Broody hen help...

[FluffyButtHut4]

So we have a broody hen (Bonnie) , this is the 2nd time she has gone broody. 1st time was in winter, 1 egg managed to hatch but the chick died. After it hatched, it seemed she was done & got off the eggs. So this time around, she had 5 eggs, ate 3, & has hatched 1 successfully. Yay! It's so cute & she's being a great mama! She still had 1 egg left, there was a chick in it, I've been checking quite frequently on all of them, (we moved her away from flock, to keep a closer eye on everything, since the 1st time was such a flop), WELL, looks like she's now eaten that one too while I was cutting grass. Understand, if they do that something was wrong. But, it seems like she is still looking to lay on an egg? Has anyone had an experience like this? She hatched the 1 successfully & is raising it, but now that the last egg is gone, she seems to still be broody & wanting to hatch more? Not sure if I should let her try another egg (I would prefer not to, she took well over the 21 days to hatch this 1, it's been about a month. I almost tried breaking her from being broody, then the baby appeared! Lol) Any advice appreciated! I attached a pic of mama (Bonnie) & baby

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The first week or so they lay a lot with their babies. That might be what she's doing. Not looking for another egg

 

[FluffyButtHut4]

Ok. When I checked & didn't see an egg, she had been scratching/digging & rearranging all the shavings. Almost like she was looking for something not just a foraging behavior? (She basically buried the feeder & waterer) She seems like she's looking for an egg, not just the baby. She's been great with her. And it's fun to watch her teach the baby But she's still all fluffed out & seems like she's looking for an egg. I cleaned out their area & when I put them back she was on a mission. Sounded like she was telling me off lol & looking for egg to sit on. She kept digging around. She could see the baby. Baby was looking at her like, what are you doing? Lol Idk. I'll see how she is acting tomorrow. Thank you!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Is there anywhere for her to get a dustbath? When I first let my girl out with her babies after they were old enough, she sprinted out the door before they could follow her and just started rolling in the dirt

 

[333113]

So we have a broody hen (Bonnie) , this is the 2nd time she has gone broody. 1st time was in winter, 1 egg managed to hatch but the chick died. After it hatched, it seemed she was done & got off the eggs. So this time around, she had 5 eggs, ate 3, & has hatched 1 successfully. Yay! It's so cute & she's being a great mama! She still had 1 egg left, there was a chick in it, I've been checking quite frequently on all of them, (we moved her away from flock, to keep a closer eye on everything, since the 1st time was such a flop), WELL, looks like she's now eaten that one too while I was cutting grass. Understand, if they do that something was wrong. But, it seems like she is still looking to lay on an egg? Has anyone had an experience like this? She hatched the 1 successfully & is raising it, but now that the last egg is gone, she seems to still be broody & wanting to hatch more? Not sure if I should let her try another egg (I would prefer not to, she took well over the 21 days to hatch this 1, it's been about a month. I almost tried breaking her from being broody, then the baby appeared! Lol) Any advice appreciated! I attached a pic of mama (Bonnie) & baby

This actually sounds more like a predator stealing her eggs. It is very uncommon for a hen to eat one or more of her chicks. If a predator took the egg or chick, the hen might still be looking for it.

I have had black snakes steal eggs while the hen is setting.

My most recent egg-stealing predator was mice. Mice can be very destructive for such little creatures. Once the mice get a taste for baby birds or balut, you will have to kill all the mice, or move the hen and her nest to a predator-proof cage, or both.

 

[333113]

So we have a broody hen (Bonnie) , this is the 2nd time she has gone broody. 1st time was in winter, 1 egg managed to hatch but the chick died. After it hatched, it seemed she was done & got off the eggs. So this time around, she had 5 eggs, ate 3, & has hatched 1 successfully. Yay! It's so cute & she's being a great mama! She still had 1 egg left, there was a chick in it, I've been checking quite frequently on all of them, (we moved her away from flock, to keep a closer eye on everything, since the 1st time was such a flop), WELL, looks like she's now eaten that one too while I was cutting grass. Understand, if they do that something was wrong. But, it seems like she is still looking to lay on an egg? Has anyone had an experience like this? She hatched the 1 successfully & is raising it, but now that the last egg is gone, she seems to still be broody & wanting to hatch more? Not sure if I should let her try another egg (I would prefer not to, she took well over the 21 days to hatch this 1, it's been about a month. I almost tried breaking her from being broody, then the baby appeared! Lol) Any advice appreciated! I attached a pic of mama (Bonnie) & baby

This actually sounds more like a predator stealing her eggs. It is very uncommon for a hen to eat one or more of her chicks. If a predator took the egg or chick, the hen might still be looking for it.

I have had black snakes steal eggs while the hen is setting.

My most recent egg-stealing predator was mice. Mice can be very destructive for such little creatures. Once the mice get a taste for baby birds or balut, you will have to kill all the mice, or move the hen and her nest to a predator-proof cage, or both.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

That is true too. Mice have killed baby pheonixes and their eggs at my place (too cold for snakes when the chicks went missing and tgey had never left tge nest so i jave no clue what else it could have possibly been cause tge chick was just gone)

 

[FluffyButtHut4]

Is there anywhere for her to get a dustbath? When I first let my girl out with her babies after they were old enough, she sprinted out the door before they could follow her and just started rolling in the dirt

Lol I've been taking her out during the day to get some free range time in & she dust bathes daily still.

 

[FluffyButtHut4]

This actually sounds more like a predator stealing her eggs. It is very uncommon for a hen to eat one or more of her chicks. If a predator took the egg or chick, the hen might still be looking for it.

I have had black snakes steal eggs while the hen is setting.

My most recent egg-stealing predator was mice. Mice can be very destructive for such little creatures. Once the mice get a taste for baby birds or balut, you will have to kill all the mice, or move the hen and her nest to a predator-proof cage, or both.

No predators. I actually brought her in the house & have a whole setup, she was the only one that could've disposed of the eggs. I did research on it & found that the hen will eat it if the chick is dead or egg is not viable, to keep her nest clean & to keep from contaminating the other eggs. Crazy! haha