BO Broody for the 3rd time...should I give in and let her lay?

[hokankai]

My sweet little BO Molly is 10 months old. Since she started laying in December she has been officially broody TWICE, and I think she's on her way to being broody AGAIN! We've broken her both previous times, but now I'm feeling bad and kind of want to just let her set. I went out there today and she was on the nest and got verrry poofy and made the dinosaur growling noises when I went to get her egg. She and the GLW must be nest buddies because I think the GLW is going broody too...but I don't want to have to deal with both so I'm probably going to break her again.

Anyway, I took them both off the nest and put them outside with the other girls as a little test. The BO literally didn't stand up and stayed in her poofy hen stance on the ground, HAHA. After a few second she stood up and ran around the back of the coop to go sit on her nest again.

I'm planning on getting some silkie chicks from Marjorie Best next month, but I found some people with silkie hatching eggs nearby. Should I just get 1/2 dozen and let her hatch them? Do I need to test her broodiness to make sure she's there for the long haul? If she's not off the nest by tomorrow evening I think I'm going to move her to the covered dog run and see if she stays or if she gives up after being moved. Also, how many eggs should I give her? Can I remove the chicks after they've hatched so they can grow up with the other chicks I'm getting?

So what do you think, should I just give in and let her be a mama?

 

[Mrs. K]

YES!!!!!! however, you may never raise chicks again! All of the fun, none of the work!

I would give her 16 eggs to cover, and let her raise them right in your flock. If you are getting chicks, time it so that when these hatch, you get the other chicks, as close as possible to the same time. Let her raise those too. I mean unless you are getting 50 or something like that.

Worked fantastic for me, I am praying for a broody anytime now soon! Mine is a BO too, and she was a great mother

MrsK

 

[hokankai]

It's gonna be pretty close. My cochins went into the incubator on Saturday, I'm getting some day old hatchery chicks a few days after their the cochins hatch, and I'm getting those silkie chicks the week the cochins hatch too. I just don't want to put eggs under the BO too early and have her give up on them. How long should I test it to see if she's gonna stay sitting? If I wait much longer the eggs she hatches are gonna be younger than the others by a bit.

 

[Mrs. K]

well it depends on how valuable the eggs are, I would just stick them under her. BUT I would also not move her. I tried that once, and lost the clutch when about 10 days later she went back to 'her' nest.

MrsK

 

[Mrs. K]

Also you can remove them after she hatches them, but really a hen and chicks is very very darling to have around.

Also, if you decide not to move her, mine was the top hen, and NO one laid in her nest. But many on here will tell that other chickens will lay in amongst the broody' clutch, so you should mark you eggs with an x or something, so you know which are the developing eggs, if you leave her with the flock.

That is another reason many people move their broody hen away from the flock. mk

 

[hokankai]

I just tried moving her to the doghouse to see what she would do. She wouldn't have it, haha! She walked out, preened herself and then walked around the dog run for a bit. But when I took her out she headed right back to the coop I think (she didn't stay with the flock).

What should I do? I can't let her hatch eggs in the coop because the nests are about a foot and a half off the ground with no ramp...so the chicks wouldn't be able to get in or out. will she be heartbroken if I take her chicks out to a brooder? Could I move her and the chicks to the doghouse after they hatch?

The GLW I'm pretty sure is going broody too. She keeps heading back to the nest next to Molly, haha.

 

[hokankai]

One more questions, will broodies with clutches hatching at the same time be aggressive towards one another, or will they be ok? I'm considering getting a dozen silkie eggs and giving each broody 6 to try and hatch. Will I need to keep the broodies separated from each other?

 

[Mrs. K]

do not worry about the chicks being up that high, mine were, and it was no problem other than a couple fell out, but were uninjured. I stuck them back in the first time. Soon the hen herself got down, and got the rest of the chicks down, and I had stuck a cardboard box on it's side under the roost. I didn't have any other room. Stuck some hay in it, and that is where she kept them at night until she got them on the roost!

I had another hen, who within 3 weeks had her babies get to the top of the nesting boxes, and they all sat up there together at night. They did not seem to have enough feathers to fly with, but she would get them up there!

Unless you pen your hen up, the natural state of affairs is for the hen to take the live chicks and make a new nest, leaving any that did not hatch behind. I always think it works best if you allow that.

Also, I had two broody hens who hatched at the same time, and they shared chicks and chores. It was great! But I have heard where they will pick on the other chicks.

Mrs.K