Broody Hen and I Know Nothing About It!

[FlipFlopFarmer6279]

My Sapphire Gem went broody a little while ago and I decided to let her hatch chicks because they would be my roosters first and last chicks and I don't have many chickens. I just realized that I know NOTHING about broody hens. Some random info would be great! Should I let her raise the chicks or should I take them and put them in a brooder? I also don't know how many eggs are under her. I'm putting off checking because I'm wimpy and I don't want to disturb her...any suggestions on how to check without making her mad? Does the broodiness stop after she hatches the chicks? I live in Ohio near Cleveland so the weather is kind of weird. Yesterday it was 40 degrees and today its 80. I don't want the chicks to get cold if something like that happens again. Any info would be much appreciated!

 

[DobieLover]

My Sapphire Gem went broody a little while ago and I decided to let her hatch chicks because they would be my roosters first and last chicks and I don't have many chickens. I just realized that I know NOTHING about broody hens. Some random info would be great! Should I let her raise the chicks or should I take them and put them in a brooder? I also don't know how many eggs are under her. I'm putting off checking because I'm wimpy and I don't want to disturb her...any suggestions on how to check without making her mad? Does the broodiness stop after she hatches the chicks? I live in Ohio near Cleveland so the weather is kind of weird. Yesterday it was 40 degrees and today its 80. I don't want the chicks to get cold if something like that happens again. Any info would be much appreciated!

Where is she setting? On a ground nest or in an elevated nest box? What day is she on? Does she still have access to the flock?

Tonight I would remove all the eggs from under her and candle each one. Mark the ones that show development with a pencil ring around them and slip them back under her. If she pecks/bites, slip them under her from the back.

 

[my gang eats grass]

Make sure she has food and water within reach of the nest. Make sure her nest is in a safe spot, if you have to move her, move the eggs, then put the hen on top and put a bucket over her for a while. If she stays on them, let her hatch them, if not put them in an incubator. You need to count them to make sure she is not still laying after she starts to set them. If you are worried about bothering her, check at night. If she has been laying and setting, candle them all and put the live ones in an incubator. She'll be protective of the chicks after they hatch, but if you decide to take them away she should get over it in a day or two. I wouldn't take them away though, unless she is doing a bad job.

 

[nuthatched]

Make sure the nest is ground level to your nesting area so the chicks don't fall out when they hatch.

 

[Cluckbait]

My hen just hatched her first brood. She did amazing, we just left her alone aside from at night to check how many eggs (I just wore a garden glove and then if she pecked it wouldn’t matter, but they’re calmer at night and all was good), I incubated a dozen more and ended up putting 12 under her along with the three she had. She hatched 12 out of the 15 (and all of the ones that made it to day 21 hatched, 100% of them!) we lost one chick and 11 made it and are a week old. She still is with them and doing a great job. I love this experience I’m glad you’re letting her go for it. Just make sure she’s safe and she can usually do the rest. If she gets up and stays up before 21 days just be ready to incubate her eggs, but if she hatched them herself you don’t need to put them in a brooder unless she loses interest and leaves them. Mine is still with hers, every hen is different though. Then you would need to put them in a brooder unless it’s 100 degrees where you live like it is here and then they’ll be fine in the day, brooder/light at night I don’t candle the eggs because I think she will just push a bad one out herself... unless you smell a bad stench, then examine immediately for an egg going rotten/exploding. The bacteria can kill the whole hatch, but mom usually catches it before that happens

 

[DobieLover]

My Sapphire Gem went broody a little while ago and I decided to let her hatch chicks because they would be my roosters first and last chicks and I don't have many chickens. I just realized that I know NOTHING about broody hens. Some random info would be great! Should I let her raise the chicks or should I take them and put them in a brooder? I also don't know how many eggs are under her. I'm putting off checking because I'm wimpy and I don't want to disturb her...any suggestions on how to check without making her mad? Does the broodiness stop after she hatches the chicks? I live in Ohio near Cleveland so the weather is kind of weird. Yesterday it was 40 degrees and today its 80. I don't want the chicks to get cold if something like that happens again. Any info would be much appreciated!

If you move her now, there is a good chance she will freak out and break eggs if you try to confine her to a new nest site. If you move her and the eggs and don't confine her, she will more than likely abandon the eggs to go back to her original site. The broody grafts more to the site than the eggs.
The time to move her and try to re-graft her is BEFORE she starts setting.
If she's elevated, you need to block off the nest on day 20 with something to prevent the chicks from falling out but allows lots of air flow.
Keeping food and water near her prevents her from leaving the nest to poop so it increases her chances of having an accident and fouling the eggs.
I've never had a broody abandon her chicks. They've all wanted to raise them. I would never take chicks from a mother once she's hatched them unless she proves herself unfit. That happened once. The mother was initially good but when the chicks started to get bigger and wanted to roam around more the mother would pick them up and shake them by their wings while they screamed. Then she'd stuff them back under her. I crated her to break her, brooded the chicks in front of a second broody hen who then adopted the six 3-week old chicks and raised them with her lone hatchling.

 

[aart]

If you move her now, there is a good chance she will freak out and break eggs if you try to confine her to a new nest site.

I move them, with fake eggs until they settle in.


When I have a broody and want her to hatch I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.


I remove barrier about one week after hatch. The chicks are usually safe it's the broody who has to 'fight' her way back into the pecking order...which can be quick or take a few days.
Lots of space helps for re-integration.

 

[DobieLover]

I move them, with fake eggs until they settle in.

So do I. But the eggs are already set and developing for this hen. It's too late to move her unless an incubator is available to put them in until/IF she settles in.

 

[trudyg]

When I put chicks under my hen last night, I used both hands-one to distract her peck and the other to slip it to her. I was afraid she'd peck the chick but she acted like a live chick was not at all a surprise and my hand was what bothered her.

 

[aart]

So do I. But the eggs are already set and developing for this hen. It's too late to move her unless an incubator is available to put them in until/IF she settles in.

Ah, missed that part.