Broodi or not

[Jane C]

Howdi all, this is my first time posting and I was hoping for some clarity. We're first time chicken lovers and one of our little loves at 7-8 months has taken to sitting on her egg in a lovely sheltered sunny spot until about 3 in the afternoon. Then she feeds and roosts with the others at night. She has taken to laying outside the coop which wont work in summer with pythons and goannas. My thinking is she is practicing the broodi mumma thing and will possibbly go broodi when the weather warms up. Spring isn't too far away here. So firstly what are your thoughts on the broodi? Also how do I encourage her to lay in the coop? I have closed her up in the coop/run for the day but she wont lay and being concerned about being egg bound I let her out the next day of which she then goes to her nest and lays. If it helps we are unsure of her breed. She was sold as an araucana blue egger but the eggs are a very pale cream .So obviously not an araucana.

 

[Golden Brahma 64]

Howdi all, this is my first time posting and I was hoping for some clarity. We're first time chicken lovers and one of our little loves at 7-8 months has taken to sitting on her egg in a lovely sheltered sunny spot until about 3 in the afternoon. Then she feeds and roosts with the others at night. She has taken to laying outside the coop which wont work in summer with pythons and goannas. My thinking is she is practicing the broodi mumma thing and will possibbly go broodi when the weather warms up. Spring isn't too far away here. So firstly what are your thoughts on the broodi? Also how do I encourage her to lay in the coop? I have closed her up in the coop/run for the day but she wont lay and being concerned about being egg bound I let her out the next day of which she then goes to her nest and lays. If it helps we are unsure of her breed. She was sold as an araucana blue egger but the eggs are a very pale cream .So obviously not an araucana.

You in Australia?
The only real sighn a hen will show prior to being broody is plucking feathers off while she lays on the nest.

 

[Jane C]

Yep Australia. So she hasn't moved all day and it was 5:30pm raining and getting dark .So I moved her into the coop nesting box on her own with her eggs .There are also feathers around her out outside nest now that was not there 2 days ago .

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

She sounds broody to me....on the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days running is when I call 'broody'. There are other signs that once you are familiar with them are obvious. One of the most telling is the low repetitive cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck, the 'broody cluck' and why broody hens are also called 'clucky'. Laying on nest all spread out 'flat as a pancake' and will drop to the ground in same posture if removed from nest. The feather plucking of breast and belly is telling too.

You'll need to confine her for more than a day, egg binding is not likely, it can take a week or so to re-habituate them to laying in the coop nests. Hopefully your coop and run is large enough to keep the whole flock confined to get the job done.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers. Leaving them locked in the coop for a week or so can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests. Fake eggs/golf balls in the nests can help 'show' them were to lay. They can be confined to coop and maybe run 24/7 for a few days to a week, provided you have adequate space and ventilation, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon. You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it. ..at least for a good while, then repeat as necessary.


Some folks warn against letting a pullet(female younger than one year)brood, they may not be good at 'mothering', might not stick with it for the 21 days, etc......but it can work.
You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? Both for more chickens and she may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It's a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

 

[Jane C]

Aart, thanks heaps for your response and info. I transferred her into the coop the other night and she hasn't been out .I haven't even seen her up for food or water .Today I gave her some sprouted wheat in water that she gobbled up . So she's been on the eggs and off only once that I know of for over 48hrs now and she's pretty fiesty .She has a few fertile eggs with her and I'm hoping for a couple of araucana eggs by friday from a friend. Our rooster was giving her a pretty hard time yesterday afternoo. So I've taken to shutting him out of the enclosed roosting/nesting area and putting him up there after dark when everone else is settled. Letting him out as soon as his crow wakes us. I'll be moving her again on the weekend to a make shift broody coop that will be attached to the main coop but seperate nest. Our coop is a pretty coop not necessarily a practical one .The nesting boxes are approx 50cm off the ground with feeding area below and run that is 200x90cm. Making a larger run by summer. I'll read the thread that you suggested. Thanks again for your generous info .

 

[aart]

She has a few fertile eggs with her and I'm hoping for a couple of araucana eggs by friday from a friend.

I would get her moved before you give her these new eggs, and put any other fresh fertile eggs under her at that time. Might be best to remove the ones she's on now to avoid a staggered hatch and her abandoning the new eggs once the older eggs hatch.