Broody Hen. Please need information

[Mom2Cool]

Lollipop are you the one who last year had the hen decide to nest under the coop after it had snowed? I seem to recall reading that & thinking "well I'm glad that's not me." but I've this horrid feeling it could be! LOL

And Purpletree it is a horrible term to say "break" them & frankly I don't really like doing that. I wouldn't give a hoot if I wasn't playing musical coops right now but I've already got chicks & young ones ahead of them I need to phase into the main coop/flock & I was hoping to use the little coop the chicks are in.

Funny thing here kids is that I have this lil bunny hutch that has *no front on it for warmth but just chicken wire across the front for security. Well wouldn't you know THAT is the coop everyone wants to lay eggs in! & the entire flock w/go crazy in it & the girls whilke the chicks are still using it w/momma the flock will start using it to lay eggs & last time that happened that's how this w/chicks now momma decided to go broody in the first place & the entire flock is once again all over that little bunny hutch...... what the heck??? LOL It's like a comedy over here & hubby was wide eyed when I told him this because there's just no other place to go w/eggs/chicks.

 

[Lollipop]

Quote:
Sorry, not me........Pop

 

[Rock Wyandotte]

Hi All,
thank you for this post. I need the same kind of help but there's a slight difference in my situation. I live in Vermont and we're going into Winter FAST. I have a beautiful young (30 wks) Black Australorp who has just gone broody. Right now she's sitting on two eggs. Fertility is doubtful with my one young rooster. I don't heat my coop but it is insulated. The chickens create enough heat to warm it during winter. Not sure what to do. I've hatched 3 batches under broodies this year, but all during warm months. Thanks for any advice!

 

[purpletree23]

Rock Wyandotte. I'm in New hampshire and we ARE going into winter very fast. I don't know what to do. Should I let her hatch eggs like Pop suggested? I did notice that he is in Florida and his hen hatched eggs while the weather was in the 30's but here by the time they hatch 30 degrees will feel like a heat wave.

Should I get 2 fertile eggs to put under her?

I'm sooooo frustrated. I really do feel bad for her.

I don't heat my coop either. The walls and ceiling are insulated but this is the first year for chickens in this particular coop and I don't know how warm 5 hens can keep an 8 X 10 coop.

 

[Rock Wyandotte]

Purpletree, I decided late yesterday just to take the eggs away from her and see if I could get her off the nest. I took her off and petted her for a bit, then put her down and took her eggs out. 15 minutes later she was back on that nest and is still there this morning, but with no eggs under her. I think that's best. I think I'd be worried all the time with chicks outside during the winter, and if they froze to death I'd really feel awful. so I just decided to nip it in the bud. I'll let her set in the Spring!
Good luck!

 

[purpletree23]

Hi Rock....I've been doing that for a week now. I even 'locked' all the girls out of the coop for a few hours one day so they could free range. She still went back to the box. At night I would carefully take her out of the box and put her on the roost with the others. Boy oh boy is she stubborn. Must be Polish like me poor girl. I talked to a neighbor who knows EVERYTHING about chickens and she said 'let her hatch some chicks'. From what she told me she has had chickens hatch a clutch of eggs in December.

She gave me fertilized eggs and I have 8 under her right now. She should have fuzzy butts to take care of on October 31.

I hope everything goes well. I once again took her out of the laying box and put the eggs on the hay. She stood up looked at them and made the most incredible coooing sound I ever heard. She walked over to them and gently moved them around with her beak and fluffed up her feathers and settled down. One of the most incredible things I've seen in my life and I've been a nurse in a maternity ward!

I hope she does well and the chicks will be OK. She's a good mommy. You should hear the sounds she makes when the busy bodies came over to see what was going on. She sounded like a half crazed raccoon.

I hope she at least hatches one successfully. I'm going to be a nervous wreck for 28 days.

 

[Jen4]

purpletree23 - Good luck with your broody and hatching... One of out BO's just hatched chickies... she has 6 babies... its sooo cute. I was worried but you know what the Mommas just know what to do. The chicks will be 1 week this Monday/Tuesday and are growing good.

 

[purpletree23]

Thanks for the encouraging words jen4. I hope she does well.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW FUZZY BUTTS! They are beautiful aren't they. I love to watch them peek out from under Mom and then hide again.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:
Relax, it's only 20 days for chicken eggs under a hen! Mama should do a great job on her own. If it's cold outside she'll flatten herself like a feathery pancake over the eggs, and may only take brief infrequent breaks off the nest.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Im sooo waiting for mine to go broody so I can order some eggs