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  1. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I usually candle from the big end to see how the air cell is forming...you want to wait till the eggs have brooded for at least a week to ten days to really see how the embryo is developing...if the insides floats around within the egg, as it appears in your photo, looks like the yolk has...
  2. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    play it safe and separate them...some hens will attack and injure even kill strange chicks.
  3. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I swear they can count...probably do calculus better than I could...if I could!!! Great advice!!! PDRiverman!!!
  4. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    She probably is starting to get broody...but before I gave her any eggs to set, I would make up a more appropriate nest box for her...make it about the same size and maybe even put the cardboard box inside the new nest box...place it in the same spot as the box she is using now...give her a few...
  5. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    If she looks serious...you can sacrifice a few eggs and give her a few days...if she's sticking to it, put the rest under her. It's a crap shoot with a first time broody...I've had them abandon the nest the day after I figured she was in it for the long run...I've had a hen hatch out the chicks...
  6. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I've got a two little EE hens that come this spring will go broody at the drop of an egg...one is a pretty little sort of cream color hen, I call her "Glorious Momma" the other is a bit smaller. Her name is "Little Gray Bird" she's a silvery gray with an almost peach color breast....they are...
  7. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Great! You will find that they will be happier as well...they seem as if they are "Sharing" the nest and broody duties...but if you actually sit and watch them for a day (ya! like most of us have time to do that?)as they come and go from the nest...I'm sure that you will start to see that they...
  8. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Dani4, I would separate the broody hens...each with their own nest boxes and fenced in areas...food and water. Separate out the eggs between them, trying to be sure that the eggs will hatch about the same time, within a day or so...if it takes longer than that, the hen is very likely to abandon...
  9. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Was it her first brood? I had a black jersey giant hen, who was a great broody hen...till the chicks were about the same age, then she basically ignored them...she didn't tidbit them...if you put some treats into her tractor with them...she would just run over and chow down...not Momma hen...
  10. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Good to know she is behaving more like herself!! I looked it up in my "Chicken Health Handbook" by Gail Damerow...and other then lead poisoning...yellow/green loose poop can be caused by "Sour Crop"....she may have had a case of it and it cleared up on its own...according to the book it can be a...
  11. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Have you picked her up and checked her over yet? "speak1074" When I mentioned the breast bone (keel) bone, if it is very prominent, she is definitely losing weight...if you catch her, you will be able to examine her in good light to...is her comb pale? Or a nice bright red? Does she disagree...
  12. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    If she is one of the alpha girls, her behavior would concern me even more...are her feathers fluffed up? Are her eyes open and bright? Does she react to you entering the coop...a healthy hen will usually stand and watch you...and if you reach out towards her she will most likely move away or...
  13. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Barbara is absolutely right!! If a bird isolates herself like that, they usually have something wrong with them. I keep an eye on who stays in the coop when everyone is going out...especially if they just sit on the roost. I usually watch out for the low ranking birds and be sure that they get...
  14. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I feed my flock a nice wet mash once a month or so with about a half a container of crushed red pepper...yes the hot stuff! They love it and chow the mash down hot pepper and all...so far no worms...another old fashioned treatment is squash seeds...pumpkin is what I've fed them...they are...
  15. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    How cute is that!!! I have 8 Serama chickens living in cages in my front porch...it's way to cold here in the winter(Michigan's U.P) I love the little guys and girls...they seem to be thriving...I've incubated and successfully had two hatch...they are about a week old now...and about the size of...
  16. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    As was mentioned earlier in one of the posts...I have slipped almost ready to hatch eggs on a Very broody hen....and it has worked. But I usually give the hen a good week or so of brooding over fake eggs before I exchange them for the close to hatching eggs...then I keep a close eye on her to be...
  17. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I sure wish I had a broody right now! I've just had an incubator egg pip!!! Why do you always have broodys popping out every where when you don't want them!!!
  18. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    I've found that it's usually a bad thing, to move a broody from her isolation pen back into the main coop before the eggs have hatched...it always seems to break the broody behavior and she abandons her eggs....I usually keep the hen and her chicks separately for a few weeks before I integrate...
  19. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    Ya better watch out for the "Chicken Math!" It'll get you every time!!! Oh, but what fun!!!
  20. the poppster

    Broody Hen Thread!

    You should be careful not to let new eggs to be laid in your broody nest...it will cause a staggered hatch...and your hen will probably abandon the late eggs if they don't hatch out within a day or so of the first ones...
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