Broody hen — best place to keep her?

[10xmama]

Been keeping chickens for years but this is the first spring I’ve had a rooster in my flock.
I have 10 hens(mixed breeds) and 1 Roo (Lakenvelder).

First hen (a EE) of the season is broody. She’s in one of the coop’s three nesting boxes. She’s only 2 days sitting. My kids collected all the eggs yesterday before I told them I thought she was broody. She only has two eggs at the moment. Obviously I assume she will add eggs to her clutch over the next few days?

I have a smaller coop next to my main coop. There are currently five 12wk old chicks in there. I still think they are a bit too young to add to my flock. I’d prefer to wait 3 wks but I suppose I could move them over early.... if I need to move the broody girl over there? My wish would be to just leave her in the main coop and see if she could raise her chicks within the flock. Is that a bad idea? Will the other hens or Roo kill them?

Of all my hens, the broody one is the tiniest hen in the flock. Kinda scrawny, flighty, and timid. Whatcha think?

And on another note: any idea what a Lakenvelder/EE cross will be like?

 

[sylviethecochin]

First hen (a EE) of the season is broody. She’s in one of the coop’s three nesting boxes. She’s only 2 days sitting. My kids collected all the eggs yesterday before I told them I thought she was broody. She only has two eggs at the moment. Obviously I assume she will add eggs to her clutch over the next few days?

Nope. If she's setting, she's been "collecting eggs" for the past week or so, and is now not going to lay any more. If you want her to hatch more than two, get a few from wherever you store your eggs and stick them under her immediately so that she's not hatching them over the period of a few days and possibly abandoning some nearly-finished eggs. (Staggered hatch = bad) To further stop the possibility of her setting on eggs of different stages of development, mark all the eggs under her (pencil wipes off. I like pen or permanent marker) and remove any new eggs daily.

Will the other hens or Roo kill them?

Unlikely, but possible. Hens are more likely to harm chicks than roosters are (what sense would it make for him to kill his own chicks? But for the hens, they're competition for their own chicks. Y'know, if they had any.) It's unlikely to extend beyond some light pecking if the chicks get in the way of the food.

My wish would be to just leave her in the main coop and see if she could raise her chicks within the flock.

That might work. Do you have a bank of nest boxes, of just a couple? Hens sometimes get confused as to which nest is theirs, so they'll climb onto one nest and let their eggs get cold. If you only have a few boxes, you shouldn't have to worry about this. Do the other chickens have a favorite nest box and fight over it? Eggs have been crushed when a broody was battling a determined layer over the nest. (I like to stick a few golf balls in a nest on the other end of the row as a distraction. Hens like to lay where they think other hens have lain their eggs. Sort of a "if she thought it was safe to lay there, then it should be safe for me to lay my eggs there."

Of all my hens, the broody one is the tiniest hen in the flock. Kinda scrawny, flighty, and timid. Whatcha think?

I think it really depends on the hen and flock what'll happen. My broodies generally turn into defensive monsters and often rise a few steps in the pecking order, but I've heard of cases where the other hens got mad at the broody hen and staged a beat-down. A good rooster should discourage them from fighting too much.

And on another note: any idea what a Lakenvelder/EE cross will be like?

No idea. I can give a guess, if given a picture of the hen.

 

[10xmama]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I took your advice on adding eggs. I just took a few of today’s collected eggs, ran out to the coop, and stuck them under her. I did mark her eggs while I was out there. She has five in total now. I hope this goes well!

 

[10xmama]

And as for the nesting boxes. There are three boxes. She’s in the middle box which is generally the least popular and the smallest of the three boxes. So I think she chose wisely, b/c the other hens probably will be more likely to leave her be.

 

[10xmama]

As for the Roo and EE... these are the only pics I could find. The pic of the EE is a year ago when she was still a chick in my baby coop ... I was visiting the chicks and she posed with me for a pic.

 

[sylviethecochin]

As for the Roo and EE... these are the only pics I could find. The pic of the EE is a year ago when she was still a chick in my baby coop ... I was visiting the chicks and she posed with me for a pic.

View attachment 1799491

View attachment 1799494

I'm sorry. I can't actually tell her colour from that picture (too much light). Does she have a white back and a red chest?

 

[10xmama]

Yes pretty much ... though I’d say she’s more white with sparingly red color on her chest now that she full grown

 

[sylviethecochin]

Yes pretty much ... though I’d say she’s more white with sparingly red color on her chest now that she full grown

I have a similar looking girl, and am pretty sure that the colour's gold quail with dominant white instead of black. Because of that, you should get some white chicks (male and female) and some chicks that are pattered like her, except with a black top (instead of white) and a silver belly instead of a gold one. (dad's silver is dominant to mum's gold. The males may have a little gold leakage on their shoulders when they mature, but should otherwise be pretty white.) Since she is an EE and almost certainly not pure for colour, you'll likely get a few other coloured chicks.