Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[mooandmcgee]

Ok I got my broody miss thing out of the nesting box and out with the other girls today. Last night I covered the nesting boxes so that she wasn't able to get into them. She seems normal and not stressing at all. I am home for the next couple of days so will watch the other girls and let them in the coop when they need to lay. I have the brooder breaker cage ready and waiting but really don't want to use it unless I absolutely have to. Could this work????
@Chook Newby how are you going with your troubled lady?

 

[Chook Newby]

Ok I got my broody miss thing out of the nesting box and out with the other girls today. Last night I covered the nesting boxes so that she wasn't able to get into them. She seems normal and not stressing at all. I am home for the next couple of days so will watch the other girls and let them in the coop when they need to lay. I have the brooder breaker cage ready and waiting but really don't want to use it unless I absolutely have to. Could this work????
@Chook Newby how are you going with your troubled lady?

Hello moonandmcgee!
It sounds like your broody girl is coming along nicely. My Polly still thinks she is going to hatch those imaginery eggs Im afraid. I pull her out of the coop when I get home after work (she is always sitting on the others eggs lol) and she wonders the yard happily for about 20 mins. Then back to the coop she goes. She is determined thats for sure! I sit outside with my glass of wine and watch her and then I just go and get her out again
When the other girls go to bed after dark, I go out about 4 times before my bedtime and put Polly back on her roost, then I kick her out again in the morning before I leave for work. My broody breaker cage is on its way in the mail but Im like you, I dont want to do that if I dont have to

. I will persist!
Let me know how you are going over the next couple of days

 

[Chook Newby]

Cue music! Tis the season to be broody, tra la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaaa

 

[sjturner79]

Junior explorers. About 5m and 3 corners from their brooder.

 

[sjturner79]

My Broodies shadows of grey and silkie cuddles

 

[mooandmcgee]

Hello moonandmcgee!

It sounds like your broody girl is coming along nicely.  My Polly still thinks she is going to hatch those imaginery eggs Im afraid.  I pull her out of the coop when I get home after work (she is always sitting on the others eggs lol) and she wonders the yard happily for about 20 mins.  Then back to the coop she goes.  She is determined thats for sure!  I sit outside with my glass of wine and watch her and then I just go and get her out again

When the other girls go to bed after dark, I go out about 4 times before my bedtime and put Polly back on her roost, then I kick her out again in the morning before I leave for work. My broody breaker cage is on its way in the mail but Im like you, I dont want to do that if I dont have to  .  I will persist!
Let me know how you are going over the next couple of days   

Last night I blocked off from the nesting boxes. She didn't sleep with the others but on her own in the coop starring at the nests. Due to the heat and humidity we have at the moment my ladies have taken to sleeping on top of the coop.

I'm going to keep at it for a few days and see if she responds. If not it's to the brooder breaker she goes

Fingers crossed.

 

[Rach4]

Hi rach, some information on where you are and if you need pullets or are able to hatch eggs would help us give you an answer.

Hi yeah sorry that was a bit vage! on some strong medication so when I proof read I still think I am making sense lol.I am in Central Victoria about 45mins from Bendigo, or if you know the town Castlemaine. I haven't done pullets before so I am guessing that is a no for me. Our little hen hatched her own 4 eggs, but I really couldn't be honest and say she would be broody enough to sit on eggs to hatch again as it was her first with us. We don't have an incubator to hatch either. Just so your not wondering why on earth we only had one rooster and hen (not enough hens for the rooster) and not sounding completely stupid, the chooks just turned up in our backyard looking a little worse for wear, so we weren't prepared for the fact that we would need more hens for the one rooster. So we are hoping to find someone around the central victoria area with some hens they may like to sell. I'm not sure what kind of breeds would get on with the Bantams (old english). But we were hoping to find some small type of chickens. Oh they are quite friendly Bubba (rooster) can get a bit cranky on the occasions (towards us), so we shoo him away, but Dookie (hen) gets cranky at him if he gets cranky at us, and chases him away. I'm guessing it's because she is always getting stuck in weird places and always having to save her.... But that is another story in itself. Thanks for help

 

[sjturner79]

Hi yeah sorry that was a bit vage! on some strong medication so when I proof read I still think I am making sense lol.I am in Central Victoria about 45mins from Bendigo, or if you know the town Castlemaine. I haven't done pullets before so I am guessing that is a no for me. Our little hen hatched her own 4 eggs, but I really couldn't be honest and say she would be broody enough to sit on eggs to hatch again as it was her first with us. We don't have an incubator to hatch either. Just so your not wondering why on earth we only had one rooster and hen (not enough hens for the rooster) and not sounding completely stupid, the chooks just turned up in our backyard looking a little worse for wear, so we weren't prepared for the fact that we would need more hens for the one rooster. So we are hoping to find someone around the central victoria area with some hens they may like to sell. I'm not sure what kind of breeds would get on with the Bantams (old english). But we were hoping to find some small type of chickens. Oh they are quite friendly Bubba (rooster) can get a bit cranky on the occasions (towards us), so we shoo him away, but Dookie (hen) gets cranky at him if he gets cranky at us, and chases him away. I'm guessing it's because she is always getting stuck in weird places and always having to save her.... But that is another story in itself. Thanks for help

Pullets would be young hens, about old enough to start laying. You want to look for bantam Rhode Island either red or white, or any bantam breed of game bird. More timid breeds like silkie , Polish and jap don't usually mix well with old English.

If you are on Facebook look around there as the are often many chickens for sale in central and northern Victoria .

 

[Rach4]

Pullets would be young hens, about old enough to start laying. You want to look for bantam Rhode Island either red or white, or any bantam breed of game bird. More timid breeds like silkie , Polish and jap don't usually mix well with old English.

If you are on Facebook look around there as the are often many chickens for sale in central and northern Victoria .

Thanks for that information very much appreciated

 

[Teila]

Howdy folks

Worked on site yesterday; the air conditioning was nice

mooandmcgee and Chook Newby keeping your broody away from the coop for a couple of days could work and I definitely do that on the weekends. However, if she is not broken in the two days and does manage to spend some time on a nest after that, she will most likely revert back to full on broody.

Aaaaw sjturner79 your junior explorers are adorable! As are Shadows of Grey and Silkie Cuddles.

So, after 11 eggs and 26 days Cilla is hunkered down in the nest box once again .... GodCilla here we come

Having accused her of being broody in the past and then finding out she was just laying I am giving her the benefit of the doubt today. However, I have seen her usual broody warning signs and do not think I am mistaken. With a predicted maximum of 36C today and the fact that the girls are free ranging, I live in hope that she decides outside in the garden is the best place to be, but not holding out much hope.

It looks like this afternoon I will be dragging the broody breaker out of the shed [again] and into it she will go tomorrow. Cilla knows the drill

I kinda have a chuckle when she goes into the breaker and picture Cool Hand Cilla with Dusty throwing her a little baseball and mitt

PS. mooandmcgee and Chook Newby I had a look back on the chookie/egg spreadsheet and thought you might be interested in these and how quickly they can be broken.

Cilla went broody on the 10th of September and was broken on the 14th.
Again on the 10th of October and broken on the 13th.
Blondie went broody on the 26th of September and was broken on the 1st of October.

Edited to Add: Last broody season Cilla went broody 4 times, Blondie 2 times and KiKi 4 times. For me, having a broody breaker is a must