Broody hen and eggs

[Kreyno]

Hi all.

Very new here and new chicken dad.

I have a VERY broody hen so weve decided to put eggs under her, shes hasnt came off them for 3 days so we've decided to take her off for food and water(which she has demolished) do we put her back on or let her decide? I don't want to stress her by catching her


T.I.A

 

[DemeterAD9]

She’ll go back on her own. A broody will usually take a short break once a day for about half an hour to eat, drink, poop, and stretch. Most the time you won’t see her take these breaks unless you are watching all day so don’t stress too much. Just trust their instincts.

 

[Kreyno]

Thank you, for your reply.

I've gotten a bit concerned as her comb is going black on the tips, Google says lack of food and water?
Obviously I want to do what I can for her.

Again thank you

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum, glad you joined.

I've gotten a bit concerned as her comb is going black on the tips, Google says lack of food and water?

Could you please post a link to that google comment about lack of food and water? I'd like to read it in context.

You don't say where you are located, north or south of the equator or your general location so I don't know what your weather is like. A common reason for the points of the comb going black is frostbite, I do not know if that is a possibility for you.

Before a hen even starts laying eggs they store up excess fat in their pelvic region. I've butchered enough chickens so that is obvious. That excess fat is mostly what they live on while broody so they can take care of their eggs instead of having to be off searching for food and water. That's Nature's way of making it easier for a broody to be successful.

I had a broody come off of her nest twice a day and stay off for over an hour each time. I had a broody that came off once a day in the morning and stayed off for 15 minutes. I've had several that I never or almost never see off of the nest but I know they are coming off because they are not pooping in the nest. Each one is different.

The vast majority are not going to hurt themselves by never coming off but each is different. You do not get guarantees with living animals.

Once a broody hen is a committed broody (sounds like yours is) she should return to her nest even if you remove her. Occasionally one will return to the wrong nest but that is unusual. Did you mark the eggs that you put under her? You should and then check every day after the other hens have laid to assure you do not have any extra eggs.

What I suggest is to remove her every late afternoon or evening and set her on the coop floor. She should sit there for a few seconds and then maybe dash off to eat, drink, poop, and maybe dust bathe, then return to the nest. Or she will return to the nest instead of taking off. Check on her later, maybe when you lock up, to make sure she is on the right nest. She is probably coming off anyway and you are not seeing her but this gives her the option.

 

[Kreyno]

Sorry. I'm in the UK and are having a mini heatwave so frostbite is doubtful.

Yes we did mark the eggs. And there is no extra today lol

We have taken her off today and she had had the biggest drink and dust bath and did also egg, im concerned she isn't coming off. Is it best to not disturb nature's course?

She is now back on the eggs, we put her there as she shown no sign of going back after 20mins. As I say im very new to this, 5/6 months into the journey.

The blackcomb thing was a thread on her that I found from a Google search

 

[Kreyno]

Hi, welcome to the forum, glad you joined.


Could you please post a link to that google comment about lack of food and water? I'd like to read it in context.

You don't say where you are located, north or south of the equator or your general location so I don't know what your weather is like. A common reason for the points of the comb going black is frostbite, I do not know if that is a possibility for you.

Before a hen even starts laying eggs they store up excess fat in their pelvic region. I've butchered enough chickens so that is obvious. That excess fat is mostly what they live on while broody so they can take care of their eggs instead of having to be off searching for food and water. That's Nature's way of making it easier for a broody to be successful.

I had a broody come off of her nest twice a day and stay off for over an hour each time. I had a broody that came off once a day in the morning and stayed off for 15 minutes. I've had several that I never or almost never see off of the nest but I know they are coming off because they are not pooping in the nest. Each one is different.

The vast majority are not going to hurt themselves by never coming off but each is different. You do not get guarantees with living animals.

Once a broody hen is a committed broody (sounds like yours is) she should return to her nest even if you remove her. Occasionally one will return to the wrong nest but that is unusual. Did you mark the eggs that you put under her? You should and then check every day after the other hens have laid to assure you do not have any extra eggs.

What I suggest is to remove her every late afternoon or evening and set her on the coop floor. She should sit there for a few seconds and then maybe dash off to eat, drink, poop, and maybe dust bathe, then return to the nest. Or she will return to the nest instead of taking off. Check on her later, maybe when you lock up, to make sure she is on the right nest. She is probably coming off anyway and you are not seeing her but this gives her the option.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-hens-comb-turning-black.207064/

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks for the link. I did not see any specifics there that helped, nothing about why the tips would turn black for "starvation". If starvation were the problem I'd expect different signs.

Since it is obviously not frostbite my thoughts turn to disease. Is she the only one with these spots? My guess if fowl pox, you can search on that. Since it is on the comb I'd think the dry version, not life threatening but highly contagious to other birds. No threat to you or other humans. The dry form is more disfiguring than dangerous.

 

[Kreyno]

Thank you. Ill get straight on it

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Thanks for the link. I did not see any specifics there that helped, nothing about why the tips would turn black for "starvation". If starvation were the problem I'd expect different signs.

Since it is obviously not frostbite my thoughts turn to disease. Is she the only one with these spots? My guess if fowl pox, you can search on that. Since it is on the comb I'd think the dry version, not life threatening but highly contagious to other birds. No threat to you or other humans. The dry form is more disfiguring than dangerous.

Also, I never know how much to trust older threads like the linked one (2009.)

I think the overall knowledge base here has really deepened over time.