Advice on keeping a broody hen healthy

[Chicka_deee]

Hello,
I was wondering if any broody mamma experts could help out?

I have a hen that is 5 years old and she is broody for the 5th time in a row!
She has only hatched out once and that was last year as the years previous I broke her from it. (I made a thread last summer about her first year actually hatching)
She has now gone broody again and I put 7 eggs under her. This is both of our 2nd broody mamma hatches. So I’m no expert.
Last year I didn’t do the best but she raised her 2 babies for the first time very well. This year she will be hatching 7 .
I have her in a separate coop that I can attach photos if needed with fresh clean water and chick starter for the extra protein at all times. We are building a brooder coop at the moment but here’s the plan.
she went broody and of course stole all the hens favorite nesting box so after a few days I got the fertile eggs from a friend and moved her to the separate coop. (not the broody coop that we are building) I do not want to move her again when we have it built because I am worried about her and how she is doing but I do plan on having the broody coop built and done by the time all her chicks hatch out fully and are about a day or two old so that’s when I would move her to the new broody coop where she can raise them
Anyways. She isn’t doing the best I have noticed. Today is day 10 of the incubation. She seems weak and not the best. One of her eyes is getting swollen.

I don’t want to do anything big to make her snap out of it when we are this far. We have an incubator but it’s being used for quail at the moment and they are on day 10 for them as well.
what can I do to keep her healthy?
I am trying my hardest to let her do her own thing and not check on her so much but it is hard.
Thank you in advice!!

 

[Chicka_deee]

both her eyes in comparison. She also sounds weak when she does her broody growl and clucks

 

[centrarchid]

I like to first leave them alone. Nest give them a feed formulated for maintaining chickens not in lay. For fun we have been providing the penned broody hens hand fulls of fresh clover in feed bowl. Make so hen can get away from nest and avoid rest of flock when she does.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She isn’t doing the best I have noticed

She seems weak and not the best. One of her eyes is getting swollen.

both her eyes in comparison. She also sounds weak when she does her broody growl and clucks

I have only dealt with breaking broody hens, so hopefully others will chime in with how to deal with this.
You have expressed a few times in your posts that she is not doing the best. She seems weak, she has some swelling around the eye, etc.

I do notice she has lice and a bit of watery nostril. The nostril discharge might be irritation from the lice, hard to know at this point. ( I think I can barely see a few lice in the nostril, not sure!) The swelling around the eye...again may be irritation from the lice - I see where there's a bit of crust at the eye, likely it has been watering some too.

Now. What to do. I agree, less disturbance is best. BUT, if she's not well, then taking some steps to help her out would be important, you don't want a weak bird trying to deal with chicks and for me, I sure wouldn't want lice on just hatched chicks.

I've thought about the different methods of treatment for lice (and mites). You have choices - dusting or spraying with Permethrin or Spinosad. You could also use something like Ivermectin. Ivermectin does have a withdrawal period, but since she's broody, not in lay and you are not planning on eating her - personally I would use the Ivermectin Pour On. That would "hopefully" for you and her be less disturbance. With Ivermectin Pour On you apply drops at the base of the neck on the skin (must make contact with the skin). Dose is 0.09 ml per pound of weight. Re-Apply in 14 days which would be after hatch.

Now. I would also suggest treating the nesting area with probably poultry dust (you don't want to wet that area with spray) - lice would be in the nesting box and bedding as well. Maybe do that when she's left the nest for eating/drinking and her daily poop.

Are lice the cause of her weakness. I don't know, but they probably are not helping. You are providing chick starter so that's good.

Also you may want to check out your other birds and treat them too. I would use Permethrin or Spinosad for treatment to avoid egg withdrawal periods.

Just my thoughts and 2¢

 

[centrarchid]

If she is in poor health, break current round of broodiness while addressing current health issues. If she is in poor enough health to require intervention, then odds are high she will not be able to successfully complete broody cycle anyway.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If she is in poor health, break current round of broodiness while addressing current health issues. If she is in poor enough health to require intervention, then odds are high she will not be able to successfully complete broody cycle anyway.

I had wondered about that

 

[Chicka_deee]

I have only dealt with breaking broody hens, so hopefully others will chime in with how to deal with this.
You have expressed a few times in your posts that she is not doing the best. She seems weak, she has some swelling around the eye, etc.

I do notice she has lice and a bit of watery nostril. The nostril discharge might be irritation from the lice, hard to know at this point. ( I think I can barely see a few lice in the nostril, not sure!) The swelling around the eye...again may be irritation from the lice - I see where there's a bit of crust at the eye, likely it has been watering some too.

Now. What to do. I agree, less disturbance is best. BUT, if she's not well, then taking some steps to help her out would be important, you don't want a weak bird trying to deal with chicks and for me, I sure wouldn't want lice on just hatched chicks.

I've thought about the different methods of treatment for lice (and mites). You have choices - dusting or spraying with Permethrin or Spinosad. You could also use something like Ivermectin. Ivermectin does have a withdrawal period, but since she's broody, not in lay and you are not planning on eating her - personally I would use the Ivermectin Pour On. That would "hopefully" for you and her be less disturbance. With Ivermectin Pour On you apply drops at the base of the neck on the skin (must make contact with the skin). Dose is 0.09 ml per pound of weight. Re-Apply in 14 days which would be after hatch.

Now. I would also suggest treating the nesting area with probably poultry dust (you don't want to wet that area with spray) - lice would be in the nesting box and bedding as well. Maybe do that when she's left the nest for eating/drinking and her daily poop.

Are lice the cause of her weakness. I don't know, but they probably are not helping. You are providing chick starter so that's good.

Also you may want to check out your other birds and treat them too. I would use Permethrin or Spinosad for treatment to avoid egg withdrawal periods.

Just my thoughts and 2¢

View attachment 2120330

Just checked and yes, she does have lice
she does seem more alert and active today then how she was yesterday. I’ll try and treat her today. Should I move her to the new broody coop after I treat her Instead of waiting to move her to it when all her chicks hatch like i stated above? Should I move her to the new place if that’s the best idea and when should I know all the lice is dead from the treatment so I don’t transfer anything over to the new coop? It may be best to move her in the end because of how difficult it would be to clean the coop she’s in now quickly when she taking her break and not disturb her more, although im not the expert so I won’t know if moving her for the second time to a clean area is best?
Sorry for any confusion. I’m trying my best but thank you all for the help!

 

[Chicka_deee]

If she is in poor health, break current round of broodiness while addressing current health issues. If she is in poor enough health to require intervention, then odds are high she will not be able to successfully complete broody cycle anyway.

If that is the best in the end what will I do with the eggs? (There is 6 now, I took one out last night that was infertile) If I put them in the incubator with my quail eggs they will go onto lockdown as the quail are hatching

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Just checked and yes, she does have lice
she does seem more alert and active today then how she was yesterday. I’ll try and treat her today. Should I move her to the new broody coop after I treat her Instead of waiting to move her to it when all her chicks hatch like i stated above? Should I move her to the new place if that’s the best idea and when should I know all the lice is dead from the treatment so I don’t transfer anything over to the new coop? It may be best to move her in the end because of how difficult it would be to clean the coop she’s in now quickly when she taking her break and not disturb her more, although im not the expert so I won’t know if moving her for the second time to a clean area is best?
Sorry for any confusion. I’m trying my best but thank you all for the help!

If that is the best in the end what will I do with the eggs? (There is 6 now, I took one out last night that was infertile) If I put them in the incubator with my quail eggs they will go onto lockdown as the quail are hatching

She might break broodiness if moved, that would be hard to know. I've only broken broody hens, so...
What I've observed by mine's behavior is they still want to go back to the exact same spot - so your gal may not accept being moved or the "new" nesting location - hence the previous posts suggestions of leaving her where she is.
I'm sure those that have years of experience dealing with broody hens can better advise on how that may/may not work if you tried to move her.

The Ivermectin will kill the lice that's on her, but there would be a possibility that you could transfer some when moving her and the eggs.

It would be a hard decision to make. If she is not well, there's a possibility she may not fair very well at all. If she seems a bit better, then I might be tempted to treat her where she is, give her a day or so of observation and see if she improves. I do have to wonder if there's something else going on with her. Was she in good shape, condition and laying eggs well before she became broody?

As for moving the eggs to an incubator - boy that's a tough one. Your chicken eggs are at day 10 (or so) they would definitely need turning, but with quail eggs on lock down, you wouldn't want to be opening the bator several times a day to turn.

 

[centrarchid]

Quail eggs could be place on something flat that prevents turning even though rocker or turntable still operating. That is approach I use with my Nurture Right 360 when clutches are added at 1 week intervals. There remains conflict in terms of humidity management that does not appear problematic for my hatching.