Broody Hen Thread!

[kannna]

Well Cochins are a little mellower than RIRs. But, it always depends on your particular situation and flock.

 

[RideRed93]

To (maybe) answer your second question: I have read, and also seen first hand, that when the hen get all eggs laid and are ready to sit they will lose a patch of their breast feathers in order to have a warmer area touching the eggs. For this reason, it increases the temperature rather than just having feathers touch it.
I hope this helped a bit for your #2 Question..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keggen

Caohorse, I have no idea but I hope the chick is ok. I think I would offer it a lot of water but I don't know what else.

Questions for you all:
I went to do my nightly coop close up on Monday and like usual I checked my broody for extra eggs and took them inside. Tuesday I wasn't feeling well so my daughter closed up the coop without taking the extra eggs that other hens keep laying with her. I figured one extra night with them would be OK.

Wednesday I closed up and took the broody off her nest momentarily and counted 16 eggs. She has been sitting on 11 so I started looking through for the extra 5 but I found 6 that were not marked.

I checked and double checked. 6 were new between Tuesday morning and Wednesday night, but that meant one of her original 11 eggs was missing!

We went through every egg that had been gathered that was in the fridge and could not find any that were marked. We searched the coop, too.

So what the heck happened to that other egg?! I'm still paranoid that I somehow gathered it up and that it's in one of my eggcartonss, destined to be sold to my buyer tomorrow. I'm horrified at the prospect, actually.

Any ideas?

Ok next question. Tonight when closing up I decided not to remove the broody from the nest but instead carefully reach around her for the eggs, take the new ones and put back the marked ones. I'm really surprised by what I saw with the hen. Her body seemed weirdly bloated, or maybe soft, kind of like a balloon that you've had for a few weeks that has lost most of the helium and is soft and squishy.

That's the best way I can describe it. Most of the feathers on her belly and chest were gone! The remainder looked just weird, very hard to describe. Anyone have any idea what is going on with her? She seemed poofy , which is normal since she started brooding, but her body seemed very weird.

I have been giving her scratch as a treat a few times a week, but maybe she is not getting enough food?

Alright last question. How do you ensure the baby chicks from the broody will be able to maneuver your coop well enough to get food and water? I'm not really concerned about the other chickens yet, but am worried about the water dish I have, thinking baby chicks might die if they try to use it. Any ideas?

 

[kannna]

To the last question get a little mason jar waterer and put it on a something sturdy on the floor near the nest. like a block of 2x4 or a couple of bricks. Just high enough to keep shavings out but low enough for the chicks.

 

[emilee427]

Aww, that's sweet! Mine peck at me whenever I get to close, haha.

She's a sweetie! The kind that hops up in your lap and hangs out. Lol. I have always called her momma and when I say hello she purrs at me from her nest. Gave her some blackberries today because she is dead set on not leaving her nest to forage lol.

 

[chicken farmer]

My white silkie hen will sit in the nestbox for a little while through out the day for short peroids of time like twice a day,she had 3 eggs yesterday and now 5 today....will she lay a big clutch before going broody?

 

[Keggen]

Thank you, RideRed,, that makes sense.

Here is miss Broody today. Eggs should start hatching in 3 to 5 days I think.

 

[Martha80]

1st time with a broody. On Wednesday, I put 12 eggs under her. I think another hen is going broody. Can I take some of the eggs from the first to give to the second?

 

[fisherlady]

1st time with a broody. On Wednesday, I put 12 eggs under her. I think another hen is going broody. Can I take some of the eggs from the first to give to the second?

Yep, broodies don't keep track of how long they are sitting, so you can split them between the two.

 

[weeshanti]

Maybe she booted it out and someone else took it? Ate it perhaps? I'm just making guesses. SOMETHING must have happened to it though!

I've heard that in some countries it's a delicacy to eat cooked almost-finished-incubated duckeggs. If someone comes back saying they had a baby chick in an egg, you should charge them extra for it.

Keggen -

I agree that she may have booted it out. My little bantam crushed one of her eggs (or something else did) - all I found were bits of shells one morning, so it disappeared fast. I also had two chicks disappear overnight, and have decided I must have a rat getting into the coop; perhaps she knocked out a dud egg and a critter made off with it.

On the water question, I suggest a rabbit or hamster bottle waterer. I couldn't find a small enough chicken-nipple system for the brooder box so I gave this a try, and it works beautifully. I rigged one up so the "sipper" is at about an inch off the floor and the chicks used it immediately. My mama hen figured it out in about three minutes, too. No learning curve, nothing for them to drown in, and no messy poop-water. If you don't have a wire cage to hang it on, just drill a couple screws to secure it with a bungy cord or something similar.

 

[chicken farmer]

My white silkie hen will sit in the nestbox for a little while through out the day for short peroids of time like twice a day,she had 3 eggs yesterday and now 5 today....will she lay a big clutch before going broody?