Brooder box or broody hen? Where should my chicks go

[centrarchid]

Interesting. What do you think of LF Cochins in the broody hen department? Are they so large they are likely to break the eggs?

Outside my experience on breed side. There are attributes of the nest and how it is located that reduce egg breakage associated with egg deposition and and incubation process. Key is a flatter nest bowl and the hen having the ability to step rather than jump into nest. Keeping other hens away also helps keep conflicts from putting eggs at risk.

 

[Ruthster55]

Outside my experience on breed side. There are attributes of the nest and how it is located that reduce egg breakage associated with egg deposition and and incubation process. Key is a flatter nest bowl and the hen having the ability to step rather than jump into nest. Keeping other hens away also helps keep conflicts from putting eggs at risk.

Thanks!! So if I were to acquire a large breed like that in the future, their nest boxes should be pretty low and rather wide. Great advice!

I will need to talk to the guys who do construction here. Some of our nest boxes are up too high, especially for large DP birds like Cochins.

 

[Corgihome]

We don't know what breed the OP has. Some breeds are better at both being broody on eggs and then at hatching and then taking care of the babies. Example: Australorps going broody on nothing but straw...

I know that yours are a very reliable breed that gets all of these things right! (was wrong on my guess) !

I know it's off-topic, but what is your experience with the incubator-raised chicks versus the hen-reared chicks?

Your idea of taking the eggs out of the incubator before lockdown and giving them to the broody hen sounds like a good one. The dates between the incubator and the hen are pretty close so hopefully the OP can avoid a staggered hatch.

The broody hens are Cochins. They’ve just turned 1this spring. Sorry that probably would have helped.

 

[Corgihome]

Outside my experience on breed side. There are attributes of the nest and how it is located that reduce egg breakage associated with egg deposition and and incubation process. Key is a flatter nest bowl and the hen having the ability to step rather than jump into nest. Keeping other hens away also helps keep conflicts from putting eggs at risk.

The other hens are a bit problematic, there are 3 other nesting boxes available but that doesn’t always matter when they’re determined.

 

[Ruthster55]

The broody hens are Cochins. They’ve just turned 1this spring. Sorry that probably would have helped.

Awesome!! Keep loving on those Cochins! Have only had a bantam Cochin, but loved him! He was so quiet and friendly!

Am assuming they are LF rather than bantam? Do you have their nest boxes low enough for the Cochin hens to step into the nest rather than fly up to it or jump into it, as suggested by @centrarchid ?

 

[Ruthster55]

The other hens are a bit problematic, there are 3 other nesting boxes available but that doesn’t always matter when they’re determined.

The main problem with the other hens getting into the broody hen’s nest box is a staggered hatch. Your broody hen will probably hatch out the first eggs. You can leave her with her chicks but still on the other eggs for two or three days to wait for the other eggs to hatch.

However, I have found out that most of the early eggs will hatch on the same day and the late ones ...don’t hatch. The only option with those eggs is candling and then putting them in an incubator or slipping them under another broody hen at night.

The time I tried it, I got one egg under the other broody which is a Turken mix...but she pecked the second.....so I don’t expect success. Don’t count them before they have hatched!

 

[Corgihome]

Awesome!! Keep loving on those Cochins! Have only had a bantam Cochin, but loved him! He was so quiet and friendly!

Am assuming they are LF rather than bantam? Do you have their nest boxes low enough for the Cochin hens to step into the nest rather than fly up to it or jump into it, as suggested by @centrarchid ?

We have large fowl Cochins, a few Easter eggers and a couple marans. They’re all very sweet, my 4 yr old daughter just loves them. I’ve only had the Cochins go broody. my first two broody failures were due to possums making their way into the coop, we’ve since built a completely different coop and it’s possum free.
The nesting boxes are 8” off the floor, there’s a perch bar in front of it to allow them to get in a little more gracefully. I have plastic cat litter pans in the boxes to make it easier to clean and contain the nesting material. They’re big enough for one hen, but I’ve had two sharing nest sitting duties. Most of the time their both hunkered down on top of the eggs. It’s a tight squeeze with both of them.

 

[Ruthster55]

We have large fowl Cochins, a few Easter eggers and a couple marans. They’re all very sweet, my 4 yr old daughter just loves them. I’ve only had the Cochins go broody. my first two broody failures were due to possums making their way into the coop, we’ve since built a completely different coop and it’s possum free.
The nesting boxes are 8” off the floor, there’s a perch bar in front of it to allow them to get in a little more gracefully. I have plastic cat litter pans in the boxes to make it easier to clean and contain the nesting material. They’re big enough for one hen, but I’ve had two sharing nest sitting duties. Most of the time their both hunkered down on top of the eggs. It’s a tight squeeze with both of them.

So sweet!

Are you ready for some baby chicks? You might want to build another nest box or two.