Broody hen not eating.

[centrarchid]

So I had said that my broody Silkie seemed to be doing well being hand fed while sitting, although she wasn’t leaving the nest by herself. Well she now has 3 chicks and things have changed a bit.

The oldest 2 chicks are a week old, and the other is only 3 days old. Broody mum seems to have taken to them ok, altho she pecks them quite a bit, but I don’t think it is with the intention to harm, it’s like an open beak peck.

The thing I am worried about is she is doing a lot of tid-biting and doesn’t seem to be eating anything herself, just picking up and dropping chick crumb for the chicks.

I have tried offering her other things (sunflower seeds and corn) by hand, but she tried to tid-bit those too, and I don’t think the chicks are ready for that yet.

We tried to take her out today to feed her away from the chicks, but of course she ran straight back to the coop to the chicks. She was quite skinny and had an empty crop when I picked her up.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Under no circumstances separate hen from chicks just to feed her. Too much of wrong type of intervention is bad for chicks. Very bad.

 

[Rachnicko]

Yeah I appreciate it’s not ideal, but we thought it was worth a try. Have you got any ideas to getting her to eat?

 

[centrarchid]

Yeah I appreciate it’s not ideal, but we thought it was worth a try. Have you got any ideas to getting her to eat?

Place feed and water a few feet away from her and let her come off nest when she is ready. She will will come off when she needs to and likely when she thinks no one is watching.

 

[aart]

Yeah I appreciate it’s not ideal, but we thought it was worth a try. Have you got any ideas to getting her to eat?

Have you tried a saucer of wetted feed?

 

[centrarchid]

Most broody hens will be reluctant to feed while sitting on the nest. In natural world such behavior is flat out not smart. It leaves additional smells and activity around the very vulnerable contents of the nest.

 

[NatJ]

Yeah I appreciate it’s not ideal, but we thought it was worth a try. Have you got any ideas to getting her to eat?

Keep offering plenty of feed, especially chick starter. It's probably the best food for her right now, as well as being best for the chicks.

Keep it constantly available dry, and maybe offer a small amount wet as well--some chickens think it's tastier when wet. (And it might get stuck in her mouth, so she must swallow some, instead of dropping it all for the chicks.)

Hopefully she'll eat some to show the chicks how, or in between tidbitting them.

Edit to add: keep water available too, of course.

 

[centrarchid]

Keep offering plenty of feed, especially chick starter. It's probably the best food for her right now, as well as being best for the chicks.

Keep it constantly available dry, and maybe offer a small amount wet as well--some chickens think it's tastier when wet. (And it might get stuck in her mouth, so she must swallow some, instead of dropping it all for the chicks.)

Hopefully she'll eat some to show the chicks how, or in between tidbitting them.

And get a tube so you can force feed her as well.

 

[Shadrach]

I have a hen who is broody and not eating or drinking at all. We let her have 6 eggs about 2 weeks ago and she started out ok eating and drinking but slowly has gotten worse to the point even if i put the water bowl against her she won’t drink or eat. I started taking her out twice a day for 7 minutes at a time to try and make her eat and drink but she only pecks a bit and won’t drink. I’ve tried different waterers and special treats but she won’t budge we also learned yesterday she’s been holding in her poop. I don’t want the little chicks to die in the eggs as she’s been on them over 2 weeks but idk what to do. Any advice?

Broody hens go into a trance like state when they are sitting on a clutch. You need to make sure the trance is properly broken. Some hens are quite hard to get out of it.
She needs to stand for a start. Not just the half hover they can do when eating; fully stand.
They tend not to poop unless fully awake and don't eat properly either. You know when they're fully awake because at some point they will jump in the air and make a war like scream flapping their wings violently in the process.
My advice would be to shut her out of the coop for at least twenty minutes and wake her up. Make her stand and walk and if you have an area of ground suitable for a dust bath, dump her in it.
If you have other hens then put her in with them. This should make her fluff up and cluck incessantly. She may get bullied by the other hens and this means she will have to move or defend herself. This too will make sure she is fully awake.
It can take a few minutes to get a broody hen awake. Sometimes you need to keep lifting them into the stand position. They often sit a the bowl and eat a bit. Once they are properly awake they will generally poop and then eat properly so make sure she has food availible until you let her return to her nest.

 

[Rachnicko]

Thanks @centrarchid
Thanks so much. That’s really helpful, and it is all things I had noticed but didn’t realise it was like a trace @Shadrach. We thought the squarking and flapping were funny to watch.

However, she’s now with chicks. I wasn’t sure if the chicks were ready to go outside yet (a week old and less).

I’ll try the wetted food @aart @NatJ - I assume just some chick crumb with water so it’s mushy?

 

[NatJ]

I’ll try the wetted food @aart @NatJ - I assume just some chick crumb with water so it’s mushy?

Yes. Quick and easy