Broody hen advice

[junior67]

Yes, it's best to let shipped eggs set for a few hours. You can place them in an egg carton pointy side down so the airsacs can settle. I normally let mine set for around 12ish hours before incubating.

now I read a lot of people don't turn them the first few days (depending on air sacks) should I start them in the incubator before giving them to Ditzy (providing she stays broody) Or can I set some in the incubator and give her some at the same time? IF all eggs survive shipping I should have 15 eggs how many should I give her?

 

[SilverBirds]

now I read a lot of people don't turn them the first few days (depending on air sacks) should I start them in the incubator before giving them to Ditzy (providing she stays broody) Or can I set some in the incubator and give her some at the same time? IF all eggs survive shipping I should have 15 eggs how many should I give her?

It depends if any of the eggs have damaged airsacs. If the airsacs float all over the place then they are damaged. That's why you let them sit for a few hours and if they ARE damaged you don't turn them the first few days.

 

[junior67]

Thinking she is pretty much full on broody. She didn't roost last night or come out this morning. So since Mon at noon up till this am she has been off the nest a total of 6 hrs (2 long stretches Mon, and yesterday am). I don't have food or water in my coop. Should I at least put some water in there? I use nipple waterers and have a brooding box in my coop so can hang a smaller nipple waterer on that for her. What about food should I just let her go out and grab what she wants when she does her short trips off?

Hoping my chicks brooding under the poop boards don't piss her off and mess this up. I am getting them on Fri/Sat and was going to put them out there on Tue.

 

[NatJ]

I don't have food or water in my coop. Should I at least put some water in there? I use nipple waterers and have a brooding box in my coop so can hang a smaller nipple waterer on that for her. What about food should I just let her go out and grab what she wants when she does her short trips off?

Walking to food and water should be fine. But do not shut her in unless you also provide food and water in that space.

Hoping my chicks brooding under the poop boards don't piss her off and mess this up. I am getting them on Fri/Sat and was going to put them out there on Tue.

Probably fine, but of course there are no guarantees when dealing with chickens.

 

[junior67]

Walking to food and water should be fine. But do not shut her in unless you also provide food and water in that space.


Probably fine, but of course there are no guarantees when dealing with chickens.

Ok. Thanks. I have no intentions of shutting her in so I will just watch to be sure she is eating and drinking when she goes out

So true. Sometimes they do something you don't expect.

 

[junior67]

Should I feed her anything special to keep her in good health? They eat flock raiser with oyster shells on the side

 

[SilverBirds]

I don't normally switch the feed when they are broody. When the chicks have hatched, the moms do eat the chick food. I do try and give her regular feed sometimes but she mostly wants to feed it to her chicks instead of eating it herself.

 

[NatJ]

Should I feed her anything special to keep her in good health? They eat flock raiser with oyster shells on the side

Flock raiser with oyster shell on the side should be perfect

She probably won't need the oyster shell, because she's not laying eggs, but having it separate means she can decide that for herself.

 

[junior67]

I don't normally switch the feed when they are broody. When the chicks have hatched, the moms do eat the chick food. I do try and give her regular feed sometimes but she mostly wants to feed it to her chicks instead of eating it herself.

Flock raiser with oyster shell on the side should be perfect

She probably won't need the oyster shell, because she's not laying eggs, but having it separate means she can decide that for herself.

Thanks. Is there a time I should worry? It is 1pm and she hasn't gotten up yet. Should I be sure she does at least once a day?

 

[NatJ]

Thanks. Is there a time I should worry? It is 1pm and she hasn't gotten up yet. Should I be sure she does at least once a day?

Broody hens prefer to eat when no-one is looking.

Gently feel her crop. If it has food in it, she did eat when you were not looking, and you can quit worrying.

If you want to practice finding the crop, you can grab any other chicken for comparison. An empty crop is difficult or impossible to find, so if you find the crop, that generally means there is food in it.

A broody hen does not need to eat as much food as an actively laying hen, for several reasons:
--she is not laying eggs
--she is not exercising as much
--she reabsorbs the egg yolks in her body
--she uses fat that was stored in her body

The egg yolks and stored fat are nature's way of providing for a broody hen, even if she cannot spend many minutes each day hunting for food. Yes, she will lose some weight as she uses those up, but that should not hurt her.