Broody hen questions.

[DuckWhisperer06]

I’m pretty sure one of our girls is going broody!


Some of these may seem like silly questions but this is our first time letting any of our girls sit on eggs.

She is about 7 months old, is she old enough to raise chicks? I imagine they wouldn’t go broody if they couldn’t.

I’ve read different posts saying they need to be separated from the others. What is the best way to go about that?

Once I have her in her own area away from the others, what do I need to give her?
Do I give her different feed?(she’s on all flock right now)
Do I need to add anything to her water?
What bedding/nesting material should I use?

If I keep her in any kind of crate, do I let her out? If so, when and how often?

I know it seems like a lot of questions, but this is our first time so I’m not 100% sure what to do.


Thanks in advance!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She should be able to do it. I sometimes break first time broodies.
The All Flock feed is fine. She isn't laying eggs so she doesn't need extra calcium.
IMO, a crate isn't enough room. She needs access to food, water and hopefully a dust bath.
A hen will come off the nest once a day or less on her schedule to defecate, eat, drink, stretch and dust bathe.
It isn't absolutely necessary to separate the setter as long as the building is of sufficient size but, if you don't, you have to mark all the eggs under her the first day and remove any eggs the other hens volunteer to the nest. Otherwise you'll have a staggered hatch which causes so many problems, including dead embryos when she comes off to care for the live chicks.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

Thank you

I got home a little bit ago and it seemed as if she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the eggs.

She was on them yesterday and this morning but I guess she decided it wasn’t worth the trouble.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If they don't sit around the clock, they're not broody.

 

[50-45-1]

In preparation for a broody you might want to build or purchase a broody hutch.
Your hen had briefly shown she may be thinking about having the urge to set.
I use a rabbit hutch for my broodies. Wood enclosed on one end with a wire portion.
if your hen is in the coop with the other hens you may incounter the following problems.
Stagered batch (eggs not hatching at the same time) marking the eggs and removing fresh ones works until you find the marks coming off and your half developed eggs in your refigerator.
Eggs broken as other hens compete for the nest your broody is on.
Abandoned eggs as your broody is bullied from the hatching egg nest.
chicks hatch and broody hen is to timid to protect all chicks from other hens (doesant happen often but can)
If you have a broody, continue to gather the eggs daily. Have golf balls in the nest boxes. Save hatching eggs for one week, unwashed and unreferigerated.
Move your broody after dark to the broody hutch and put eggs under her. Chicks 21 days later. I move broody and chicks back to the coop after she has raised them for a couple weeks and they are stronger. After dark again, to a crate on its side in the coop with straw. Works seamlessly every time for me.
Good luck!

 

[chickens really]

Is this a Duck Hen or a Chicken?

 

[aart]

Do not give her eggs until you are sure she's broody.

These are the signs I look for:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.


I prefer to separate from flock with a wire wall in a 4x6 section of coop with access to a run to dust bathe, it's just easier for me.
When I have a broody I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like she is not broody. There are many things that indicate a hen might be broody. I've seen hens display practically all of them for a week or longer without flipping over to full broody mode. I've seen hens immediately go broody, not wait. My test is that if the hen spends two consecutive nights on the nest instead of roosting in her normal spot I'll trust her with eggs.

I'll try to answer your questions anyway for net time.

She is about 7 months old, is she old enough to raise chicks? I imagine they wouldn’t go broody if they couldn’t.

You can get different opinions on first time broodies or pullets going broody. I've had just as many problems with hens that have successfully hatched and raised chicks before as I have with first time broodies, let alone one that has just gone broody before and never hatched or raised chicks. I've had a lot of success with first time broody hens. If you really want a broody to hatch for you, I'd take my chances when you have a chance. For some people these chances don't come often. You might have great success, you might have full failure whether you try now or whether you wait. That's just the way life is.

I’ve read different posts saying they need to be separated from the others. What is the best way to go about that?

Some of us separate broody hens from the others while incubating, hatching, or even raising them. I don't. Instead I mark the eggs I want her to hatch and start them all at the same time. You can collect them while you are checking to see if she is to be trusted, easily up to a week. Then I check under her each day after the others have laid and remove any that don't belong.

Once I have her in her own area away from the others, what do I need to give her?
Do I give her different feed?(she’s on all flock right now)
Do I need to add anything to her water?
What bedding/nesting material should I use?

A feed low in calcium is great, as she is not laying eggs. As others said, All-Flock works really well, now and after the chicks hatch. She and the chicks can eat Starter, Grower, All-Flock or something similar after the eggs hatch. I personally would not add anything to the water but some people add things to the entire flock's daily water. If it is safe for the flock it should be safe for the broody and chicks. What nesting material are you using now, whatever it is should work.

If I keep her in any kind of crate, do I let her out? If so, when and how often?

I'd make the pen or crate big enough for food, water, a nest and a little room to go poop. She should know by instinct to not go poop in the nest but that instinct does not stop her from pooping in water or food. Make it fairly easy for you to clean out.

I would make that pen so she could never leave and no other hen can get to her nest. I would never let her out. Some people may let them out but the purpose of isolating her is so she has no option but to return to that nest and no other chicken has access to her nest. Why isolate her to start with if you don't really isolate her?

One warning if you isolate her. Make sure no chicks can escape that pen and get where the broody cannot protect them or take care of them. The chicks can be in serious danger if they get away from the broody hen's protection and care.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As usual.

 

[DuckWhisperer06]

Chicken hen.

She has been showing some of the signs that @aart posted, but I don’t think it’s enough to prove she’s truly broody.

That being said, I will start building a broody ‘pen’, just to have it on hand.


Thanks for all of your replies!!