Black Star hen gone broody in Camas, WA

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
Sorry to hear that she's being stubborn. The dog crate is a great idea. I've done that with broody hen's before too and have found that it helps to cover the crate with an old blanket or large towel so that it stays dim inside. Of course with the weather we've been having it's pretty dim anyhow, but that has helped them stay put for me in the past. It seems like they adjust better and go back into their broody trance when I cover the crate for a day or so after I move them. I have a walk in coop so if my broody/quarintine/grow out pens are being used I've even left the crate in the coop, though I do keep the door closed so the other hens don't lay their eggs in there.

 

[foxychick]

Hi! I decided that I had to be smarter than a chicken, and I may be on the right track. Hubby and I repositioned my "brooder cage" and covered the mesh front. Bertha Broody became quiet and calmer within 2 minutes. Within 10 minutes, she was standing over the nest with the eggs, and THEN...........I checked about 15 minutes later,---Lo and Behold!!!!!!! She was SITTING on the nest of eggs!!! It's not dark yet, but I plan to carefully check after dark with a flashlight to see if she has completely settled into her new "home". Wish me luck. P.S. I'm new at posting on BYC and still learning. Thanks,

 

[savingdogs]

Nathan let me know if you need my eggs. I have a dozen now that are mostly pure BO and a couple crosses with the RIR. I'm assuming you'll want the BO ones so I'll keep more of those until I get 12. Also those are the ones I'd want to incubate myself if your bird ends up not staying broody.

 

[andalusn]

I'm in Ridgefield... I have a flock of mixed heritage breed hens and a Jersey Giant roo. I can give you eggs if you want. I have two of these cross eggs hatching tonight in my incubator. Think the first one to hatch is frm the Dominique / JG egg.

I needed to do work in the hen house this past weekend so I moved my broody cochin into a dog crate with her eggs and she is now settled in a dog kennel outside of the hen house and setting... she was not happy for about an hour but she settled down again and has been setting ever since. She can come/go as she pleases to get food and join the flock each day when they are out free ranging.

 

[Sequin]

One very clever way of identifying the original eggs a broody is set on is to mark with a pencil or crayon a circle around the diameter of the egg. This way, any new eggs that sneak in you will be able to tell apart and remove. Just a thought. Someone else on BYC had mentioned that and I thought it was so brilliant - worth passing along I thought.

 

[Nathan]

It's not looking likely right now.

She seems to be standing permanently. Not even sitting down. So don't worry about saving any eggs for me.

 

[savingdogs]

Okey dokey, I'm hoping for a broody myself. I want to try the pencil mark idea, that was a good thought.

Has anyone thought about moving the broody hen at the last day? Would that work?

 

[In His Service]

Hi, I have a salmon faverolle trio, hens Bertha and Martha and rooster Biff. Bertha went broody and we thought Martha stopped laying eggs in sympathetic broodiness. In actuality, every day when Bertha got up to eat, drink and relieve herself, Martha was hopping into the same nest and laying her egg. We marked the eggs, and started removing the extras when Bertha got up. Problem: markings rubbed off. Removed one that should have stayed, first fatality as hubby tried to cook an egg for himself the next day. So we stopped removing eggs. Fortunately Martha stopped laying eggs too.

On the bright, if weird side, Martha began staying in the nest longer and longer each day when Bertha got up. Bertha took to sitting in the nest with her, tucking the eggs under Martha if one seemed to be peeking out. Finally, around day 17, Martha just decided to stay and she ended up hatching the eggs! Bertha seemed perfectly happy with the situation. The nest was about 9 inches off the ground, but we had already put a 4 inch board up from the start so the chicks weren't able to get out at first. After Martha hatched 3 chicks, she and the chicks left the nest. Chicks hopped right out, no problem. We moved her and the chicks then to a separate pen with an extra large dog house - not because the other hens or rooster were bothering them, but they were in a chainlink fence and we had nothing to put up to keep the chicks from running through it. BTW, chicks can easily fit through chicken wire too.

We took the 6 unhatched eggs into the incubator and several days later, one hatched. We gave it back to momma Martha and she took it just fine.

I guess what I have to add here really boils down to the fact that all the advice I just read here seems to be what I did and everything worked out very well.

Good luck. Oh, and one of my little mixed banties just went broody for the first time. We slipped in 2 of the salmon fav eggs as well as 2 unidentified eggs we got from a friend to add to the 4 she and her "sister" banty laid. Looking for chicks around the 26th.