First time with a broody- hatch day is here-not sure what to do?!!??

[marlowmanor]

Thanks Chickenreferee, I was thinking that maybe removing the cage might make a difference. She thinks of it as the nursery and they are intruding. I think I will give it a try this weekend, slowly one chicken by one chicken.

Marlowmanor, that is why I seperated my broody, I came up with 3 eggs missing in one week, so I moved her to a new enclosed kenel in the coop and got new eggs and started from scratch. The other chickens kept laying in her box and I was having to constantly go thru the eggs to see which were hers. Maybe you could try seperating them?

She is seperated. She is in the broody coop. I think she may have eaten the egg.

Hopefully she doesn't eat anymore.

 

[Soap Junkie]

Darn Chickens!! I am sorry, I hope she doesnt eat anymore either!

 

[bufforphington]

what should i do about food for her?? (i moved her into a dog crate in the chicken area)

 

[Soap Junkie]

I put food and water in the crate with my broody. She didnt eat much but she did eat.

 

[chickenreferee]

bufforphington:

As long as she has ready access to both, she'll be okay. Feed her chick starter rather than a laying ration. Don't worry if it seems she doesn't eat or drink much or any at all. Ida would go for a couple, three days at time between 're-fuelings' when she was sitting. She isn't using much energy right now anyway so a lot of food isn't necessary, though with the heat, water is important. After the chicks hatch she will eat like crazy!

 

[chickenreferee]

She is seperated. She is in the broody coop. I think she may have eaten the egg.

Hopefully she doesn't eat anymore.

Ewww...

I think the broodiness may have tweaked her brain a little! lol

 

[bufforphington]

what is a broody coop?

 

[Soap Junkie]

Mine is just a large dog kenel put in the main coop, but keeps the other birds away from her and the chicks.

 

[ducklucky]

Congratulations Grammas! It is an amazing thing to see a hen with no prior experience actually know what to do by instinct. Beautiful if you have young children around. Best thing to do is let mamma do her job and keep the chicks seperate from the flock for a while, but let them see each other. We integrated 8 that our dominic hatched of assorted varieties, poppa was a rhode island, she just went broody one day so she got all the fertile eggs. Took two days to hatch all, but she was so proud of herself. We too used a dog kennel, we are fortunate to have a screened porch right off the living room so we could keep an eye on things, but basically let momma do her thing. Food, water (take care the water is not deep enough to allow chicks to drown) and keeping things clean. They grow quickly and no need to do much else. We introduced the young ones slowly, just let them feel each other out, the other girls would go after them, but by 4 weeks they were all free ranging together, which is the best possible scenario if you can do. There is some pecking order, but eventually they get it. They all live happily together now. Lost our chickie daddy to a fox, defending his girls. They will do just fine on their own, just keep an eye on things, make sure all are healthy. Yes, the chick starter is the way to go, momma won't want to lay for a bit, but she'll bounce back once the young ones are "weaned" and will basically ignore them at that point. Good luck, have fun and enjoy them!

 

[marlowmanor]

what is a broody coop?

Well ours is actually what my DH built for the chickens to sleep in at night but our chickens decided they liked roosting on top of it rather than in it.

So earlier this year when we had chicks we bought we used it as an outside brooder box. Ours is a wooden box, 2 sides are wood, one side is hardware cloth then there are wooden doors. It's not the most attractive thing but it works. The chickens can see the rest of the flock, they have plenty of air flow too. Maybe I'll have to get a picture of it to share. It's big enough that the broody has room to get up and roam around in there and get to food and water that is placed in there.