Bad Day for Broody

[greycat]

One of my Broody Buff Orpington hens had a very bad day today.

After a lot of work setting a batch of eggs, 2 days after they hatched and all were eating, drinking, & were apparently very healthy and active - for some reason
she must have been trying to hide the chicks. She chose an old black nursery pot to nest in and this afternoon i found 5 of her nine chicks dead from the heat. Another chick isn't doing very well but might make it if i can get him hydrated before he goes totally into shock. Broody was in quite a bit of stress too - panting like a dog and making hoarse honking sounds with every breath

I cant figure out why she did not move if it was getting too hot there for her and her chicks. There were many other places she could have gone to be cool , safe and hide. There was plenty of fresh water & food for her and the chicks within 10 feet of where she was.

Anyone have an idea why she would behave this way and not seeking out water and shade??

 

[NovaAman]

She was protecting them...

Is this your first broody?

Give the chick sugar water. If you have a pet carrier, catch mama, put her in it, in a garage, where it is cooler, in the house... Put a chick feeder and waterer in with her... OR if you have a big crate or tote that you can put her in and cover with chicken wire to make a temporary broody box, that'd be best. Give her back her chick and keep checking on it every hour till you are certain it'll be fine.

I always isolate my broodies a few days before there eggs are due to hatch. I put them in a 2x2x4 box I built. It has a solid floor and one solid wall. The sides and the other wall are covered in chicken wire. The top is left open, but able to cover with chicken wire. She is moved to that just before hatch, with feed and water. When the chicks are a week old, and mama is getting ansy, I then turn the broody box so that the opening is facing out, and she can take them in and out as she pleases. I do this to protect her and the chicks, give her plenty of time to get comfortable with them, and to be certain she's going to be able to handle it. Espcially if its a first time broody.

Anyway, very sorry for the chick losses. Give mom some sugar water too, set her feet in a cool, not cold, dish of water. Use a cool cloth under her wings in the pits...

 

[greycat]

hi,
No its not my first broody - I was having low hatch rates with 5 other broodies, but they were trying to set eggs in 105 temps and most of the chicks would either stop forming or dye in the shell just before hatch but the chicks that did hatch survived (including one that was malformed due to a breached position in the egg)

This was the best hatch so far since the temps cooled down some and then she cooked them this afternoon. I ended up losing 6 out of the nine 2 day old birds.

I always had better luck incubating and brooding them myself in the past than the hens are having.

I thought maybe mother nature would be the best way , but apparently not

I guess i'll go back to incubating and take the hen out of the equation.

Frustrating!

 

[NovaAman]

OH, how sad. My broodies are wonderful. I did however end up not letting them have any eggs to brood during the very hot spell we had, mostly cuz it was so hot in the coops. My best broodies were in the winter believe it or not, and then early spring. Maybe if you get some that are broody during that time, you can get some chicks then.. And by winter, I do mean snow on the ground. January and February. LOL. Was something else, but moms did a great job keeping them warm.