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When I set a broody, I fasten her on her clutch (I make a nest in an old drawer) in a dim (not completely dark) cupboard with food and water. Once a day, whilst I am doing chores and can supervise her, I open it to let her out. The increased light when the door is opened stimulates her to get...

@ Faraday40 I had a problem reintegrating my bantam cochin/silkie x broody and chicks back into the flock as she is pretty much at the bottom of the pecking order. One of the young leghorns that she actually reared last year (they are little oiks and I hate to see children that are...

@perchead Yes, Silkies or silkie mixes or cochins or orpingtons (as you see from Johnns photo of "Orp" a few posts back. Sometimes EEs or even farmyard mutts can make really good broodies. The best bet is to make enquiries locally and find a proven broody. Some people who just want hens for...

How about folding the perches up and slotting a piece of cardboard or plywood between them and the nest box and wedging it in place. I find it really helps to make the nest itself dark with something solid rather than putting mesh across. Then when you want them to come off, by removing the...

The simplest option is to let her go broody in one of the main nest boxes... ie wait until she is committed to brooding and has been setting day and night for a couple of days, then remove the eggs she has and replace with the eggs you want to hatch. Place a removable board across the front of...

Thanks. 3 out and one zipped last time I checked, two ginger chipmunk striped and a black with a head spot, which I anticipate will be barred, so I guess Harry is the daddy of that one. Must get some chick crumb tomorrow. Didn't want to buy some until they started hatching (thought it might be...

Well it is a glorious day here and I have two Easter lovely chicks just hatched this morning. One is a Marans egg and the other is my CCLxRIR cross' olive egg. Another Marans egg is pipped but no sign of any progress with the other 4 yet. Now I really need to get myself into gear and build them...

I have a bantam cochin/silkie cross broody with a clutch that is due to hatch tomorrow or Monday. I have kept her within the flock. I have a board that I put across her nest box to stop other hens laying in there. She can get out even with the board in place if she really, really wants to but...

If she started sitting on Saturday then I would say that you need to either remove all the eggs she has and give her new ones and start the clock again.... yes the ones that have been sitting on the counter for a few days (up to a couple of weeks) are fine...... or leave her with the eggs she...

Hi Firstly, sex links are not usually a broody hen, but that's not to say it's not possible or it doesn't happen. Secondly, it is unlikely if you have only had her a short while that she would feel settled and secure enough to become broody. Thirdly, there is a lot more to being broody than...

Yes 6 weeks is within the normal timescale for her to cast off her chicks and start laying again. My first broody went from being a devoted and doting mother one day to, a chick hater/abuser the next and would not tolerate them within several feet of her. That was the day she started laying...

My bantam cochin/silkie cross(Frances) has just gone broody again. She hatched a clutch of 8 last summer. I have been really keen for one of my broodies to get the "itch" so that I can have "Easter chicks" but I also really wanted to hatch some more Cream legbar/RIR crosses because the previous...

@Hayduke27 In your situation, I would fasten a screen or heavy flap over the broody's nest boxes so that other birds can't get in and they can't get out. It also gives them peace and quite and darkness to be in their broody trance. Place small dishes of food and water in the corners of the...

Lady of McCamley I am so very sorry for your loss. As others have said, he certainly was a gorgeous boy and obviously had a wonderful life with you. The best that any of us can hope for in life is to be loved and he clearly was. The pain of his loss will lessen with time but the good memories...

Quote: @ShinShien My first broody sat on 14 eggs last summer and badly soiled the nest and eggs in the later stages. I was horrified but decided not to interfere. All 14 eggs hatched into healthy chicks without any ill effects. I did even wonder if she had deliberately soiled the nest to...

@winteree Is this chick an only chick or does it have siblings? I'm wondering if it's an only chick and it doesn't have hatch mates to snuggle up to, that's why it's sticking close to the broody even when she's clearly telling him to go. It may be that he has become too reliant on her and...

My best broody cast her first brood off at 5 weeks but that was in the middle of summer. She had raised all 13 of them within a mixed flock, taught them everything they needed to know and was an extremely attentive mother. The day she cast them off was the day she started laying and boy was she...

@A6chickenhome Firstly I must apologise for not saying how sorry I am that your hen was killed. Don't know what I was thinking just launching into how I would deal with the dead body. I'm not usually insensitive. It is really upsetting when you find one attacked.... or worse still witness it...

I would be wary of leaving it for scavengers as it may just attract/encourage predators to come for more live ones. I have buried birds that died in the past but now I conduct a post mortem(to try to establish cause of death in an ill bird, but also to improve my knowledge and ability to pluck...

I love my barn yard mixes from my first broody. They are all her offspring and I fully expect the 6 pullets to go broody themselves sooner or later because they have a lot of natural instinct like her. They hatched 14th June and started laying a couple of months ago. I was so proud and thought...