Annoying broody hen.

[Sloane Chickens]

Our Japanese bantam went broody.
A week in I gave her 3 chicks. She abandoned them and refused to go near them. She then rooster with everyone as normal. Now she’s back in her nesting box. And hoarding eggs.

What do I do?
I have an incubator with eggs. Do I let her hatch them? (Due next week)
Or do I try to break broodiness? Or give her different chicks?

Ugh.

 

[Evadig]

Our Japanese bantam went broody.
A week in I gave her 3 chicks. She abandoned them and refused to go near them. She then rooster with everyone as normal. Now she’s back in her nesting box. And hoarding eggs.

What do I do?
I have an incubator with eggs. Do I let her hatch them? (Due next week)
Or do I try to break broodiness? Or give her different chicks?

Ugh.

I’d break her. Some chickens are just terrible mothers and should not be allowed to hatch. I’ve house raised several ducklings and a chick because their mothers did exactly as your bantam.

 

[Sloane Chickens]

I’d break her. Some chickens are just terrible mothers and should not be allowed to hatch. I’ve house raised several ducklings and a chick because their mothers did exactly as your bantam.

We thankfully can just raise them inside - as that’s the plan anyway but I wasn’t sure with her. A friend said they have never had success introducing chicks so makes me wonder !

 

[fluffycrow]

Sounds like you gave her chicks way too early. Most hens have a pretty good internal clock, and know when/if their eggs should hatch. Most hens are not ready for chicks after one week of brooding.

Some hens will never accept chicks that they haven’t brooded for three weeks, but some will.

If you would like her to have chicks, I’d give her 5-6 marked eggs (so that you can remove any new egg donations every day or so), and let her do her think. If that seems like too much trouble, then breaking her would be the best choice

 

[Sloane Chickens]

Sounds like you gave her chicks way too early. Most hens have a pretty good internal clock, and know when/if their eggs should hatch. Most hens are not ready for chicks after one week of brooding.

Some hens will never accept chicks that they haven’t brooded for three weeks, but some will.

If you would like her to have chicks, I’d give her 5-6 marked eggs (so that you can remove any new egg donations every day or so), and let her do her think. If that seems like too much trouble, then breaking her would be the best choice

Interesting! What would happen if I gave her eggs due next week you think?

 

[fluffycrow]

Interesting! What would happen if I gave her eggs due next week you think?

Probably what happened with the last chicks, since she hasn’t been sitting for long again. There are no guarantees here, but chances are that she’s not going to have a change of heart when it comes to accepting chicks prematurely.

Usually giving them the eggs right before they are ready to hatch has a higher success rate, but I still wouldn’t risk it. If she were sitting for two weeks or ,ideally, more, I’d be more confident in giving her chicks and ready to hatch eggs

 

[Sloane Chickens]

Probably what happened with the last chicks, since she hasn’t been sitting for long again. There are no guarantees here, but chances are that she’s not going to have a change of heart when it comes to accepting chicks prematurely.

Usually giving them the eggs right before they are ready to hatch has a higher success rate, but I still wouldn’t risk it. If she were sitting for two weeks or ,ideally, more, I’d be more confident in giving her chicks and ready to hatch eggs

So I’d need to give her eggs that aren’t ready ?

 

[fluffycrow]

So I’d need to give her eggs that aren’t ready ?

Well, if you’d want her to hatch chicks, giving her new eggs and letting her brood them over a 3 week period would be the safest bet