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

[User395221]

It's pouring down with rain and quite cool.

It's been pouring here, too, but this was earlier, about 6 o'clock or something, it had only just become dark. It wasn't even chilly then.

 

[LuckysMum]

As soon as mine go to bed the bunch right up. My ISA's seem to pair up as some go in the nesting boxes and some perch. We've had such a dramatic temperature change this year I think its caught them by surprise.

 

[Anniebee]

Thanks for the link, that was the type of noise she was making, I was afraid it was a pain thing

Thanks so much everyone, I'm not so worried about her now, it seems that cluckiness is what ails her. How long will she stay like this?

" How long will she stay like this ? " ..... the great unknown ( although Fancy, Teila, MyHaven and many others could perhaps answer that, if / when they have allowed a hen
to remain clucky for as long as she wants ).

I think Teila uses a 'broody pen' ... where chookie is kind of isolated away from nesting boxes - usually gets a very angry hen. ( ask Teila about that !!

)

Mindy is the only hen I have had go all clucky on several occasions. So ( weather permitting ) I lock her out of her coop during the day - with her food and water out there with her - and 3 to 4 days later she is over it and back to a normal nice feisty little hen. She cannot get into the nesting box, or on wood shavings, and just sit.

If the weather was really bad, raining constantly, I would bring her inside, sit her in puppy pen with food and water on flat paper, upend a chair for her to roost on if she chose, but with nothing she could make a nest from. Have never had to try it, so don't know if it would work ??

She has never tried to 'nest and get clucky' outside in some little spot she might have made for herself, but I think some of them do that - in the garden or a large run " here will do - I will continue to be bad tempered and broody

- so there ".

( not all hens becoming bitey attacking monsters though ).

Many others here will have more ideas on how to break a hen of cluckiness.

Good luck ..... !!

 

[User395221]

I think Teila uses a 'broody pen' ...

Yes, I remember her trying to break Kiki when she was broody all the time. I'm just hoping she will "get over it" without me having to "do stuff" to her. It feels so mean.... I'd like her to have little chicken babies to hatch and run around behind her. It's such a shame she can't.

(yes, I'm pathetic)

 

[MyHaven]

Thanks for the link, that was the type of noise she was making, I was afraid it was a pain thing

Thanks so much everyone, I'm not so worried about her now, it seems that cluckiness is what ails her.  How long will she stay like this?  

I'm so glad you are not so worried.

The D'uccle in the photo I showed you only gave me 10 eggs before she went clucky and I often find when one goes others follow. They often follow after eggs hatch but that's another story.

She'll probably stay clucky until you break her. And I find the longer it takes you to start that the longer it will take. Do you have an isolation pen. You'll need a somewhere she can not sit. I use a cocky cage which I have put a perch in and it has a wire bottom. Leave her there for a couple of days. Dropping her temperature helps. Just make sure where ever you put her gets shade all day round and she had what she needs.

You can hear chicks chirp before they hatch so it makes sense that they can hear as well. Mother hens chirp to their eggs encourages them to hatch I believe.

 

[MyHaven]

" How long will she stay like this ? "  ..... the great unknown ( although Fancy, Teila, MyHaven and many others could perhaps answer that, if / when they have allowed a hen
to remain clucky for as long as she wants ). 

I think Teila uses a 'broody pen' ... where chookie is kind of isolated away from nesting boxes - usually gets a very angry hen.  ( ask Teila about that !!  )

Mindy is the only hen I have had go all clucky on several occasions.      So ( weather permitting ) I lock her out of her coop during the day - with her food and water out there with her - and 3 to 4 days later she is over it and back to a normal nice feisty little hen.   She cannot get into the nesting box, or on wood shavings,  and just sit.  

If the weather was really bad, raining constantly, I would bring her inside, sit her in puppy pen with food and water on flat paper, upend a chair for her to roost on if she chose, but with nothing she could make a nest from.   Have never had to try it, so don't know if it would work ??   

She has never tried to 'nest and get clucky' outside in some little spot she might have made for herself, but I think some of them do that - in the garden or a large run  " here will do - I will continue to be bad tempered and broody   - so there ". 

( not all hens becoming bitey attacking monsters though ).  

Many others here will have more ideas on how to break a hen of cluckiness.   

Good luck ..... !!  

I have been in panics unable to find hens at times and eventually found them well hidden on eggs huddled under a grassy or planted spit in the yard. I found one with 17 eggs under her one time. No rooster so a waste.

 

[MyHaven]

Yes, I remember her trying to break Kiki when she was broody all the time.  I'm just hoping she will "get over it" without me having to "do stuff" to her.  It feels so mean....  I'd like her to have little chicken babies to hatch and run around behind her.  It's such a shame she can't. 

(yes, I'm pathetic)

Not pathetic at all. And you must stop saying that about yourself.

I have heard some chicken breeds (game types I think from memory) will actually die on a nest if the eggs don't hatch. They do not break themselves.

It is important to know that clucky is a physical condition not a desire to be a mum. It's all in the hormones. She had no control over it. It is not cruel, it is kind to break them as soon as you can if you choose not to put eggs under her. At the moment she is not eating as she normally would and she will be getting less nourishment as she "gets more clucky".

Commercial eggs farmers in the old days used to dunk them in cold water to drop there temperature yo break them. Now that may not have been so pleasant. Although I can say it works because my Barney Cagney is very hard to break. On an extremely hot day a few years ago she was over heating I panicked as sh was showing terrible distress. I dunked her in a kiddies pool. No word of a lie I swear she said - do that again. I've not used that normally as a method to break clucky though.

 

[MyHaven]

As far asCane toads go yes I have heaps. Every so often I do cane toad hunts. Grab a plastic bag and out you go with a torch and plastic bag in the dark.

They get in the chooks water. Yuk.

When they were released only 25 were set free. Look at how prolific they are now. Man is so wise releasing toads, foxes, sensitive plant, cats flaw, lantana, mixamatosis (can't spell) etc etc

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

[Sorry about the long post and apologies that I have also repeated some of what others have said about broodies, but seen as I had already typed it, I left it in there

]

All I can say is thank gawd! When I last checked at 09:20pm LuLu was still on the roost as she was when I sent hubby out to check before light this morning.

Yep, neither of us slept very well and both of us were awake before dawn. As always when anyone is sick, hubby got sent to check

Once I had the thumbs up, I got out there to refresh the antibiotic water and sat with them for a good 20mins or so once they were up, watching LuLu. She had a drink of the water but I think they can taste the antibiotics so it was not a big drink but that is OK, she got some into her. She ate a huge breakfast and is scratching around the run.

She is still shaking her head a little but definitely no head jerking or rolling and no overbalancing. Putting her head down to preen yesterday would cause overbalance and head rolling when she bought it back up but she is preening today with no apparent issue. Overnight poops were fine.

If it makes sense, while I know she is still not 100% if she had not been unwell yesterday, I probably would not even notice anything today.

Anyways, I am thinking as Fancy suggested, some sort of head knock or may be a sinus infection for which the antibiotics are helping.

I am not a fan of giving them antibiotics but I think in this case it is probably best to continue for the recommended 3 days. No one is laying eggs so no loss there.

Fancy good to hear that Apster and Buddy are doing well.

Aaaaaw congratulations on the new bub sjturner79.

potato chip my gals will all snuggle on the roost and sometimes not only when it is cold. I have seen them do it in summer and then puff and pant because they are squished and hot

Some nights I go out there and they are all evenly spaced and other nights .. train wreck

Ah broodies, for a change, something I do have some experience with. Flossie looks and sounds broody to me.

My broodies make a soft took, took, took noise and even go as far as calling over invisible babies. Cilla talks to the eggs and this increases in frequency the closer they get to hatch date.

Both Cilla and Blondie were broody just before 9 months of age and KiKi went broody for the first time at 6 months of age.

As others have mentioned, usually the longer they are broody the harder they are to break so if you do want to break a broody I suggest starting early.

As MyHaven has suggested, one method I have not used only because it is not something I would like to do, is to dunk their chest/underbelly in cold water which reportedly cools the hormones.

Depending on how determined they are, how much they are giving the rest of the flock a hard time if they are not able to nest and the set up you have, I believe the three best options are 1. Broody crate. 2. Block off her access to the nest box or 3. Separate broody run.

I use the broody crate for those extreme broodies like KiKi was. Basically she is in a crate with a roost, food and water. No nest and no where that she can get comfortable and brood. Also, this stopped her from being mean to her flock mates. Some leave them in there 24 hours but I prefer to pop them on the roost at night and back in the crate in the morning.

I do believe some flocks can give a broody a hard time on her return from only three days in confinement so their sleeping together is helpful in maintaining the pecking order I think.

For not so determined broodies, I use the all day free range weekends to keep them locked out of the nest box. Yep, this means lots of opening and closing of doors for those chickens who are allowed to enter the nest box but also means that the broody is not crated and gets to wander around the garden, when she has given up on trying to break in that is:




Just a note here: you need to be certain that she is broody if you lock her out as per above. I felt like such a mean chicken mumma when I was certain that Cilla was broody and locked her out. She actually got insistent to the point of being frantic and I caved and let her in thinking may be she actually did want to lay an egg .. she laid an egg

She was broody, but at the beginning of the broody cycle, some hens will lay one or two eggs before stopping. However, Blondie in the above picture did not want to lay an egg, she was broody.

I do not have the room for it, but I do like what appps does. She has [or sets up when needed] an entirely separate broody run so the broody has lots of space to run around but again, not a nest in sight.

If left broody without eggs, some might give up but some have been known to sit way past the 21 days required to hatch the eggs and they definitely lose condition and in extreme circumstances, starve to death.

Also, a broody on a nest is very inviting to mites and/or lice; nothing they like more than a nice warm, stationary food source which is another reason I break a broody if she is not getting eggs.

 

[MyHaven]

Good morning again.

I have finished my feed up and health check for this morning. They are all fine.

Thought I'd share this egg carton.

Does anyone use a skelter. I bought one but found it quite useless. It won't fit d'uccle eggs and the large Sussex eggs get stuck in it. They said it suits all size eggs from bantams through to large. Even standard size eggs fall off it.