Broody Hen Care

[pgpoultry]

I wait till night time and prepare the new site .Then one person takes the hen who is sitting on the eggs and another the eggs.They are swiftly inserted into the new nest and hen stood next to them. Usually the hen makes her way onto the eggs straight away. Sometimes she walks around the new environment then goes to the eggs. Never had it fail.

 

[armadamork]

We had a Golden Sebright go broody on us so we decided to let nature take over. We left the hen in her nesting box and let her decide when to leave to eat, poop, and such. No issues at all. Each night when we shut the coop door we checked for "new" egss under her and took them. Exactly 21 days later we had Golden Sebright / Cochin mix peep. Once hatched I moved both momma and baby to a seperate cage in the coop and there they will stay for six weeks. They only problem I am trying to fix is another Sebright that went broody. Trying to break her of it is taking time.

 

[Gaelio]

That's what I'm doing with my golden lace cochin banty right now. She was so broody that I finally let guilt get the best of me and stopped taking her eggs. She was going to go through the summer being broody and make herself sick, so I've let her have some eggs. I give her some food right in the nesting box and she gets off occasionally for water. I thought about taking her and the eggs and putting them all in a cage with food and water, but thought that would be more upsetting to her. One of my hens, a polish frizzle, was successful in hiding her egg clutch outside from me. I think she got wise to me taking her eggs, and devised a plan. One morning I saw her trotting out from between the hollyhocks with her eight fuzzy chicks. One way or another, they'll find a way to sit on those eggs!

 

[Jloeffler]

Thanks pgpoultry and Gypsy! I asked because I have been planning on leaving my hen in the coop, but the coop is several feet off the ground with a ramp down. I'm concerned about the chicks falling out of the coop. Any thoughts or advice?

 

[Gaelio]

If only I had checked here first. Sure enough, this morning I went to the coop and broody hen was sitting in another nest on just one new egg.

I should have moved her into a pen away from the others. Nature's course allows for too many variables.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Zaxby's2 :

Here are a few things I would do in the case of a broody hen. First, it's generally best to isolate her from the rest of the flock, that way you won't have any problems with her switching nests, other eggs being laid there, etc.

Once you've moved her, I would give her whatever fertile eggs you want hatched out(a standard hen should probably cover 10 without any problems) and just enjoy!

She should have access to food and water and room to walk around, but other than that caring for a broody hen is pretty easy! As far as tips go, I'd just try not to disturb her too much and let her do her thing.

Good luck!

Well said. I have special brooders built specifically for my broody hens.

I do provide additional treats (scrambled eggs, cat food, fruits and vegetables) to make sure that she doesn't lose too much weight.​

 

[Gypsy07]

Quote:
Personally I wouldn't risk just letting them take their chances with it, well, not till they were maybe a week or ten days old anyway. But I've only ever had the one broody hen and one set of naturally hatched chicks, so bear in mind that I don't really know that much about it! I kept my new chicks and hen shut up in the private coop (a roomy 7 x 6 shed with a window) until the chicks had some wing feathers and were flapping about and trying to roost, that way I knew if they fell they wouldn't land too hard and that they'd be able to jump the big step back inside once I had let them out.

My old papa-in-law told me today that he once had chicks which hatched out in a raised coop inside a run, and when the mother hen first brought them out, come nighttime she went back up the ramp into the coop but not all of the babies managed to find their way back up with her and half of them had died by the morning...

 

[lucyboo]

Zaxby's2 : " Smile! Jesus loves you!"

i love your signiture!!and that is so true!!!! i really like that!! have you seen the bumper sticker that says,"smile your mom chose life!" ? i love that one too!!!

God bless!!

<3 kelsey

 

[Jloeffler]

Quote:
Personally I wouldn't risk just letting them take their chances with it, well, not till they were maybe a week or ten days old anyway. But I've only ever had the one broody hen and one set of naturally hatched chicks, so bear in mind that I don't really know that much about it! I kept my new chicks and hen shut up in the private coop (a roomy 7 x 6 shed with a window) until the chicks had some wing feathers and were flapping about and trying to roost, that way I knew if they fell they wouldn't land too hard and that they'd be able to jump the big step back inside once I had let them out.

My old papa-in-law told me today that he once had chicks which hatched out in a raised coop inside a run, and when the mother hen first brought them out, come nighttime she went back up the ramp into the coop but not all of the babies managed to find their way back up with her and half of them had died by the morning...

That was exactly what I was worried about Gypsy! I have a dog house I could put under the coop for momma and chicks. Did you move yours before they hatched or after?

 

[five is my dog]

keep food and water in front of her at all times. if she wont get up then you have to pick her up and put her outside so she can stretch her legs.