Broody Hen Thread!

[kendallb12]

When is the last time you wormed her?

never

 

[PD-Riverman]

never

Does her weigh feel right or is she real skinny/bonie?? Under weight? Dies her abdomen feel normal or real hard---tight?

 

[crealbilly]

I'm fairly new to the poultry thing although i grow up in a rural area of northern IL where our neighbors had chickens and as a young lad I would help care for them from time to time.

Last spring I ordered 18 RIR 1 day old hens, not the production ones. I lost one in the brooder but 17 made it. This late winter I purchased a young RIR rooster off of Craigslist list from a local poultry farmer. I've verified that yes indeed my roo is doing his job and fertilizing eggs.

I have 1 RIR hen that has been sitting on the nest for 7 straight days now. I have not seen her get off the nest once in those 7 days. Although she might, I don't monitor the chickens too closely. She is in one of the 6 nest boxes I built that is 6 foot off the coop floor. Every time I even get near her she lets me know she doesn't want me there. She puffs up her feathers and makes a evil sound like a velociraptor or something. I did quickly feel underneath her at day 3 and best I could tell she was sitting on 4 eggs. I did this quickly because she put up a fuss and pecked my arm several times. I grabbed three other freshly laid eggs and stuck under her though. So I know she is sitting on a minimum of 7 eggs.

Being a newbie I have a few questions/concerns that I would like to bounce off you guys.

1) I understand from reading here that chicken eggs take a minimum of 21 days to hatch. So I should expect a staggered hatching. My nest boxes are 6 foot off the coop floor. How are the chicks going to get down after they hatch without a death leap to the coop floor. Granted there is a lot of wood chips on the floor becuase I do the deep litter method but still that's a long fall for a chick.

2) I thought about moving the broody hen into a large dog crate, linning the floor of it with hay, making a nest and putting the eggs in there. But honestly she would be a pretty ****** off hen if I did that. So I just decided to leave her be. My question is I've never seen this hen off the nest in 7 days. Does she get off the nest to eat and drink? Surely she must or she would die - am I right? Short of setting up a wireless video camera out there - I may never know.

3) How should I handle the staggered hatch? Should I stick the newly hatched chicks in a brooder as I see them? or should I just let momma do her naturally born instinct thing she does? Again I don't know how the chicks are going to get down out of the nest box that's 6 foot high off the coop floor. Nor do I know what the other 16 hens and roo may do to them, is there a chance they may be pecked to death by the other hens or roo?

Any advise would surely be most appreciated as I'm new to the whole chicken thing.

Thanks for starting this thread

 

[the poppster]

Where did you get your serama eggs?
I would like to hatch some but people tell me they have a very low hatch rate. Anyone with seramas have any thoughts on this? I am wondering if I should get a breeding pair and start that way. 
Marie

EBay....I know I'm a sucker...but I gotta try!

 

[the poppster]

I'm fairly new to the poultry thing although i grow up in a rural area of northern IL where our neighbors had chickens and as a young lad I would help care for them from time to time.

Last spring I ordered 18 RIR 1 day old hens, not the production ones. I lost one in the brooder but 17 made it. This late winter I purchased a young RIR rooster off of Craigslist list from a local poultry farmer. I've verified that yes indeed my roo is doing his job and fertilizing eggs.

I have 1 RIR hen that has been sitting on the nest for 7 straight days now. I have not seen her get off the nest once in those 7 days. Although she might, I don't monitor the chickens too closely. She is in one of the 6 nest boxes I built that is 6 foot off the coop floor. Every time I even get near her she lets me know she doesn't want me there. She puffs up her feathers and makes a evil sound like a velociraptor or something. I did quickly feel underneath her at day 3 and best I could tell she was sitting on 4 eggs. I did this quickly because she put up a fuss and pecked my arm several times. I grabbed three other freshly laid eggs and stuck under her though. So I know she is sitting on a minimum of 7 eggs.

Being a newbie I have a few questions/concerns that I would like to bounce off you guys.

1) I understand from reading here that chicken eggs take a minimum of 21 days to hatch. So I should expect a staggered hatching. My nest boxes are 6 foot off the coop floor. How are the chicks going to get down after they hatch without a death leap to the coop floor. Granted there is a lot of wood chips on the floor becuase I do the deep litter method but still that's a long fall for a chick.

2) I thought about moving the broody hen into a large dog crate, linning the floor of it with hay, making a nest and putting the eggs in there. But honestly she would be a pretty ****** off hen if I did that. So I just decided to leave her be. My question is I've never seen this hen off the nest in 7 days. Does she get off the nest to eat and drink? Surely she must or she would die - am I right? Short of setting up a wireless video camera out there - I may never know.

3) How should I handle the staggered hatch? Should I stick the newly hatched chicks in a brooder as I see them? or should I just let momma do her naturally born instinct thing she does? Again I don't know how the chicks are going to get down out of the nest box that's 6 foot high off the coop floor. Nor do I know what the other 16 hens and roo may do to them, is there a chance they may be pecked to death by the other hens or roo?

Any advise would surely be most appreciated as I'm new to the whole chicken thing.

Thanks for starting this thread

6 ft off the floor...why ever for? Not that they can't get into them obviously...but why so high? With RIRs 2-3 ft would be more than sufficient.
If mom hatches out the chicks and a couple find their way to the floor....she is likely to abandoned the remaining eggs to get to the chicks. And if she stays with the eggs...the chicks probably won't make it. I would move her to the dog kennel with her eggs till they hatch...keep the kennel in the coop if possible...if not close by....so the birds clan hear and see each other. It seems to make the acceptance by the flock go more smoothly. I think They recognise them. A few floor level nest boxes might work.

 

[crealbilly]

6 ft off the floor...why ever for? Not that they can't get into them obviously...but why so high? With RIRs 2-3 ft would be more than sufficient.
If mom hatches out the chicks and a couple find their way to the floor....she is likely to abandoned the remaining eggs to get to the chicks. And if she stays with the eggs...the chicks probably won't make it. I would move her to the dog kennel with her eggs till they hatch...keep the kennel in the coop if possible...if not close by....so the birds clan hear and see each other. It seems to make the acceptance by the flock go more smoothly. I think They recognise them. A few floor level nest boxes might work.

Yep I know 6' is not the ideal height but I had to work with what I had a old cinder block building that I put a new roof on. Rafters soffit, facia and all because the roof had fallen in. I built the nest boxes in the lower portion of the new rafters and facia which is about 8 foot high inside the coop. Hindsight I would have done something differnt for sure.

Here's some pics from last year of the coop and the 6 12x12x12 nest boxes 6 foot off the floor the two turkeys have since been eaten.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1019205/to-many-for-6x8-coop/30

I'm thinking about just extending the nest box she is in by a couple of feet. It wouldn't be hard to do, just a frame out of some 1x4s or 2x2's and cover it with chicken wire and have a small door. Of course I would have to hang it from the rafters and it would be 6' off the coop floor. But I could give her her own personal feed and water and she and her chicks would be separate from the rest of the flock but could still see and hear each other. But most importantly the chicks would not be able to fall out of the 6 foot high nest box and the would be confined. I could take it all down when all the chicks hatch and take the hen and chicks down from the nest box then. What do you think? Good or bad idea?

I guess the ideal coop would have easy to relocate inner walls so you could easly partition it off for just such a time as this...

Thank you for the info.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yep I know 6' is not the ideal height but I had to work with what I had a old cinder block building that I put a new roof on. Rafters soffit, facia and all because the roof had fallen in. I built the nest boxes in the lower portion of the new rafters and facia which is about 8 foot high inside the coop. Hindsight I would have done something differnt for sure.

Here's some pics from last year of the coop and the 6 12x12x12 nest boxes 6 foot off the floor

the two turkeys have since been eaten.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1019205/to-many-for-6x8-coop/30

I'm thinking about just extending the nest box she is in by a couple of feet. It wouldn't be hard to do, just some 1x4s and chicken wire of course I would have to hang it from the rafters and it would be 6' off the coop floor. But I could give her her own personal feed and water and she and her chicks would be separate from the rest of the flock but could still see and hear each other. I could take it all down when all the chicks hatch and take the hen and chicks down from the next box then. What do you think? Good or bad idea?

Thank you for the info.

With your current set up, I'd do the extension and let momma and babies hatch and brood until day 2 or 3, maybe even the first week, then move them all to a better location. Momma will move easily with her babes once they've hatched, and you won't risk her being upset at not being able to be at her chosen nesting spot after the babes hatch.

You also don't want a staggered hatch in this situation. Staggered hatches are hard at any time, but definitely you want to be able to move all babes at the same time.

I'd candle and reset the original 4 which should be a week older than the ones you put in yesterday. You can put the less developed in an incubator or toss as you see fit.

Always set eggs at the same time. Nature allows a day or two natural stagger, but beyond that you create problems for the hen and yourself.

You should have some babes in another couple of weeks.

LofMc

 

[WildHens]

Yep I know 6' is not the ideal height but I had to work with what I had a old cinder block building that I put a new roof on. Rafters soffit, facia and all because the roof had fallen in. I built the nest boxes in the lower portion of the new rafters and facia which is about 8 foot high inside the coop. Hindsight I would have done something differnt for sure.

Here's some pics from last year of the coop and the 6 12x12x12 nest boxes 6 foot off the floor the two turkeys have since been eaten.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1019205/to-many-for-6x8-coop/30

I'm thinking about just extending the nest box she is in by a couple of feet. It wouldn't be hard to do, just some 1x4s and chicken wire of course I would have to hang it from the rafters and it would be 6' off the coop floor. But I could give her her own personal feed and water and she and her chicks would be separate from the rest of the flock but could still see and hear each other. I could take it all down when all the chicks hatch and take the hen and chicks down from the next box then. What do you think? Good or bad idea?

Thank you for the info.

If you could build the add-on elsewhere and then attach without pounding beside her, it would most likely work. If it were me, I'd move her to a crate on the floor of the coop, just for safety..

As for the staggered hatch, 3 days may not be too bad.. my hens usually sit at least 2 or 3 days after the first pip anyways, so there's a good chance she'll hatch them all.

 

[crealbilly]

Lady of McCamley & Wildhens thank you so much for responding. Based on your feedback, I believe I'll run with the extention idea. I will build it outside of the coop and then hang it inside the coop to confine her and hopefully her soon to be chicks. I'll most likely do it this weekend and I'll post some pics when I'm done.

Thanks again

 

[WildHens]

Lady of McCamley & Wildhens thank you so much for responding. Based on your feedback, I believe I'll run with the extention idea. I will build it outside of the coop and then hang it inside the coop to confine her and hopefully her soon to be chicks. I'll most likely do it this weekend and I'll post some pics when I'm done.

Thanks again

Best of luck
Can't wait to see pics ..of the redo and chicks ♡♡