Broody girl questions?

[TaylorGlade]

We have an Australorp pullet possibly going broody. She opted to sleep in the nesting box last night, and hasn't moved off it today. She was hatched on 31 July 2023. And she started laying eggs in possibly, November. So, my questions:

• Is she possibly going broody at such a young age?
• If she is going broody, should we separate her from the other birds (we have 37)?
• She is nesting in a top box of a two layer nesting box. It's about 2 feet off the ground. Should we move her to a lower box so the chicks don't fall out. Assuming she's broody, of course.
• I'm sure there are other questions I don't even know to ask, so anything else I should be concerned about?

Thank you!

 

[Error404]

Well feel if she is hot, if so she might could be broody, In the past we have fed are chickens baby Tylenol or asprin can’t remember which one but it will bring their temperature down and usually they do un-broody, if that helps any?

 

[TaylorGlade]

Well feel if she is hot, if so she might could be broody, In the past we have fed are chickens baby Tylenol or asprin can’t remember which one but it will bring their temperature down and usually they do un-broody, if that helps any?

Oh. I don't mind if she wants to hatch a few chicks, so don't really want to stop her brood if that's what it is. I just want to make sure we do what's best for her and any chicks. Or see if she's too young for it and this is possibly something else.

 

[Yard Farmer]

We have an Australorp pullet possibly going broody. She opted to sleep in the nesting box last night, and hasn't moved off it today. She was hatched on 31 July 2023. And she started laying eggs in possibly, November. So, my questions:

• Is she possibly going broody at such a young age?
• If she is going broody, should we separate her from the other birds (we have 37)?
• She is nesting in a top box of a two layer nesting box. It's about 2 feet off the ground. Should we move her to a lower box so the chicks don't fall out. Assuming she's broody, of course.
• I'm sure there are other questions I don't even know to ask, so anything else I should be concerned about?

Thank you!

She can be, I've had young birds go broody before. It's not too uncommon.
One way you can see if she is indeed broody, check her belly. If she plucked out the feathers underneath her, she's preparing to brood. They do this to have straight up, body to egg contact.

I would separate her; just she she's not stressed out with the others, and so she has the best chance to hatch her eggs in peace.

You could do that, but you also have 2.5 weeks to move her, so it's not too urgent.
And if you're possibly going to move her out anyway, I don't think that would be a huge deal, necessarily.

Just make sure the other chickens don't bother her. If you don't move her.
If the other birds mess with her, that can decrease your hatch rate for how often the temperature fluctuates.
But, to avoid that I would personally move her.

I hope that answers your questions!

 

[TaylorGlade]

She can be, I've had young birds go broody before. It's not too uncommon.
One way you can see if she is indeed broody, check her belly. If she plucked out the feathers underneath her, she's preparing to brood. They do this to have straight up, body to egg contact.

I would separate her; just she she's not stressed out with the others, and so she has the best chance to hatch her eggs in peace.

You could do that, but you also have 2.5 weeks to move her, so it's not too urgent.
And if you're possibly going to move her out anyway, I don't think that would be a huge deal, necessarily.

Just make sure the other chickens don't bother her. If you don't move her.
If the other birds mess with her, that can decrease your hatch rate for how often the temperature fluctuates.
But, to avoid that I would personally move her.

I hope that answers your questions!

That is helpful. Thank you. So, we've been collecting eggs daily. I don't believe she actually is sitting on any. They quit laying when they go broody, right?

 

[Yard Farmer]

Or see if she's too young for it and this is possibly something else.

That reminds me, do keep an eye on her if/when she hatches her chicks.
You always want to do this with a first time mom, and a younger brooder. (Same thing, really)
It would also be a good idea to keep an incubator ready to go if she abandons her eggs.
I've had to do an emergency incubator start-up when my first time mamma hen got bored of sitting.

 

[TaylorGlade]

That reminds me, do keep an eye on her if/when she hatches her chicks.
You always want to do this with a first time mom, and a younger brooder. (Same thing, really)
It would also be a good idea to keep an incubator ready to go if she abandons her eggs.
I've had to do an emergency incubator start-up when my first time mamma hen got bored of sitting.

What do you use for an emergency incubator? And how long is too long for hens to be off-nest, requiring "Egg-tervention" (Intervention - couldn't resist the pun)

 

[Yard Farmer]

That is helpful. Thank you. So, we've been collecting eggs daily. I don't believe she actually is sitting on any. They quit laying when they go broody, right?

You bet.
Okay, that's good. Don't let her sit on any eggs till you put the eggs you want under her. If you don't, you could be causing more harm then good, because all the eggs will be at different stages of development. So say she has a couple chicks hatch, and she has a few more eggs under her that are still alive, she's going to get of the last few eggs to tend to her newly hatched babies.
All that being said, make sure you put some kind of marking on the eggs so you can tell the difference between the eggs you put under her, and the new, fresh eggs.
Check her a couple times a day for new eggs.

To answer your other question. Yes. They do stop laying when they go broody.

 

[Yard Farmer]

What do you use for an emergency incubator? And how long is too long for hens to be off-nest, requiring "Egg-tervention" (Intervention - couldn't resist the pun)

Just a traditional incubator. I have a couple, just in case if an emergency.
I would say if the eggs are cold to the touch, they need intervention.
Lol! Great pun!

 

[TaylorGlade]

You bet.
Okay, that's good. Don't let her sit on any eggs till you put the eggs you want under her. If you don't, you could be causing more harm then good, because all the eggs will be at different stages of development. So say she has a couple chicks hatch, and she has a few more eggs under her that are still alive, she's going to get of the last few eggs to tend to her newly hatched babies.
All that being said, make sure you put some kind of marking on the eggs so you can tell the difference between the eggs you put under her, and the new, fresh eggs.
Check her a couple times a day for new eggs.

To answer your other question. Yes. They do stop laying when they go broody.

So, if I order hatching eggs, that takes a few days. Will she continue sitting without eggs? Or should I put some fake ones under her till they arrive? We were thinking we wanted some Bielfelders anyway.