Broody gamefoul

[TAM Farm]

Hello I have a game hen "type" of hen. I believe that she is going broody. She is spending most of her time in a nest, she is very defensive to those who try to reach into the nest that she is in. I'm not sure because she is not clucking like my last broody and she is not puffed up. Do you think she is just in the beginning stages of being broody? Maybe the clucking and puffy will follow when she is totally in the broody zone, or is she already there and game hens don't go broody like some other breeds? I suppose all hens are allowed to be a little different.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

All broodies respond a bit differently. However, if she is sitting on a nest 24x7, and wants to defend that nest spot, she is likely brooding.

And yes. There are phases of brooding.

The initial phase is the egg gathering phase where the hen (and her hormones) are contemplating brooding. She will sit for a time, but may still lay eggs as she builds her clutch. She is likely to steal eggs from other nests at this time. Many hens puff at this time and peck furiously at anything that disturbs them or their nest. The size of the clutch literally presses on a spot on their sternum that helps to release brooding hormones. So once the clutch size is sufficient, the hormone level takes the hen to stage 2.

The deep phase 2 is when the hen settles onto a clutch for serious incubation. Eggs don't start growing embryos until they have been covered at 101 degrees for 24 hours. At this point, the hen often goes into a "zombie" state and does not stir from the nest but will appear to be in a trance. She may not notice things that happen near her. While still defensive of her nest, she may take a bit longer to respond. A hen in a deep brood will generally get up once a day for about 20 minutes to relieve one very large and smelly poop, eat, and drink. Game hens are known for flying off the nest for these outings by launching straight up and out squawking like crazy to draw predators away from the vacated nest to protect it. Yours may or may not do that. I have several non-game hens that do, and a number that don't.

Lock down phase is like zombie phase only the hen remains on the nest for the last 2 or 3 days straight until the chicks have all hatched or she believes the eggs are duds. Most hens will fiercely defend against being disturbed at this point. If they are, they may take any hatched chicks and abandon the unhatched eggs (so don't disturb them during this crucial time). New moms may look nervous as the hatching commotion below becomes more rambunctious. They may even jump a bit. (Another reason to make sure mom isn't disturbed).

New babe stage is when mom abandons the nest to take the hatchlings to cleaner areas and to food and water. She will guard her chicks settling periodically to warm them as they are very sleepy the first few days. Often momma hens will molt as the hormone levels change (which is a good thing as those feathers have a load of crud in them from brooding and the little dears running, and pooping, in their feathers.

Keep watch on your hen. If you want her to brood, let her have a quiet area and a clutch of eggs and see if she gets to work.

HTH
LofMc

 

[TAM Farm]

Wow thank you so much for your help.

 

[varidgerunner]

I have games. I have had a lot of other breeds that people consider good broodies. Games have more of the wild instinct. A lot of them don't do the stupid clucking and puffing thing. Only to another chicken. Other threats they react differently to, either flying explosively out of the nest or attacking savagely by leaving the nest, usually going for the eyes. If they are familiar with you they might either peck your hand, or do nothing at all. The puffy clucking thing is only when their are chicks hatching or if another hen approaches the nest. For the most part they set dead still. I ran one over with the tractor yesterday in high grass, pretty bummed but I realize that some loss is needed, because these things multiply like rats.

Here is the natural process for birds that still have their instincts. They lay an egg. They sing an egg song nearby for like half an hour. If a tiger comes (or anything else) to their egg song they go quiet. If it can find their nest and eggs, they pick a new spot. If it doesn't they keep laying, repeating the process every morning. If they get ten or twelve eggs, and nothing has disturbed the nest, they figure they have a good spot. They set, and stay dead still, clamping their feathers tightly if approached to hold in scent. When they leave to feed, poop and drink, they blow out explosively, flying a hundred feet or more and cackling loudly, when they hit the ground they make a lot of noise. This draws attention away from the nest. If approached by what they perceive to be a predator, they will fly short distances, making a lot of noise, away from the nest. Last few days they don't leave, make a peep, or raise a feather.

Description in the last post is accurate for common barnyard fowl that have a wild instinct popping through here and there, misplaced bits and pieces, but not for birds with a lot of instinct. If a "game type" that has a high percentage of game is setting on the nest at night and the next day, she is broody.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree wholeheartedly with varidgerunner for those birds that are true games.

Much of what you pick up at a feed store from a hatchery however has been more domesticated for public tastes and thus more like barnyard birds with some game instincts left.

However for breeder quality true games the description above is spot on and much appreciated for the discussion.

LofMc

 

[Redhead Rae]

I have a leghorn that is broody and she is displaying more of this "wild type" behavior than my Buffs or Cornish did. After we moved her to a broody pen, she contentedly sat on the false eggs all day, but launched herself off the nest cackling and pacing if anyone came near. Now, she is in silent pancake mode.

I am hatching eggs in the incubator for her. I've been having fertility problems with my Chocolate Orps so I want to be able to remove any bad/infertile eggs easily. I also have a problem with eggs in broody clutches going rotten if the weather gets too hot. One hen, who hid a clutch of 12 eggs only had 1 that was developing and the rest were rotten. I also had eggs explode in known clutches as well.

 

[TAM Farm]

I had some given to me. They were crosses of some sort, not to many had the game build.

I gave all but one to my brother in law, they had lost all of their hens to a predator. I couldn't get rid of all of them though I had to keep one

I decided to get rid of the 7 hens because after several months they were still super fearful. They mostly hung out in a corner of the coop and wouldn't lay. The stress they were feeling was keeping my other hens from laying. I had 17 other layers and I was only getting 6 eggs a day.

After the move both flocks started laying again.

 

[centrarchid]

All broodies respond a bit differently. However, if she is sitting on a nest 24x7, and wants to defend that nest spot, she is likely brooding.

And yes. There are phases of brooding.

The initial phase is the egg gathering phase where the hen (and her hormones) are contemplating brooding. She will sit for a time, but may still lay eggs as she builds her clutch. She is likely to steal eggs from other nests at this time. Many hens puff at this time and peck furiously at anything that disturbs them or their nest. The size of the clutch literally presses on a spot on their sternum that helps to release brooding hormones. So once the clutch size is sufficient, the hormone level takes the hen to stage 2.

The deep phase 2 is when the hen settles onto a clutch for serious incubation. Eggs don't start growing embryos until they have been covered at 101 degrees for 24 hours. At this point, the hen often goes into a "zombie" state and does not stir from the nest but will appear to be in a trance. She may not notice things that happen near her. While still defensive of her nest, she may take a bit longer to respond. A hen in a deep brood will generally get up once a day for about 20 minutes to relieve one very large and smelly poop, eat, and drink. Game hens are known for flying off the nest for these outings by launching straight up and out squawking like crazy to draw predators away from the vacated nest to protect it. Yours may or may not do that. I have several non-game hens that do, and a number that don't.

Lock down phase is like zombie phase only the hen remains on the nest for the last 2 or 3 days straight until the chicks have all hatched or she believes the eggs are duds. Most hens will fiercely defend against being disturbed at this point. If they are, they may take any hatched chicks and abandon the unhatched eggs (so don't disturb them during this crucial time). New moms may look nervous as the hatching commotion below becomes more rambunctious. They may even jump a bit. (Another reason to make sure mom isn't disturbed).

New babe stage is when mom abandons the nest to take the hatchlings to cleaner areas and to food and water. She will guard her chicks settling periodically to warm them as they are very sleepy the first few days. Often momma hens will molt as the hormone levels change (which is a good thing as those feathers have a load of crud in them from brooding and the little dears running, and pooping, in their feathers.

Keep watch on your hen. If you want her to brood, let her have a quiet area and a clutch of eggs and see if she gets to work.

HTH
LofMc

I like and could add a few comments.