A sign of broodiness and tips?

[Sinadrea]

I thought it was cute but not sure what it means. Is one of them broody? I've never seen my chickens sit so close together.

If I have 2 broody hens, is it a safe time to let them chick rear outside? I am trying jail for 1 but she has still been broody for 5 days.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Broodies typically won’t leave the nest. If you try to remove them, they’ll puff up (and often growl).

Hard to tell from a photo. They could just be hanging out! Behavior is the best indicator.

 

[Yardmom]

Are you asking if they are broody?Only if both hens are sitting day and night.
Are you asking can two broodies sit together?On occasion 2 close "friend" broodies can sit, hatch, and raise chicks together. More often the hens will fight over eggs and shake them to much. If any hatch they might fight over chicks.

I would separate them. Personally I put my broodies in separate dog crates.

Are you asking if broodies can sit and raise chicks this time of year?
Absolutely broodies can raise chicks any time of year even midwinter.

 

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

There are a few things that'll tell you if a chicken is going broody.

*I've never added a video here, so if it doesn't work I'll be editing this message

Video is NOT mine. I just found it on yt. Best example I found

*edit yay it worked!
Anybody tell me if I followed proper procedures for adding somebody else's video?

So broodies may puff up, cluck, growl, and peck at you

 

[Ridgerunner]

I thought it was cute but not sure what it means. Is one of them broody? I've never seen my chickens sit so close together.

It is really common for mine to lay eggs at the same time in the same nest. I often see three hens crowded in one nest while my other three nests are empty with none of them broody. I also have hens that will lay an egg in a nest with a broody. You can't tell by looking.

A broody hen can give off many signs that she might be broody. I've seen hens not broody give most of those signs at one time or another. The one I go by is that a broody hen spends nights on the nest. She will spend most of the day in the nest but may occasionally come off to eat, drink, poop, or dust bathe but nights are spent on the nest. It takes two consecutive nights to convince me that they are broody enough for eggs,. One night isn't enough.

If I have 2 broody hens, is it a safe time to let them chick rear outside?

Where are you? What kind of weather are you having? The rougher your weather the harder is would be. But hens can hatch eggs and raise chicks even with snow on the ground. The hen will provide all of the heat they need. Food and water can be a bit tougher and it is easier for a chick to freeze to death if it gets separated from the broody, but many can manage quite well.

Sometimes 2 hens will work together very well to hatch and raise the chicks, but occasionally one will kill the chicks that hatch under the other hen. Sometimes they fight over who gets to hatch or raise the chicks. Many people are successful with two or more broody hens but I had two fight and destroy half of the eggs in the nest just before they hatched so I don't like to try it.

I am trying jail for 1 but she has still been broody for 5 days.

How are you trying to use a broody jail? Did you leave her in there 5 full days? What does the jail look like? Some can be really hard to break.

 

[Sinadrea]

Thanks for the advice and I haven't noticed multiple chickens laying together before.
We are in SD and I'm expecting more winter soon...
It's abnormal weather, as its 65 today but last year we were having subzero temps.

I have a dog crate but think i have to raise it higher off the ground. She still can kind of sit. I have been letting her out for half days. I left her in all day today to see if that would help. She has raised 2 clutches so I'm sure she is a difficult bird to break out of it.

 

[Sinadrea]

Are you asking if they are broody?Only if both hens are sitting day and night.
Are you asking can two broodies sit together?On occasion 2 close "friend" broodies can sit, hatch, and raise chicks together. More often the hens will fight over eggs and shake them to much. If any hatch they might fight over chicks.

I would separate them. Personally I put my broodies in separate dog crates.

Are you asking if broodies can sit and raise chicks this time of year?
Absolutely broodies can raise chicks any time of year even midwinter.

Thank you. I only have 1 broody. The other 2 were just hanging out

 

[Sinadrea]

Broodies typically won’t leave the nest. If you try to remove them, they’ll puff up (and often growl).

Hard to tell from a photo. They could just be hanging out! Behavior is the best indicator.

That was the issue and I've never seen mine hang out on the same side before!

 

[thecatumbrella]

That was the issue and I've never seen mine hang out on the same side before!

It's really cute. If someone's broody, they're being pretty chill about it!

 

[Yardmom]

Thanks for the advice and I haven't noticed multiple chickens laying together before.
We are in SD and I'm expecting more winter soon...
It's abnormal weather, as its 65 today but last year we were having subzero temps.

I have a dog crate but think i have to raise it higher off the ground. She still can kind of sit. I have been letting her out for half days. I left her in all day today to see if that would help. She has raised 2 clutches so I'm sure she is a difficult bird to break out of it.

If you are trying to break her of broodiness, she needs a crate where she can not lay like in a nest and she needs to stay in it for more than a day without breaks.