broody hen picked a bad, but good spot. accommodate or move?

[rebrascora]

I've had Tasha 3 years and I don't know how old she was when I got her but possibly a pullet. She was listed at auction as an Araucana but she's actually a scruffy little cross breed mutt with bags of personality and a moustache and beard to rival the grandpa in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I wasn;t at the auction but i understand that no one would bid for her and I think the seller just left her there..I was just starting my flock and the auctioneer was a friend of my partner and rang him and said I could have this hen for £5 and she would lay blue eggs.....she doesn't.... she lays little peachy/pink eggs as it turns out.... but I forked out the fiver and he brought her back from the auction for me. In a flock of over 40 chickens now, she is still my favourite girl, scruffy mutt that she is!

 

[thebulg]

Yes, I would candle and remove any clears and then leave her to it after that and let nature take it's course. The nest she abandoned may have been infested with mites rather than her actually knowing the eggs were infertile. I've had that happen before and now I always dust their nests with DE when I set them. Broody hens can be a sitting target for lice and mites, which is why having access to a dust bath is so important for them..

I can't bring myself to clip wings. With them free ranging, it might be the difference between life and death.

it was a really hard choice. but we had a neighbor point out that a ruined flower bed in their garden was sure to make them a predator, and we hit a point where outside of our yard might be a little more dangerous than in it. so we have been working over the last two months to make the yard as safe as we can. it's a half acre, but it's mostly enclosed now, and they have a few places they can run to and hide, and our dog is so very in love with them and protective. it was hard, and i hope one day to be on land where other people dont dictate those choices for us so much.

 

[thebulg]

I've had Tasha 3 years and I don't know how old she was when I got her but possibly a pullet. She was listed at auction as an Araucana but she's actually a scruffy little cross breed mutt with bags of personality and a moustache and beard to rival the grandpa in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I wasn;t at the auction but i understand that no one would bid for her and I think the seller just left her there..I was just starting my flock and the auctioneer was a friend of my partner and rang him and said I could have this hen for £5 and she would lay blue eggs.....she doesn't.... she lays little peachy/pink eggs as it turns out.... but I forked out the fiver and he brought her back from the auction for me. In a flock of over 40 chickens now, she is still my favourite girl, scruffy mutt that she is!

what a wonderful story!!!!!!! and how fitting that she turned out to be so wonderful and gave you wonderful generations after her!

 

[thebulg]

this is her, on 16 eggs!!!! i'm totally amazed. she got on the eggs monday night, so i am going to count with tuesday starting as day 1. we're going to work together, my husband and i, on sunday to candle everything. we'll mark anything that looks clear, and do it once more on tuesday or wednesday and then we will toss anything of the duds that still look like duds so her nest can get smaller.

i gave her the straw. i'm going to dust the area today for her safety. i did some more reading on that, and a good number of people said dusting the nesting box and nest when possible is a part of their preventative care for a broody hen. that they do it in the beginning and throughout if needed instead of waiting for a problem. i think that's a really smart plan and i would much rather prevent than have to intervene.

i know a lot can still go wrong, but i have to say, i'm excited for her and i really hope she makes it the whole way because i think its the only way she is going to reset herself! but i'm not sure i'm ready to have 30 chickens and turkeys!!! this year will certainly be an adventure!

 

[PD-Riverman]

i'm not sure i'm ready to have 30 chickens and turkeys!!! this year will certainly be an adventure!

Sell some extra ones, helps pay for some feed, a little income for the Homestead. I sold 2 young pullets for $24 yesterday, $290 one day about 2 weeks ago-------- sold a lot last year and the year before. Best week was a little over $2100. Lots of $200 to $500 weeks, Lots of $0 weeks. Its nice when your hens get to 2 years old and some one comes to your home and buys 49 of them for $750, selling them because I got 6/7 month old ones to replace them. I see nothing wrong with selling a few dollars worth of Chicks/chickens to help the HomeStead out.

 

[thebulg]

Sell some extra ones, helps pay for some feed, a little income for the Homestead. I sold 2 young pullets for $24 yesterday, $290 one day about 2 weeks ago-------- sold a lot last year and the year before. Best week was a little over $2100. Lots of $200 to $500 weeks, Lots of $0 weeks. Its nice when your hens get to 2 years old and some one comes to your home and buys 49 of them for $750, selling them because I got 6/7 month old ones to replace them. I see nothing wrong with selling a few dollars worth of Chicks/chickens to help the HomeStead out.

i'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch (seriously, cannot get over being able to use that phrase literally) but the goal is going to be to get the flock back down to 9-12 birds by december. we will eat all but probably the quietest roo, and yes, i do think we will end up selling pullets. or culling our older ladies i guess if we have to? i think i need to just take it step by step and let them guide me. because we could, in a flock this big, end up with some mean birds, or sickly ones, or heaven knows what. so, selling, culling, disease, predators, whatever it takes, i would like to be back in city limits by 2017, with a mating pair of turkeys, 4-6 laying hens, and a flexible position for a nice rooster so we can start this whole thing over again next spring HAHAHA

 

[thebulg]

i was able to candle this evening. it was really quiet, kids are out with dad, very calm. of the 16 eggs, 13 are definitely developing, one is blue shelled (it was one that i added in, so i have to assume it's viable if 14 others are, but i will check the air sac over the next week or so) and 2 are questionable. one i think for sure will end up getting tossed, but i will give it a few more days to be sure.


and in the incubator, 10 of the 11 eggs are good to go. one shell had a hole that didn't pierce the membrane, but there's no development, so it's not worth the hassle.

5 bourbon reds developing, and 18 barnyard chickens. and to think, i just wanted to add a handful. HA

 

[Weehopper]

They usually sit tight for the first 2-4 days of brooding, then start coming off once a day or so, to eat, drink, poop, and dust bathe. They will do this up until 2-3 days before hatch. I have seen some come off after eggs have pipped, but that's the exception, not the rule. 20 feet is not a long trek for a hen. Just be sure she has access all day long. Out in the brush, she would come off and not make a sound until she was quite a way away from the nest (to mislead any predictors that might be watching). She ate the egg, probably, because it was either bad, or she was thirsty.
Lol she sounds entheuastic.

 

[thebulg]

They usually sit tight for the first 2-4 days of brooding, then start coming off once a day or so, to eat, drink, poop, and dust bathe. They will do this up until 2-3 days before hatch. I have seen some come off after eggs have pipped, but that's the exception, not the rule. 20 feet is not a long trek for a hen. Just be sure she has access all day long. Out in the brush, she would come off and not make a sound until she was quite a way away from the nest (to mislead any predictors that might be watching). She ate the egg, probably, because it was either bad, or she was thirsty.
Lol she sounds entheuastic.

this is the first time i have read from anyone that it's common for them to not get up at all the first 2-4 days. but from my very limited experience with my flock and another friend's, it's correct! it happened to both of us, and both of us were really worried that our chickens wouldn't get up at all!! granted,i made some mistakes and mine did poop in her area ha! but, in the future, i will remember this, because experience confirms what you are saying! i heave learned so much in this thread!