2 Broody hens - no eggs

[LauraSBale]

I have to hens that went broody,

I have tried to move them in crates and they just go crazy and break the eggs. and then they get out and there right back in the same nest box. I have 6 nest box's.

Now for the last 2 days i have only gotten 4 eggs from the other girls, i was getting 16 eggs a day.

I dont know if the 2 broodys are scary then out of the coop, and i see the other chickens trying to get the nest box the broods are in.

plus i changed feed as of tuesday, so could it be the feed change or the broods or both???

thanks

 

[basicliving]

I've been going through something similar with a slow down in eggs - and slowly 6 of my girls have gone broody on me. NOT what I want, but little I can do about it. Have you noticed others starting to spend more time in the nest boxes, even though not laying?

Are you moving the broodies at night? I have one broody that I can not move - even at night. She pitches a complete fit and the first two times I tried it, I left her in the brooder at night and found the eggs cold the next AM and her pacing and screaming. I've attached some chicken wire to the front of the nest box and let her stay in there with her eggs. She's happy - but no one else is. I don't have enough nest boxes or brooder pens for this many broodies!

Good thing I bought only NON broody breeds

Oh, and the reason I blocked off her nest with wire is because the others will definitely get in there and lay eggs for her. It's a survival thing, I think. If they think someone else will hatch eggs for them, they'll be nice enough to leave them eggs to hatch. I marked her eggs, but it's easier just to block her off - and will help when the chicks hatch as well.

Best of luck,
Penny

 

[Southern Gardener]

I think I have a broody also. I've had to pull her off the nest several times, she's all puffed up and goes nuts trying to get back in the nest I've blocked off. I've had chickens for over two years now and this is the first broody I've had. I feel sorry for her - if she'd gone broody a couple of weeks ago I would have had a couple of fertile eggs for her to sit on.

 

[basicliving]

Hi Southern Gardener - have you considered looking in the Buy/Sell/Trade area to see if there are some fertile eggs you could buy for her or trade? Or maybe there is someone in your area that would give you some fertile eggs? If you lived closer and did not mind mutt eggs, I'd give you some - except there is a broody fever going on around here and I'm not getting too many these days

 

[Southern Gardener]

Well, I did consider that, but I'm hoping to finish up the new coop this weekend and move all my birds to their new digs and was thinking she would snap out of it after the move. Is that possible? If I knew she would stay broody, I'd place an order for more Black Copper Marans eggs!

 

[LauraSBale]

Penny

Oh, and the reason I blocked off her nest with wire is because the others will definitely get in there and lay eggs for her. It's a survival thing, I think. If they think someone else will hatch eggs for them, they'll be nice enough to leave them eggs to hatch. I marked her eggs, but it's easier just to block her off - and will help when the chicks hatch as well.

I think that is what is happening, when i moved them at night the next day i found broken eggs in the one girls, and she went right back to her nest box, she had no eggs later that day, she had 3 so some one is giving her eggs.

I hoping for one broody not 2, one is a hatchery black australorps and the other is SLW, i got her from someone who got her from a breeder,

so now i left them, i make sure they have water and feed, though one is up on the top nest about 4 feet off the floor and the other one is about 1 1/2 off the floor, so i will have to watch in about 17 days, for baby

not to fall out​

 

[basicliving]

If you can block them in with some chicken wire, that would be great and give them some peace while they set. I check mine several times a day and open the wire if they want out. They only stay 5 minutes or so and jump right back in, and I close the wire again. They won't want off but once a day.

Once the chicks are hatched, you can move them and mamas right into the crates. The mamas will stay with the babies and be fine then. The one hen that I can't get into the pen to brood is one that went broody only 8 weeks prior to this time. She did the same thing then. But when she hatched them, I moved all of them to a brooding pen the next day and she was perfectly happy to stay there with the babies.

I have 2 broodies that should start hatching out the eggs tomorrow or Monday - and two that should hatch out theirs about 2 1/2 weeks later. As much as I completely LOVE baby chicks, I'm hoping we're finished with it this year!

Let us know how it goes!!!!

Take care,
Penny

 

[yellowfinns]

We just left our broodies where they were & it all worked out. We moved them closer to the ground when the chicks started hatching & didn't have problems with that either. We did have extra eggs under the broodies from time to time, but it wasn't a problem--we marked the hatching eggs and removed the extras.

 

[LauraSBale]

I did mark the eggs this evening, so now when when i go to collect eggs, which ones i can take

 

[LauraSBale]

Now I have 2 B/A Broodying in the same nest

and the SLW she has been getting up for a couple mins then couple back to the nest