bantam cochin broody????

[abooot99]

Hi all,
I have a bantam cochin frizzle that for the last few nights has been in the nest box instead of perching with the others. My husband is in charge of "tucking them in for the night" and a few nights ago he told me everyone is fine but one is in the nest box.

So, I went up to get her out of there. I found her sitting on 6 eggs. I placed her on the perch and took the eggs in. I recently treated everyone with 2 doses of tetracycline so was discarding the eggs anyways....

So, last night, my hubby told me again, shes in the box. I went up there and took the two eggs she was sitting on and put her on the perch. Well, today, I checked on them and she is in the box again sitting on two eggs. She's been there for most of the morning. I also noticed when I lifted her up to see what was under her, her chest and belly are bare- do they lose chest feathers when going broody??

I'd love for her to hatch eggs but I have 12 chicks coming from the hatchery this coming week. Maybe in the nice weather...
If I continue to place her up on the perch at night, would this break her broody behavior??

 

[LarryPQ]

I think it depends on how determined she is. I don't think taking the eggs will do much, since she has a steady suppy to steal!

 

[abooot99]

I think your right. In fact, the eggs we are going to discard are sitting on my counter in cartons (like 2 doz ) and I noticed they have manure all over them. I am thinking she has been trying to sit on eggs for a while.

I went up and took the two eggs she was sitting on today and pulled her out of the box. She is in the same position, sitting on the floor like she was sitting in the nest. Then she got up, ate a little and hopped back up to sit in an empty nest box.

I guess she is pretty determined.... should I let her sit on eggs in one of the nest boxes in the coop? I didn't really want to hatch any but if she is determined, maybe I should let her keep two eggs and see what happens... Is that irresponsible? I didn't want to go out of my way and seperate her and all that so the other hens don't bother her. Since I am not eating the eggs until next Wed, I may let her try two eggs (mark them) and then continue to collect the unmarked eggs daily and see how things turn out.

Is this a good idea. I am obviously new and never had a broody before.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Wouldnt hurt. someone mentioned that they were gettting chicks and that they were going to stick them under the broody at night. The hen was only going to be broody for at least a week before they did this.

You might consider trying that.

 

[slickchik]

Are the eggs fertile that you are going to give her to sit on? I wouldn't let my broody sit on something that won't hatch. I'd try to break her out of her broodiness.

BUT if they are fertile, give her several to hatch out. It is a very cool thing to watch and it will make her happy... Or you can try to give her a couple of the baby chicks you ordered.

I've done both with great success but the baby chicks have to be as young as possible.

Lift the broody up and sneak two chicks under her...

 

[abooot99]

I have a cochin roo. Funny thing is, I have two polish. One is like 10-11 months old and the other is like 8 months old. The roo never would mate them that I know of. I don't know if he doesn't like the crested girls.
My broody girl was sitting on the white egg from the polish but I doubt it is fertile since I've never seen the roo get on that polish hen.

Can you tell me how I should sneak some hatchery chicks under her? That would be interesting. I am afraid of it being too cold out there for them to stay warm enough.

What if I bring my broody girl in the house in a dog crate and let her get settled this weekend and let her sit on some eggs if she will and then get the chicks under her when they come in????

HHHHHHHHHmmmmmmmmm. Broody bird versus heat lamp??? What would be the possibility of 12 chicks go under her?? With supplemental heat? The wheels are turning....

 

[slickchik]

They would be warm enough with her. I wouldn't let her have all of them because from my experience, chicks raised by a hen are scared to death of people.

I bought a baby chick, went outside, lifted one side of the broody up and stuck the chick under her. She pecked it a few times but the chick didn't know to run away and kept hiding under her feathers. Within a few minutes they were inseparable. I think I got the chick from the feed store the same day it arrived from the hatchery.

But this was a VERY young chick. I tried to do it again with another chick a different time and the chick ran away when pecked... it was about a 7-10 days old... so it didn't work.

 

[abooot99]

huh, do I seperate her and chicks or leave them in nest box? I am assuming I need to seperated them. I thought I should probably just bring her in so I can closely monitor them. My coop is not huge- its only 8x4.

My other question- is her chest feathers missing so she can sit on eggs to keep em warm?

 

[LarryPQ]

Yup, they pluck the feathers out so their skin makes contact with the eggs.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Sounds like she is broody to me. It can be hard to change thier mind about this. It might be a good time for you to order some hatching eggs from some breed you want and let her hatch them for you.