she and Katie were afraid Agatha had died on the nest. She'd remained in the same spot, facing the same way, and hadn't gotten up on the roost with the others when they checked her Saturday night. I explained to Jenny that Aggie was acting broody and must have decided to get more serious about it. Jenny tried to explain to Katie that Agatha was fine, just that she wanted to hatch some eggs and if they looked under her they'd probably find some of the other girls' eggs under her. Jen tried not to get too reproductively technical, but Katie burst out with: "Oh, great, Agatha's gone broody and Gramma doesn't have a rooster so none of the eggs are fertile!" So much for delicacy! Katie used my chicken persuader and got Aggie off the nest, took out the two Marans' eggs that were under her, and replaced the wooden egg in the nest. "There. If she tries to hatch that all she's gonna get is splinters in her hiney!"

We left town again the next week to attend my oldest granddaughter's wedding and again left Katie in charge. Agatha was still broody but this time Katie wasn't worried about it. Or so I thought. We were gone from Wednesday until Monday. I didn't check the coop when we got home on Monday evening because I knew that Katie had done her usual great job. I've never had to correct a thing when she and Evan take care of the birds. So Tuesday evening after I had rested up and unpacked from the trip I went out to check on things. I heard Katie come through the gate and then she asked me if I was in the coop. "Yep, put on your coop shoes and come on in." She was disappointed that I hadn't waited for her so she could show me her surprise. I kept looking around, thinking I was missing something special but everything looked as good as it usually does when she's in charge. Then she took the persuader and prodded Agatha off the nest and under her were 9 eggs in various shades of brown and blue. Back when I still had 19 chickens laying (I'm down to 10 now) egg production was heavier than I could keep up with, so I'd put a few cartons of the earlier laid eggs in the outside fridge until I could make room in the kitchen fridge. I always put the date they were laid in pencil on the round top of the eggs. I seldom use that outside one, and totally forgot those eggs were out there. Katie didn't. She went out there, selected 9 eggs because she thought that made a nice sized family, and brought them into the house to warm up on the counter. Then the next day she prodded Aggie off the nest and put those eggs under her. Well, Aggie went back on the nest and settled right down despite being disturbed and Katie doing the "planting" in mid-day. Katie was so proud when she showed me what she'd done - "These eggs said July on them and we had roosters then so they're fertile, right Gramma?" Um, sure.

So, we ordered some hatching eggs. They arrived in wonderful condition and night before last Katie came over and helped us move the dummy eggs out from under Agatha (who despite us working in almost total darkness still managed to act like a Dragon Lady and bite me hard) I've never had chickens until this year, and EEs aren't known for their broodiness the way some other varieties of chickens are, but she seems to be doing a great job and we hope that continues all the way through. I'm sure there are some things I'm doing that I shouldn't be doing, and that I'm not doing some things that I should. But we're gonna just leave her to do her job. She's been fussed with so much that I just can't bring myself to disturb her more to candle eggs or check for duds, and I'm not even sure what I'd be looking for when candling. I'm afraid at this point that if she's messed with anymore she'll break and then I'll have all of these eggs to deal with and no incubator on hand ready to take over.

Somebody asked me if I'd been bitten by chicken math. Nope. I was attacked by a fluffy white and gold Easter Egger and a pair of big blue eyes under a mop of curly blonde hair. Wish us luck!