Broody hen advice

[junior67]

I appreciate your perseverance, Junior67! However, I don't do that. I had the same problem. I have four nest box and every time a hen went broody it would get up to go eat or drink , it would come back and sit on another nest, plus she's warming up the eggs off and on and in the heat, you dont know which are good to eat. After about 4 days of that ( the first time I realized this, 3 yrs ago) I decided no more. So I have another fenced-in area next to my garden and anytime a hen goes broody, she goes to that area with a rooster and I'll keep her there for about a week or until she starts laying eggs again.
I mean, yeah, it would be nice to have my hens hatch their own chicks but I just don't see it happening, especially in my coop, so I incubate.

she hasn't gone back to the wrong nest since Wed afternoon and that was only for about 20 min then went to the right one. so think we are good to go. I also have a camera in my coop so I know when she got off and back on and where she went so that helps.

 

[junior67]

My Orpington went broody and there was no question regarding her behavior. She refused to come out of the nesting box and chased away the other hens if they tried to lay there. One distinctive thing she did was pull all the down off her own breast and add that to the nest. She looked hideous but the nest was soft and downy. We didn’t have fertile eggs so I bought day old chicks and slipped them under her in the night. She successfully raised them and they’re now laying and just turned one year old. Never again will I do a brooder! So much less work when the hen takes care of everything! I’m watching her now to see if she goes broody again this spring!

she is 100% broody now. she started on Mon but took longer breaks mon and Tue, but slept in the box etc. She is good with the other girls so far but until today noone has tried to go in her box. I think I need to put at least 1 fake egg back in the other boxes since taking them out has seemed to throw my other girls off big time. I have 3 of her eggs to put in with her and a dozen shipped eggs that will come on Tue. so I will divide them up between the incubator and her. I will have her raise all chicks that hatch though.

 

[Pghelp]

she is 100% broody now. she started on Mon but took longer breaks mon and Tue, but slept in the box etc. She is good with the other girls so far but until today noone has tried to go in her box. I think I need to put at least 1 fake egg back in the other boxes since taking them out has seemed to throw my other girls off big time. I have 3 of her eggs to put in with her and a dozen shipped eggs that will come on Tue. so I will divide them up between the incubator and her. I will have her raise all chicks that hatch though.

Golf balls work too if you don’t have enough fake eggs to go around. Hope it works out for you! Someone else mentioned a separate coop. That worked really well for me. I didn’t want to take a chance on the rest of the flock attacking the babies, so I put Mama Emu in a separate small coop inside the run. That way the whole flock could see and hear the new babies but couldn’t get to them. It also worked well since the new family needed to be on chick starter feed while the rest of the gang was on layer feed. That extra coop had a small run area so the babies had plenty of opportunity to wander, scratch, and explore with no danger from the big girls. I let everyone mingle when the chicks were a few weeks old, but I still shut the family inside at night so I didn’t have to worry about them.

 

[junior67]

Golf balls work too if you don’t have enough fake eggs to go around. Hope it works out for you! Someone else mentioned a separate coop. That worked really well for me. I didn’t want to take a chance on the rest of the flock attacking the babies, so I put Mama Emu in a separate small coop inside the run. That way the whole flock could see and hear the new babies but couldn’t get to them. It also worked well since the new family needed to be on chick starter feed while the rest of the gang was on layer feed. That extra coop had a small run area so the babies had plenty of opportunity to wander, scratch, and explore with no danger from the big girls. I let everyone mingle when the chicks were a few weeks old, but I still shut the family inside at night so I didn’t have to worry about them.

I can't give run access from a part of my coop with out the whole thing. so trying this. She is near the top of the pecking order so hopefully it will be ok but I will keep a close eye on it. Mine are on all flock so if they eat the chick feed it is ok or if the babies eat the adult food it is ok. I am going to set up a small area in my run that only chicks can get into with their food though so hopefully that helps and her babies figure it out, if not I will just put out there food with the big girls (and boy) food. I am brooding other babies in the coop that will be about 3.5 weeks older than the ones she hatches. I have plenty of fake eggs but pulled them out of the other boxes hoping that Ditzy would only go back to the one with eggs.

 

[chickencoop57]

I had a similar problem, but I solved it a little differently:
a separate coop, with a nest and fake eggs.

I would move any broody hen to that separate coop.
Either she sat on the fake eggs, and I could give her real ones a few days later.
Or she paced back and forth for a few days and quit being broody, so I put her back in the main coop.

I found hens to split about evenly between ones that would sit in a new place, and ones that refused.

My "separate coop" was about 3 feet each direction, which was plenty of room for a nest plus food & water, but not a good size for a hen raising the chicks past the first few days.

I tried something similar. I put her and her eggs in a pen and nest I fixed up in the greenhouse, and she did not like that at all. She raised cane and broke most of her eggs.

 

[junior67]

I tried something similar. I put her and her eggs in a pen and nest I fixed up in the greenhouse, and she did not like that at all. She raised cane and broke most of her eggs.

this is my fear. I am hoping it works well to just leave her be. I have heard of many others that have and it worked out great. I will just have to keep a close eye.

 

[Yvette In California]

I've got a Silkie hen that is a pro at being broody. LOL. Usually when she's staying in the nesting box and begins the fluff up thing and the demon voice we know she's there. And indeed, no egg laying.

 

[junior67]

I've got a Silkie hen that is a pro at being broody. LOL. Usually when she's staying in the nesting box and begins the fluff up thing and the demon voice we know she's there. And indeed, no egg laying.

Yup mine is 100% broody now. Has been since Tue/wed. I am giving her some real eggs tomorrow. Fingers crossed it works and some hatch!!!

 

[junior67]

Gave her real eggs today. I put them next to her, after taking out fake ones, and she rolled them under her and tucked them in. 4 shipped, 2 of hers.

 

[junior67]

Gave her real eggs today. I put them next to her, after taking out fake ones, and she rolled them under her and tucked them in. 4 shipped, 2 of hers. Fingers crossed I see something when I candle Sat and we have babies in 3 weeks!!!