Advice - confused broody

[Wuick]

Hello all!
I am new on the forum but have been watching and reading from the sideline for some time. Now I need some advice on a broody.

Two months ago my 18 month old Ameraucana hen went super broody. She hid her nest and by the time we found it she was sitting on 18 eggs. She hatched her chicks, two died and two days later she had killed all but one and had pushed the rest of the eggs out of the nest.

Last week she went broody again. I took her eggs to incubate but she has decided she will sit anyway. Now any time one of our hens lays an egg she sits on it, rotating between two nests.

Questions

Is she just a bad mom? Should I ever let her hatch out her chicks again? Is this common with first time broody’s?

If she rotates back and forth between nests (and I leave the eggs) will she hatch them all out? She is pretty determined and laying on anything she can find.

I prefer not to break her broody behavior but I am here for honest advice and it is what it is.

Thank you for all of your help and advice!

 

[jaxonann]

I don't have any answers for you but I have a Broody 18 month old Ameraucana who sits on wooden eggs all day. I just bought her some eggs to hatch out and am anxious about the situation. I am curious regarding the advice others have for you. Do you mind if I follow along?

 

[AltonaAcres]

A warm welcome to BYC!
In my opinion she's a bad mom. My 18 month old chicken has had two batches of chicks now, and she has never killed one. I think you should stop her from brooding by putting her in broody jail (a wire-floored crate) for a few days until she stops trying to hatch eggs. what surprises me is that she successfully hatched eggs, but then wasn't a good mom. That's kind of unusual. She will not hatch any eggs by rotating nests. eggs need constant heat to hatch. First time broodies usually have enough instinct to care for chicks. Good luck!!

 

[Wuick]

I don't have any answers for you but I have a Broody 18 month old Ameraucana who sits on wooden eggs all day. I just bought her some eggs to hatch out and am anxious about the situation. I am curious regarding the advice others have for you. Do you mind if I follow along?

Absolutely!
How funny that your Ameraucana is doing the same thing. Hopefully she is a better mom!

 

[NorthernMIFlock]

So how many chicks did she kill? Did she leave the nest for good with developed eggs? Are you sure she was the one that got to the chicks? If so, I personally wouldn't let her hatch out anymore, although I've heard it could be a hormone fluke that may never happen again. Did another hen (or human) stress her out at hatch time? There could be many factors that affected the outcome, but I would rather play it safe, that's just me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum, glad you joined.

Is she just a bad mom? Should I ever let her hatch out her chicks again? Is this common with first time broody’s?

I've had great luck with first time broody hens. I occasionally have issues with hens that did great the first time and were horrible the second. Some people will say to never let her hatch again, some will say it was because she was a first time broody. If she were my best option I'd try her again but a bit reluctantly. Some are better at hatching than raising chicks. Some are the other way around. Most are great.

If she rotates back and forth between nests (and I leave the eggs) will she hatch them all out? She is pretty determined and laying on anything she can find.

No. She needs to be on one nest. I let my hens hatch with the flock but many isolate a hen while she is incubating. I'd suggest that for you. Build a predator-proof pen or put it in a predator-proof area. Put a nest. food, and water in it. Leave a small area for her to go poop but don't be surprised if she uses the food or water bowls instead Lock her in there so she cannot get out and no other chicken can get in until she hatches her chicks.

 

[Wuick]

So how many chicks did she kill? Did she leave the nest for good with developed eggs? Are you sure she was the one that got to the chicks? Did another hen (or human) stress her out at hatch time?.

She ended up killing about 10 chicks.
She would kill the chicks but continue sitting and hatching.
She was absolutely the one that got to the chicks. I wasn’t sure at first so I locked everyone else out of her area, obviously that didn’t help.
I have wondered if it was a stress response. It wasn’t a human but we do have wild animals that could have potentially stressed her?

 

[NorthernMIFlock]

She ended up killing about 10 chicks.
She would kill the chicks but continue sitting and hatching.
She was absolutely the one that got to the chicks. I wasn’t sure at first so I locked everyone else out of her area, obviously that didn’t help.
I have wondered if it was a stress response. It wasn’t a human but we do have wild animals that could have potentially stressed her?

So distressing . I had a first time broody hatch eggs about a week and a half ago. She just turned one and I was nervous through the whole process because it was my first time too. I live in a rural area and have a few very experienced farmer friends that told me...Don’t intervene- don’t move her or separate her, don’t take her out of the nest to eat, don’t candle her eggs (we tried once and failed ) and definitely don’t mess with her around hatch time. Once they were hatched, I did move her and the chicks to the floor. I know there are lots of variables, but the hands off approach worked well for my broody and she is now running around with her babies and the other hens very proudly. Hoping you have a better outcome in the near future!