Broody Hen Thread!

[4hBrahmas]

9 days left for my d'uccle and just put the duck eggs under my campine today! Fingers crossed

 

[microchick]

Been there done that got the t-shirt. Signey needs a set number of eggs and her own private maternity ward. My hens did the same thing and yes, I wound up with two eggs being left behind that I hatched in a little cheap incubator in the house and returned the two viable chicks to their mom. Never again. Next broody gets her own private broody pad. Congratulations on the broody. Trust me, the first time around is the hardest.

 

[Macis Papa]

I had two hens go broody last Friday, I let my granddaughter give them each 8 eggs. Of course the new coop I built last summer specifically for broody hens has 40 2 week old chicks in it. Dang chicken math anyway.

 

[Diney]

By allowing other hens to lay in her nest you are creating a staggered hatch situation, which is not good. Once you decide to allow a hen to hatch you should gather whatever eggs you want her to hatch and mark them...a simple sharpie marker line the whole way around the center of the eggs is easiest to see in the nest.
Give her all of the eggs at the same time and if you aren't blocking her from other hens then you need to pull any and all unmarked eggs daily.
Staggered situations create a lot of problems for the hens and chicks, especially if the eggs hatch dates are spread out any further than 48 hours, after 48 hours you run a high risk of the hen leaving the nest with her hatched chicks and abandoning the slower eggs, even if they are viable.

 

[Diney]

 

[Diney]

Been there done that got the t-shirt. Signey needs a set number of eggs and her own private maternity ward. My hens did the same thing and yes, I wound up with two eggs being left behind that I hatched in a little cheap incubator in the house and returned the two viable chicks to their mom. Never again. Next broody gets her own private broody pad. Congratulations on the broody. Trust me, the first time around is the hardest.

 

[Diney]

Ok, was having trouble replying. I don't have anything set up to move her to a private place, wsdnt expecting her to go bloody. But really excited about it. I will go out tonight and mark the eggs and make sure I remove any new ones. I thought maybe I would move her into a dog crate and out it on our screened porch so would be predator proof. Does it matter how soon I move her? I don't want her to freak out about being moved.

 

[fisherlady]

Ok, was having trouble replying. I don't have anything set up to move her to a private place, wsdnt expecting her to go bloody. But really excited about it. I will go out tonight and mark the eggs and make sure I remove any new ones. I thought maybe I would move her into a dog crate and out it on our screened porch so would be predator proof. Does it matter how soon I move her? I don't want her to freak out about being moved.

Moving a hen is ideally done before giving her hatching eggs, but can be done after....it is just riskier if you have special eggs already developing under her.
If you do decide to move her then an oversized dog crate makes a nice, safe spot.
Move her at night, keep things as dark and quiet as possible, have the new nest ready, or better yet try to get some type of movable pan into her current nest location and then you can move her pan and all to the new location. However you decide to do it you need to keep it as quiet and efficient as possible to reduce chance of upsetting her.
I would suggest draping a darkening sheet over the dog crate to keep her in low light for the first day, it doesn't need to be pitch black but dim light will help keep her calmer. Just make sure there is still good air flow.

 

[katatonic123]

Apparently Joan was the trouble maker tonight as she was the one in auntie's nest. I just wish this would be enough to break her broodiness.

Sounds like Mama Hen was bitchin to her sister about her unruly chick and the "twin" sister volunteered to take that chick for the night

 

[Diney]

Moving a hen is ideally done before giving her hatching eggs, but can be done after....it is just riskier if you have special eggs already developing under her.
If you do decide to move her then an oversized dog crate makes a nice, safe spot.
Move her at night, keep things as dark and quiet as possible, have the new nest ready, or better yet try to get some type of movable pan into her current nest location and then you can move her pan and all to the new location. However you decide to do it you need to keep it as quiet and efficient as possible to reduce chance of upsetting her.
I would suggest draping a darkening sheet over the dog crate to keep her in low light for the first day, it doesn't need to be pitch black but dim light will help keep her calmer. Just make sure there is still good air flow.

Ok, when I do move her, if I put a movable pan under her first, when I do move her, which I will do at night, do I have to worry that she might jump out of the pan? I have never moved one at night... Or are they just so docile that I don't have to worry about that?