Broody hen + infertile eggs=?

[chuckachucka]

I didn’t know that a hen would automatically accept and raise a chick she hasn’t hatched.

They don't always accept them so there is an element of risk to buying chicks, but if a hen has been sitting a couple of weeks and you sneak some day olds under her at night she will very likely accept them as her own.

 

[TCCL]

Broody is a term for a hen wanting to hatch eggs, whether they are fertile or not. If you have a space or city limit could probably let her raise a couple of chicks and maybe rehome them when they are a bit older? I’ve also read of people breaking the broody hen by putting her in a cage with a wire bottom. My mom was able to break her broody by taking away eggs too

Thank you for the clarification on “broody”. Now I can say that I learned something today.

Will a broody hen be guaranteed to accept and raise a chick that she hasn’t hatched? Because if the hen rejects it, my hands are too full with what I have to take care of the chick myself.

The situation here in a nutshell is that I can have as many birds as I like (up to 99). I currently have (4) hens that are one year old, (3) ducks, one year old also, and (13) silkies that are almost three months old.

The adult birds have free range of the property and they are more of a way for us to interact with nature than to be sources of eggs or meat, although we are not against such things by any means. That said, cage with a wire bottom method would be far too upsetting for my family to deal with so that’s not a option.

The silkies are maturing Fast. Won’t be long at all until a cockerel in the young bunch can provide fertilization. If she can hang on until then, by all means, she is more than welcome to hatch some eggs and raise her chicks. This scenario would be ideal.

 

[TCCL]

They don't always accept them so there is an element of risk to buying chicks, but if a hen has been sitting a couple of weeks and you sneak some day olds under her at night she will very likely accept them as her own.

I like that thinking!

 

[TCCL]

Most of mine have, all of my silkies did. The only hen that had a problem was a bantam barred frizzle Cochin so I gave the chicks to a silkier which gladly accepted them. Some say to introduce at night but I worried something might happen so I introduced the chicks early in the morning when it was still a bit dark out but light enough for me to see the hen’s reaction to the chicks and checked on them every few hours since it was on a weekend

Yesterday I saw some of the three month old silkies sitting on the ducks eggs Awesome! (None of those are fertile either unfortunately ) So I don’t doubt a silkie would most likely welcome a chick other than her own. I love the silkies.

I mean to say this is my first experience with silkies and so far we are really enjoying them

 

[TCCL]

Remove the eggs at night while she is sleeping to avoid being pecked, then remove the hen from he nest and shut her out. It will upset her but the only way to break a hens broodiness is to keep her from sitting on the eggs.

A hen goes broody when her hormones tell her it' time to become a mother, and they don' know if their eggs are fertile or not but will usually continue to sit for a long time in hope of them hatching. Usually they give up eventually , bit it just takes a lot out of them health-wise so it is not good for them to sit too long.

You should try to simply shut her out of the nest and see if this breaks her broodiNess. It may take a couple of days or evwn longer. Some hens are very stubborn and will just sit on the ground outside the nest, imagining they are still on their eggs. Keep shoving them outside with the flock and if they persist in sitting around you will have to make a 'broody breaker' which is a crate or cage of some sort with a wire mesh type bottom and which is elevated off the floor such as on a few bricks etc. This allows cool air to circulate under he hen to prevent her keeping her underside warm and causes her to give up brooding.

Or you could just give her a chick or two!

Thanks to you, now that I understand the reasoning behind the setup of the broody breaker it IS a option.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Using a cage on a persistent brooding bird is the kinder thing to do. Taking out of nest few times a day and blocking off nests can work if done in first few days but once the brooding is set they are in it for the long haul. They'll only leave the nest once a day to poop, eat and drink then back to the nest. It's hard on a hen to brood and if there are no fertile eggs to give or no desire to have more birds at this time the kind thing to do is to break her of the brood promptly and assuredly. The wire fold up kennels work great. Take the bottom tray out and elevate it on blocks. If the bottom wires have large openings (many do) then just turn the cage upside down. Leave the bird in with food and water for three days. No less or there is a chance she'll go back to brooding in a day and no more than three as it won't take more than three. In reality two days works most of the time but no need to chance it so go three. She'll bawk and generally be upset there is no nest for the first day. Second day not so bad and third day she'll be fine and not anxiously wanting out. Let her out end of third day to walk about with flock for few hours then go to roost with everyone else. Make sure she goes to roost that night, if back to nest put her back in cage for another day.

Brooding for a hen is to slowly waste away and without eggs hatching in 3 weeks will last longer. It's simply unhealthy. The kind thing to do is break her and deal with her angst for those few days she's in cage. I'd equate it to a broken arm. Sure it will heal, albeit crooked, all on it's own but the kind thing to do is cause the wee bit of pain to set it so it heals quicker.

 

[TCCL]

I forgot to mention that I gave her eggs and nest back after about 2 hours because it was breaking our hearts to see her like that. We didn’t know any better. I see now that her health and even LIFE is at stake if this fruitless brooding is allowed to continue We simply cannot allow that. I will be sharing all this great information from you all here with the family asap.

 

[TCCL]

Using a cage on a persistent brooding bird is the kinder thing to do. Taking out of nest few times a day and blocking off nests can work if done in first few days but once the brooding is set they are in it for the long haul. They'll only leave the nest once a day to poop, eat and drink then back to the nest. It's hard on a hen to brood and if there are no fertile eggs to give or no desire to have more birds at this time the kind thing to do is to break her of the brood promptly and assuredly. The wire fold up kennels work great. Take the bottom tray out and elevate it on blocks. If the bottom wires have large openings (many do) then just turn the cage upside down. Leave the bird in with food and water for three days. No less or there is a chance she'll go back to brooding in a day and no more than three as it won't take more than three. In reality two days works most of the time but no need to chance it so go three. She'll bawk and generally be upset there is no nest for the first day. Second day not so bad and third day she'll be fine and not anxiously wanting out. Let her out end of third day to walk about with flock for few hours then go to roost with everyone else. Make sure she goes to roost that night, if back to nest put her back in cage for another day.

Brooding for a hen is to slowly waste away and without eggs hatching in 3 weeks will last longer. It's simply unhealthy. The kind thing to do is break her and deal with her angst for those few days she's in cage. I'd equate it to a broken arm. Sure it will heal, albeit crooked, all on it's own but the kind thing to do is cause the wee bit of pain to set it so it heals quicker.

Thank you so much. You put it beautifully and that carries a lot of weight with me. I regret not reaching out for advice much sooner. But now, better late than never, I finally know what I have to do and why I have to do it. It’s all about love.

 

[Akrnaf2]

Frustrated hen.

 

[lazy gardener]

Either break her or give her some chicks. I break my broodies by putting them in a tractor on the lawn every day, then seeing to it that they get back on the roost at night. It takes about 3 - 4 days. The longer a hen is broody, the longer it takes to break her.