broody banny

[oscar 1102]

We have a banny hen that decided to hide all of her eggs in the hen house between the wall and a box that is attached to wall about 4 feet up. She started sitting on them, but there would be no where for the babies to go once hatched. Anyway, we relocated her with her eggs into a cage that has legs and has wire around it and the side doors open to give her food etc. We did make sure that when we relocated her we covered her in a dark shirt and put the eggs in new nest right away. My question is , is it ok to leave her in there until babies hatch, or should we leave door open and let her free range and hope she goes back in? We have a wild hen that we have been very unsucessful with, she eats her eggs shortly before we expect them to hatch. Also, the banny has been fertilized by our Rhode Island Red and our American game , will the babies be banny chicks or will they be regular size chickens. Thanks for info, we are still learning about the chicken world and fascinated as well. Thank you

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Are the incubated eggs all from the bantam or were some volunteers of other breeds?
If they are all hers, the roosters are both fertile and she mated with both the game and RIR, some will be a game/bantam cross and some will be a RIR/bantam cross.
While broody, she won't range for more than an hour a day.

 

[oscar 1102]

Thank you for a quick response. all of the eggs are hers. So if we leave the door open to her cage, she will leave and then fly back up to the nest? The cage is about four feet off ground and about 6 feet long and three feet wide. Or can we just leave her in there with her food and water until the babies are hatched and get big enough to go out. Thank you

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That would be big enough for her to stay in. Just keep fresh food and water in there with her.
Since she's not laying eggs, I would switch her to a grower feed which the chicks can eat too and since she hasn't been eating a lot it will be good for her too.

 

[oscar 1102]

Thank you so much! We have starter food so no problem. Will the baby chicks grow to be big or stay banny size, ? I will keep posting.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They'll be a cross. They aren't likely to be bigger than the biggest parent but could be as small as the bantam. More than likely in between.
Think about it. One parent is big, the other small.

 

[oscar 1102]

Thanks , your advice is very helpful.