Broody Hen Thread!

[RubyNala97]

Do I understand you to mean that your hen is continuing to sit to hatch rather than rising to raise the chicks?

By, what, day 6 now? Yes, she should be up and leading the chicks to water and teaching them to scratch and be chickens. 

She might be doing that when you are not looking, but it would concern me as well that these chicks are not thriving like the ones in the incubator/brooder.

I suspicion disease...either coccidiosis or bacterial. The coop is hardly sterile, and neither is your indoor brooder, but it would may be more so. Something may have taken hold in the chicks with momma if these are full siblings to the ones in the brooder. (If you've got different breeds/strains there may be other factors).

I would put the broody chicks on something like Sulmet which addresses both the major bacterial infections typical at hatch (eColi, Salmonella) as well as Coccidiosis. 

If momma is hesitant to get up because they are unthrifty, this may address that. Otherwise, momma is not shifting into raising mode, and you may need to intervene by taking the chicks to brood them yourself.

Occasionally a hen will fail to shift into raising mode and not take care of the chicks. However, if you placed started fertile eggs under her before she had fully set  (ie started them in the incubator then gave them to the hen), if you interrupted the time schedule, then the hen will frequently want to continue to sit as her time clock tells her she should be setting and not raising. Not too many foster broody mommas will finish a started clutch and respond properly if the time clock has been shifted by more than a few days.

My thoughts
LofMc

Thank you for your response. I did take the chicks away and move them to an indoor brooder with the chicks I hatched. 2 of them are doing great! But I'm a little concerned with the smallest one. He is so tiny and not as active. After I cleaned the brooder I put him back in alone for a little bit and he took advantage of the opportunity to drink and eat. So I was happy about that.

You are correct with what you were thinking. Initially I had a pullet sitting on this batch of eggs for about 12 days. Then 2 other girls decided to get into the nest with her. So at one point their were 3 girls sitting on these eggs together. The original sitter decided she had enough and quit being broody. Then 1 of the girls decided she wanted her own nest and she left to go sit in a different box. This left this one pullet on the nest for the last week of incubation and hatch. So her clock most definitely could have been off. She only sat on them for a little over 1 week. She was not switching to raising mode, just sitting on the chicks whenever I watched her. I put her back in the coop and run and she went right for food and water and mixed back into the flock. I've got 2 more girls sitting on 2 seperate nests, so I'm sure you guys will hear from me again!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Thank you for your response. I did take the chicks away and move them to an indoor brooder with the chicks I hatched. 2 of them are doing great! But I'm a little concerned with the smallest one. He is so tiny and not as active. After I cleaned the brooder I put him back in alone for a little bit and he took advantage of the opportunity to drink and eat. So I was happy about that.

You are correct with what you were thinking. Initially I had a pullet sitting on this batch of eggs for about 12 days. Then 2 other girls decided to get into the nest with her. So at one point their were 3 girls sitting on these eggs together. The original sitter decided she had enough and quit being broody. Then 1 of the girls decided she wanted her own nest and she left to go sit in a different box. This left this one pullet on the nest for the last week of incubation and hatch. So her clock most definitely could have been off. She only sat on them for a little over 1 week. She was not switching to raising mode, just sitting on the chicks whenever I watched her. I put her back in the coop and run and she went right for food and water and mixed back into the flock. I've got 2 more girls sitting on 2 seperate nests, so I'm sure you guys will hear from me again!

Okay...what happened with this hatch, and the reason the hen brooded chicks are smaller, is that the eggs were continually getting cooler with the hen trade off. Temperature changes can dramatically affect the viability and growth rate of the embryos.

I'm glad you've got segregated hens this time. That should make the hatches go much smoother and the chick development better. Many less dominant hens are easily forced off a nest even though they would brood well if left alone. They just aren't high enough in the pecking order to stand up to some more dominant girls....even with hormones.

I look forward to hearing more about your current broods soon....and how all these chicks are doing as well.
LofMc

 

[sharol]

Quote:
You are probably right. It was probably more location than it was friends. I'm just attributing human feelings to my birds. Whatever the case, they firmly reject moving until those eggs are close to hatch.

 

[10AcreChick]

Eggcitement!!!!

I candles three of the twelve eggs my Australorp is sitting on (day 5) last night. All three of them had veining and air cells! I will candle all of them on Sunday and get rid of the clear ones, but I am so elated!!!

She seems very content. Pecked me a little when I reached under her, but not very meanly. Just halfheartedly, like "What, what? I don't think you are supposed to be doing that, ma'am!" Now I am going to have to get my incubator set up early just in case something happens! DH is going to be so happy!

Chicken math rules!

 

[PD-Riverman]

I'm at the 'when you want them to go broody they won't and when you don't want them to they will' stage with my hens, but I tell y'all that when one of my girls does go broody again I will be following PD Rivermans advice on brooding and I will separate my broody hen from the others. Taking the chance of other hen's donating eggs to my broody's cause causes too many problems, as I learned with my last hatch. In fact my new coop and laying boxes will incorporate a broody box and pen into their design.

See, Master, the Grasshopper has learned, LOL.

I do what works for me----When I can move 150 hens in the last 3 years and all 150 stay on the nest and all 150 hatch about every fertile egg I have under them-----My Set-up Is Working For Me. If it does not work for you/others, then I would ask did you follow my instructions to the T?? If you did----do a change so your set-up works For you and your hens. Setting hens and incubators should be Fun---Not stress you out because of problems----I am Going to say something here----I am Not Here on this Sight To brag-----I am here to try and help anyone that needs help---I Love helping others and I do Wish each and everyone of you the best hatches---hen or incubator!!

 

[nchls school]

I do what works for me----When I can move 150 hens in the last 3 years and all 150 stay on the nest and all 150 hatch about every fertile egg I have under them-----My Set-up Is Working For Me. If it does not work for you/others, then I would ask did you follow my instructions to the T?? If you did----do a change so your set-up works For you and your hens. Setting hens and incubators should be Fun---Not stress you out because of problems----I am Going to say something here----I am Not Here on this Sight To brag-----I am here to try and help anyone that needs help---I Love helping others and I do Wish each and everyone of you the best hatches---hen or incubator!!

X 2.

 

[slordaz]

If I understand you correctly, you've got a Leghorn sitting on a nest of her eggs, then you have 2 other nests that have eggs left in them (hoping for a broody I presume), but there is always a different hen sitting on them?

Hens will instinctively want to lay where others have laid before, which comes from natural instinct to add to the flock's clutch. Once the clutch is big enough, the broody type will be triggered to begin to brood. (There is a pressure point on the breast that releases hormones to brood once enough pressure is applied...ie a certain size of clutch).

That's why leaving fake eggs in the nest can help hens lay where they are supposed to, and letting a clutch develop can entice broody types to sit.

If you don't want hens trying to lay on these 2 nests, take the eggs up.

If you are trying to entice a hen from your flock to brood, you may just have to wait and see if your flock is composed of breeds such as the Leghorn, If that is a commercial hatchery stock, you may have a very long wait. It is very, very, unusual for a hatchery quality Leghorn (or other commercial layer types such as Production Reds) to ever want to brood. They will very occasionally do it, but that is rare as you are fighting against years of genetic selection to obtain high egg production (ie not brooding).

If that is not what you are asking, please post again.

LofMc

I have 9 trying to brood on 2 nests ,1 leghorn that is sitting her eggs and tries to tear anybody up that even thinks about getting around her. Nobody is adding more eggs to the nests just keep changing which hen is sitting on the 2 at any given time,
2 Leghorns, 4buff orpingtons,3 ameracuana and 2 black sexlinks are from a breeder , 4barred rock and 1 ameracuana are hatchery

They are getting along ok for now but gonna need to figure something out so only have 1 hen on each nest not changing they do kick each other out after awhile and can't tell whose eggs they really were.

gonna try putting mesh on entrance and dividers on box , last time we only had 1 broody, but that seems to have triggered all but 3

 

[slordaz]

I got a question------what do they do or what makes you feel the broodies do not like to be separated from the others?

tried moving them at night with their nest and they got off them and went right back to the coop and left the eggs but started sitting again on eggs in the box in coop

 

[PD-Riverman]

tried moving them at night with their nest and they got off them and went right back to the coop and left the eggs but started sitting again on eggs in the box in coop

OK, did you try this with other hens at a later date? If so did they do the same thing?

 

[slordaz]

OK, did you try this with other hens at a later date? If so did they do the same thing?

Tried it a second time 3 days later and the hen smashed everyone of the eggs then went right back to sitting on eggs in the box inside the coop