Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

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.

Yes indeed....so true.

I agree. If you want reliable broodies, those that will sit the 3 weeks and even 3 more if the first for some reason fails, and do it again season after season, go to a game or Silkie, and even many bantam Cochins.

My layer types have all been selected for decades to lay well...which means broodiness has been deselected out of them. You can get a commercial layer breed that goes broody, but often they sulk, playing at it, rather than brooding....or brood partially but then poorly mother.

Some of the large fowl heritage breeds have been carefully bred so that some lines are very good at brooding again...my Marans turn out to be that way...they have been overall beautiful and broody birds.

But some have too much commercial blood in them yet, which makes for fickle brooders....and perhaps those are the ones many complain of not having the stamina to brood well.

I've heard Asils are excellent broodies, which amazes me a bit as they are not fluffy like my Silkies or bantam Cochins (who resemble a mop). I know the games are closer to the original jungle fowl, so they have strong brooding (and flying) instincts. I have only had a few game types. I really enjoyed them...lost them as they always managed to get themselves into trouble flying over stuff or getting into stuff.

LofMc

 

[Island Juli]

First time out at 3 days. Both mommies are very attentive.

 

[Henerz101]

Hatch day and I've got no pips

Is there anything wrong, I put them under at 5:30 uk time 3 weeks ago

 

[kharmon320]

Rosemary's babies are one week today (some 7 days, some 6). They are in a brooding box/run inside of my larger run. It's all covered, etc. with another coop for the hens. Need some advice on letting them out to integrate. The other hens are familiar with the chicks because they've heard/seen them for the past week.

My plan was to let them out for a couple of hours today while I can supervise. Rosemary has been an excellent broody so far, so I do expect her to protect the babies, but would like some advice on things to look for.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hatch day and I've got no pips

Is there anything wrong, I put them under at 5:30 uk time 3 weeks ago

What date did you put them under her? Are you sure its been 21 days? You do not count the day you placed them under her----you start the next day as day 1. If she is due now----I would NOT be looking under her to see if pipped etc. Just do Hands Off and give her a day or two longer. Good Luck

 

[Henerz101]

They've definitely been 21 days, thanks for replying too

 

[throwntogether]

I am fairly new to chickens, 1 year experience, and I have my first broody hen. I noticed yesterday that I thought she was broody. This is one of my chickens that flies out of the run and usually does her own thing. We didn't notice that she wasn't going to the coop at night until Tuesday after she was chased by a dog we were sitting for a friend so we didn't give it any mind until she was nested behind a bush last night. This morning when she left her self made nest I found what is above. She didn't leave for long maybe 15 minutes. 2 questions, should I remove the eggs since I have no idea how long they have been there or just leave them and see what happens. If I leave them should I bring food and water closer to where she is as she is about 50yrds away from food and water and has to fly in to get to it. Sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks for reading it all and helping out a noob. FYI I do have the amenities to raise chicks and have hatched and raised chicks successfully.

 

[sharol]

I am fairly new to chickens, 1 year experience, and I have my first broody hen. I noticed yesterday that I thought she was broody. This is one of my chickens that flies out of the run and usually does her own thing. We didn't notice that she wasn't going to the coop at night until Tuesday after she was chased by a dog we were sitting for a friend so we didn't give it any mind until she was nested behind a bush last night. This morning when she left her self made nest I found what is above. She didn't leave for long maybe 15 minutes. 2 questions, should I remove the eggs since I have no idea how long they have been there or just leave them and see what happens. If I leave them should I bring food and water closer to where she is as she is about 50yrds away from food and water and has to fly in to get to it. Sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks for reading it all and helping out a noob. FYI I do have the amenities to raise chicks and have hatched and raised chicks successfully.

Some of it depends on how secure she is there. Do you have potential predators who would attack her? Is she likely to be safe there? If so, I'd mark the eggs and let her have at it. You really don't have much to lose. If you have an incubator, you can take any that don't hatch when she abandons the nest and see if more will hatch. That looks like a LOT of eggs for one hen.

 

[sharol]

I have a trio of 8 week old Silver Campines for sale. The cockerel is a feisty, loud little guy and the pullets are quieter. They are from show lines (@wisher1000) , and I'd like to keep hem all, but I just don't have room for them. I'm keeping the more promising cockerel, but the pulllets all look really good to a novice like me. Nice feathering, barring on the tails, bright white where they are silver. Message me if you are interested in them for details and pictures.

 

[fisherlady]

Some of it depends on how secure she is there.  Do you have potential predators who would attack her?  Is she likely to be safe there?  If so, I'd mark the eggs and let her have at it.  You really don't have much to lose.  If you have an incubator, you can take any that don't hatch when she abandons the nest and see if more will hatch.  That looks like a LOT of eggs for one hen.

X2...if you are able I would suggest candling the eggs, see if they seem to be the same development stages pull at least half of them and place them in an incubator and leave her the rest. You can always graft back the incubator chicks to her or think of it as having eggs in reserve in case something happens to her hidden clutch.

The hen can only effectively incubate what she can keep well under her, having a lot of eggs out around the fringes means a lot of eggs which get inconsistent temps and development issues, as she rotates and shuffles the eggs there will be others placed around the outer edges and then they will have problems. The end result is a lot of eggs with poor development and possible birth defects or chick mortality even before hatch.

You can move food and water to a closer spot but be careful it isn't close enough to draw other flock members to her nest or attract predators to her area. Rats and many other predators will smell the food and come to investigate and potentially discover her. You can create a screen or partial fence around her area to detere stray dogs or cats from getting to close but short of building a dome around her you aren't going to be able to do much more to protect her from predators.

Good luck with her, hope she ends up with a great family of chicks for you.