Broody Hen Or Not?

[moparmatthew]

HI!!! I have a black Cochin she wont stay out of the nest box,but she will only sits on a couple eggs and she sits on them for about three or four days and switches to another nesting box.Should I put her by herself with a single nest box and how many eggs should I put in her nest?Is she even broody or just hiding from the rest of the flock?Shes not mean or defensive of the nest. The roosters seem to be attracted to her and the blue Cochin for some reason or another. Thanks for any advice Matt

 

[Ridgerunner]

If she spends the nights on the nest instead of roosting in her normal place, she is broody. If she does not spend the night on the nest, she is just teasing you. You'd be surprised how many do that.

Cochin come in all sizes, from bantam to full-sized. Eggs come in all sizes. If the hen can comfortably cover them, she can hatch them and raise the chicks. For full sized hens I usually go with about 12 eggs laid by full sized hens. Some bantams would struggle to cover four full-sized hen eggs.

Sounds like this hen needs to be locked up where she cannnot get confused. I'd guess either she is real easily confused or maybe another hen is on her nest when she gets back from her daily constitutional so she just takes another nest. If you can, I suggest you fix a place that has one nest and room for feed water and for her to go poo, then lock her in there. Don't let her out and don't let the othe chickens in with her. Many hens can successfully hatch eggs while they are with the flock, but some can't.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I don't know if this is whats going on with yours or not, but when my Brahma hen started sitting I would go out and find her sitting in the nest box next to the one she was originally in, and couldn't figure out why though maybe first time sitter? well come to find out she was being moved out by some of the older more agressive hens so they could lay their eggs then they would leave and newbie just wouldn't go back into original nest box. so after a few days of this I moved her nest box and all, she was on the top shelf where it seems they all like to go for laying and I put her into the lowest nest box slot, so far so good she's due to hatch her eggs on the 14th, i do check her everyday for extras the girls still manage to slip in but she's staying put. some of my girls will growl and peck me when I look under them which is usually a good sign they are serious about their broodiness. all the best. does the rooster get into the nest box with her? is she just starting to lay?

 

[moparmatthew]

Thank you both,you have answered my question I have seen another hen sitting on her.Yes she is on the nest for a few days and I think she is either getting moved by my Barred rock or she gets back into the wrong nesting box ,she just sees the eggs and sits on um .shes in the boxes all night.Iv made a large area all closed in and with a single nest I'll try 10 or twelve eggs she a standard Cochin so she should be able to handle them.shes been laying for a few months now,shes a little over a year old now.Is this to Yong or is that a normal age,and ofcourse this will be her first shot at being a momma.will this have any affect on her ability's to be good at it? And again thanks for the info Matt

 

[Miss Lydia]

she'll most likely be a great mom. most of mine have been great from their first time on,a couple not so. but I think she'll probably do fine, they just seem to get pushed around the first time by the more experienced and more dominate hens. good luck and be sure to post pictures when they hatch.. Cochins are pretty docile kinda like Brahmas so they tend to get bullied by the others.