My hen hasn't left her nesting box in days

[RichnSteph]

Lots of good information here. I'll add what I've learned over the past few months.

If she puffs up and growls at you then she is broody. I didn't see any mention of a rooster so if you don't have one then you'll need to break the hen from her broody cycle. We put one of ours that was doing this into a small dog cage with a wire bottom with the cage raised off the ground a few inches so that the hen couldn't generate a bunch of body heat and we left her there for a couple of days. Yes she had food and water in there with her. That was done from advice I gathered here on the forums. I honestly have no idea why it worked but it did.

Now if you have a rooster and want some chicks then you're in a prime position here. You'll need to separate the broody hen into her own little nesting area. Either build a smaller coop (what I did) or go the easy route and get a small dog crate off of Craigslist or borrow one. Put some fencing around the Broody Camp and ensure she has her own water and feed. Before you move the hen into her area take a pencil and mark each egg that she has under her with a that days date. We did this when our last two went broody but we dated them the days they were laid so that we knew when they were supposed to hatch. Then move the hen and the eggs you want her to have out to the camp and let her be for the next month.

Hope some of that helps.

RichnSteph

 

[enola]

Putting them in an elevated cage with no bedding helps them cme to their senses. I have had to stand a cage in 4 inchs of water to break some really bad hens.

 

[shortgrass]

For what it is worth, here is another of my opinions . . . . . Broodies need to be separated from the rest of the flock. Other hens trying to lay in her nest is very stressful for her, not to mention the chance of egg breakage from the fighting. Or the eggs hatching at different times.

How is it that you predicted exactly what happened lol

BR snuck in in day 3, so I have a random large egg with a late due date, and a silkie had snuck one in somewhere in there, and that one got stepped on by a fat foot and was infertle anyway!

I didn't think a 5 month old hen could even GO broody, so I was not expecting it this late in the year and had no other place to go with her... but always a surprise and a chance to learn from lol


Edit* I hope the OPs hen IS broody and not sick, otherwise I have derailed YET ANOTHER thread lol

 

[enola]

Before I found BYC, I had to learn everything the hard way. Now, I can help people by telling them what I have learned....

Learning things the hard way caused some unnecessary chicken deaths. I like helping other people avoid some of my hard earned lessons.

 

[RichnSteph]

Learning things the hard way caused some unnecessary chicken deaths. I like helping other people avoid some of my hard earned lessons.

I feel your pain there. To date I've lost 9 chicks that were less than a week old because I wasn't sure or wasn't positive on what was going on.

 

[Blooie]

@RichnSteph Either our paths haven't crossed as much on BYC as they used to or you've been away awhile! Regardless, good to see you!

I had a broody who started her shenanigans when she was barely 8 months old. Silly Easter Egger! When Agatha's broody there is NO doubt about it! You don't approach her nest without chain mail, gauntlets and a helmet! How a chicken so sweet in temperament that she was adopted by my 8 year old granddaughter can turn into such an old mean biddy overnight is beyond me, but she sure does. Normally she's just Agatha. When she's broody she becomes Atilla the Hen.



I am a firm believer in a separate place for a broody to set. It can be simple, like a wire dog crate, or elaborate. But it's important that she not be isolated from the flock. They need to see her and she needs to see them, and when the chicks are hatched they need that look-but-not-touch confinement too. Makes reintegrating the hen with her chicks so much easier if you aren't suddenly plopping them into the middle of a flock dynamic after a total separation. And that wire dog crate (which I have used for Agatha to set her eggs) can come in mighty handy if you decide to break her. A broody stops laying while she broods. So remember that after you give a broody a set number of eggs to hatch, any additional eggs that appear in the nest are not "hers", not at the same stage of development, and will result in staggered hatches and a confused broody. So it's best to separate but not isolate.

 

[RichnSteph]

@Blooie Good to see you also dear! We've been so busy with the house/garden/chickens etc (you know exactly how that goes) that computer time has fallen off a tad. Our two year old daughter is also a huge part of that since as soon as I get home she wants to go outside and have some dad time playing in the dirt or sitting in her swing.

 

[casportpony]

Before I found BYC, I had to learn everything the hard way. Now, I can help people by telling them what I have learned....

Learning things the hard way caused some unnecessary chicken deaths. I like helping other people avoid some of my hard earned lessons.

X2!

-Kathy

 

[AudraC]

Wow! Thank you all so much! I am not sure what breed she is. My daughters class raised the eggs to chicks and we were never able to speak with the man who donated all the equipment and eggs to them.

I guess now I need to find a thread on here about "Broody" chickens. Any suggestions so I can learn more?

We actually have a large dog crate for our yellow lab. I can probably set it up on some cinder blocks to raise it up & place it near the coop.

Thanks again for all the advice and support here, this was great!

 

[RichnSteph]

Wow! Thank you all so much! I am not sure what breed she is. My daughters class raised the eggs to chicks and we were never able to speak with the man who donated all the equipment and eggs to them.

I guess now I need to find a thread on here about "Broody" chickens. Any suggestions so I can learn more?

We actually have a large dog crate for our yellow lab. I can probably set it up on some cinder blocks to raise it up & place it near the coop.

Thanks again for all the advice and support here, this was great!

Do you have a rooster? If not then there is no reason to let her sit on the eggs.

RichnSteph