Broody bantam cochin

[goldenacresiro]

I have a pair of bantam black cohins I bought at an auction (marked as standard back Cochins) and figured since the eggs were so small it would more beneficial to try and hatch some chicks rather than eat them. I am brand new to the whole chicken thing and was hoping my hen would go broody and hath tem herself. She has now laid 11 eggs and has sat on them every night since the first egg but does not sit on them during the day. Will she be able to hatch these eggs only sitting at night?

 

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Hey, she could go broody ut doesnt sound like she is fully comitted or even broody yet....

You will know when you have a broody hen as she will spend most of her time in the nest box even through the day, yelling or growling or even pecking you when you try to take her eggs is a big sign of a broody hen. She will probable sqawk or do deep clucking wen other hens come near her and wen sat on the nest she will puff up to make herself look bigger to deter other chickens that want to lay or come near her. She will want to protect her eggs.

If she is still laying she isnt broody, she will stop laying and sit on the nest only coming out once maybe twice a day to eat, drink and poo.

If you do have these signs then its best to seperate her from other hens give her, her own nest area dark and comfy to minimize stress to the broody. Plus its easier to know what eggs are fresh and what are fertile, as other hens eggs that are layed she may sit on them too!

Many breeders will wait till the hen has been sitting for a weekbefore putting eggs under her.

Another tip is to have a btooder set up with heat lamp incase ur hen decides to reject chicks once hatched... i bought a hen with two chicks and after the long journey she got stressed and rejected her chicks, and i had to run round like a nutter to get everything ready!! So handy to have it just incase.

Always make sure the broody hen is leaving the nest at least once a day to eat and drink as its known for hens to be so dedicated they die on the brood refusing to leave the nest for food and water.

Hope this helps and hope she goes broody for you soon x

 

[goldenacresiro]

Thanks for the advice. I guess it just took patience. She only got off her nest once today and now if I go near her she puffs right up and tries to peck me. I am going to build her a separate cage so she can be separate from the other birds.

 

[goldenacresiro]

At the moment my broody hen is sitting on her clutch of eggs in one of te best boxes in the coop with the other 5 hens I have. I want to separate her but just worried if I move her and her eggs to a different location will she reject them or just start sitting again?

 

[LayALilEgg 4Me]

Congratulations!! She went broody for you!! Thats great news, im sure she will be a great mum! Just make sure she eats and drinks and you should be fine, good luck and i hope she hatches lots of chicks for you!

When moving her to the news nest/ run... best to move her at night as this minimizes the stress to the broody. Keep food and water near the nest so she doesnt have to wonder too far, keep the broody nest clean as much as you can so not to contaminate eggs with bacteria. Its usually 21 days for eggs to hatch, so candling is good at day ten and day 17 no later cos after day 17 they take up their hatching position and moving them could complicate the hatch, any eggs that are not devrloping should be removed. Doing a quick sniff test is good to check for bad eggs, any bad eggs should be removed as they can contaminate thr other eggs. You can usually smell bad eggs quite well. Also if she is a first time broody have a incubatorr on stand by incase she abondons the eggs.

Hope this helps and good luck x