Broody Hen Thread!

[chickluvinfreak]

If she is in the coop with other hens it maybethem who are plucking at her tail...it isn't unusual for non-broody hens to pull on broody hen's feathers to try to get them off of the nest so they can lay their egg. If she happened to be in the box in a position that put her tail in reach then that could have gotten the plucking.
Molting is also a viable explanation, I have had hens molt while brooding...

Thank you for your help. She is second to top of the pecking order so im not sure if any chickens would have bothered her. But it is possible since she doesn't move for anything when shes broody. I have a feeling she may be molting. Her overall appearance has just been raggedy looking. Thanks again

 

[hmbelk]

I have an Australorp sitting on 4 eggs which are due to hatch tomorrow. The evening while in the coop I heard peeping from one chick so I'm not sure if it has already hatched or not. Here's my concerns:

The nest box is 4 ft off the ground. I'm wondering if I just wait until they all hatch and then move them? Hoping that no one will fall out before then.

Also my Australorp is 2nd in command and I'm wondering if she w/ her chicks should be separated from the flock. It's been several years since we had a hen w/ chicks and those chickens were all free range so it wasn't an issue. With this group I have a coop that everyone goes in at night and I shut the door once everyone is up. I open the door back up in the mornings for them to come and go as they please. In all I have 5 laying hens and 1 roo.

I'm leaning towards letting her & the chicks stay w/ the flock unless I see they're being threatened by the others.

I'm really curious what the chicks will end up looking like. Not real sure which eggs she's on but my laying hens are: buff orpington, the australorp, and two buff/australorp mixes, as well as a speckled sussex. My roo is a splash laced red wyandotte. lol (As you can tell I picked out my flock based on what I thought was pretty. They're my yard decorations.)

 

[nchls school]

I have an Australorp sitting on 4 eggs which are due to hatch tomorrow. The evening while in the coop I heard peeping from one chick so I'm not sure if it has already hatched or not. Here's my concerns:

The nest box is 4 ft off the ground. I'm wondering if I just wait until they all hatch and then move them? Hoping that no one will fall out before then. Waiting for all the eggs to hatch is the best option, however, oftentimes some eggs hatch later than the first. Once a couple chicks have hatched the nest can be moved to ground level. If eggs are hatching much later, you can leave the hen in her original nest, pull the hatched chicks, and return them to the hen when all the eggs have hatched. Pulling hatched chicks will induce the hen to continue brooding the eggs that are left to hatch.

Also my Australorp is 2nd in command and I'm wondering if she w/ her chicks should be separated from the flock. It's been several years since we had a hen w/ chicks and those chickens were all free range so it wasn't an issue. With this group I have a coop that everyone goes in at night and I shut the door once everyone is up. I open the door back up in the mornings for them to come and go as they please. In all I have 5 laying hens and 1 roo.

I'm leaning towards letting her & the chicks stay w/ the flock unless I see they're being threatened by the others. Yes.

I'm really curious what the chicks will end up looking like. Not real sure which eggs she's on but my laying hens are: buff orpington, the australorp, and two buff/australorp mixes, as well as a speckled sussex. My roo is a splash laced red wyandotte. lol (As you can tell I picked out my flock based on what I thought was pretty. They're my yard decorations.)

 

[hmbelk]

nchls school -
Thank you for answering. So far I know I have one hatched out. I got a peep today of the chick. It resembles a speckled sussex chick to me. I looked up pics of chicks from all the different breeds I have. I haven't gotten a picture yet but plan to later today. Most likely I'll pull whatever chicks are hatched to encourage her to finish setting those that haven't yet hatched. Thank you for the suggestion.

Now just to work up the courage to mess w/ her. lol She's one protective mama (which I know is a good thing).

 

[nchls school]

nchls school -
Thank you for answering. So far I know I have one hatched out. I got a peep today of the chick. It resembles a speckled sussex chick to me. I looked up pics of chicks from all the different breeds I have. I haven't gotten a picture yet but plan to later today. Most likely I'll pull whatever chicks are hatched to encourage her to finish setting those that haven't yet hatched. Thank you for the suggestion.

Now just to work up the courage to mess w/ her. lol She's one protective mama (which I know is a good thing).

You're welcome and good luck.

 

[Selsley]

I have an Australorp sitting on 4 eggs which are due to hatch tomorrow. The evening while in the coop I heard peeping from one chick so I'm not sure if it has already hatched or not. Here's my concerns:

The nest box is 4 ft off the ground. I'm wondering if I just wait until they all hatch and then move them? Hoping that no one will fall out before then.

Also my Australorp is 2nd in command and I'm wondering if she w/ her chicks should be separated from the flock. It's been several years since we had a hen w/ chicks and those chickens were all free range so it wasn't an issue. With this group I have a coop that everyone goes in at night and I shut the door once everyone is up. I open the door back up in the mornings for them to come and go as they please. In all I have 5 laying hens and 1 roo.

I'm leaning towards letting her & the chicks stay w/ the flock unless I see they're being threatened by the others.

I'm really curious what the chicks will end up looking like. Not real sure which eggs she's on but my laying hens are: buff orpington, the australorp, and two buff/australorp mixes, as well as a speckled sussex. My roo is a splash laced red wyandotte. lol (As you can tell I picked out my flock based on what I thought was pretty. They're my yard decorations.)

we moved our hen just after she started sitting, we had a few problems with her returning to her original empty nest so we imprisoned her and gave her an hr a day in the yard till we knew she was returning to the nest below. the flock had access to the chicks on day one, but didnt take a look till day 4, by then they were running in the coop digging up the floor and chasing flies,
they 1st ventured outside at a week old, twice, at 8 days they were in and out all day at 10 days they are out with mum all day,

1 chick hatched 1 day after the 1st 5, so wasnt a problem as it was strong enough to walk when the rest left the nest, and mum was in most of the time on day 3, on day 4 our final egg hatched/
so when mum was teaching them to chase flies in the coop she was getting neglected in the nest, she finallly died due to injury, i think she got walked on once too often, this was coz mum and chicks, were in and out the nest feeding and digging in the coop, your hen may not spend more than 3 days sitting before she starts leaving the nest, any chicks hatching 3 days after the 1st could be vunrable. to harm or neglect as her main priority will be teaching the chicks to feed,

we havent been keeping chickens long but we have 4 different hens a trio of araucana and a pair of frizzy bantams, our hen sat on 1 egg from our buff orpington coz she was our best layer, 1 egg from our brown araucana coz i suspect shes a cross ( clean faced and rumpless and her comb seems a bit long) and 4 eggs from our black araucana who seems to fit all the boxes for the french breed, so hopefully after christmas our blue egg production should increase, im hoping the araucana orpington EE will lay pale green eggs if not im hoping they will be decent sized, our brown araucana has a hit of green, but our black is all blue eggs,

the broody used to puff up and squark early in the set, but after leaning in changing her food and water daily she got used to me being there, a lot,
and i was allowed to take the chicks out at a few hrs old before they fully fluffed and could lift their heads, and apart from her keeping an eye on me, she seemed happy to do so, at 2 days old when she was teaching them what food was, we put in a waterer and feeder with chick feed, i saw her "chewing" her own food and dropping it in the nest and pecked at it spurrning the chicks to come out from under her and start pecking, this is when i put some feed in my hand, she looked at it for a while then took some, then the second time she took some the 5 older chicks jumped in my hand and started to feed, i was stoked, the younger chick was still under mum keeping warm. the youngest was our only black like her mum, the rest were chipmonk except the EE which looks, as of today 17 days, to be white





the cream EE from our orpington, the one at the back is from our brown araucana (has a lighter head),
the other 4 are siblings from our black araucana, daddy is on my avatar, they are 8 days old here

 

[hmbelk]

Well I went out to the coop and the 1 chick that's hatched was not underneath mom. This worried me bc the other chickens nest in the nest box. Truthfully we haven't yet finished the nesting area and it really isn't sectioned off yet. So I brought the one chick inside and was able to get a couple of pics. Three more eggs under her and I'm hoping they will hatch! I plan to move her nest to the ground (and return any babies that have hatched) after I give the other eggs a couple more days to hatch.

 

[staceydanny]

Hi We have just been out to our broody barred rock on day 22 and we have CHICKS!!! We don't no how many she has hatched yet but we heard them and saw a bit of broken egg shell We have 3 hens altogether and have left her to sit on her eggs with the rest of the flock they haven't been bothered by it and don't try to get in her nest box with her they have just left her alone and carried on doing what they always do only going up if they need to lay. We are slightly confused about moving her and the chicks into a separate area or just leaving them all where they are and changing there feed to chick feed and a little ramp from the nest box to the floor where there is sawdust and then there is a big ramp all the way down to outside floor. Would we need to put a little barrier across that to stop the chicks going out but low enough for the hens to get in and out to lay? thank you very exciting!!!

 

[the poppster]

Hi We have just been out to our broody barred rock on day 22 and we have CHICKS!!! We don't no how many she has hatched yet but we heard them and saw a bit of broken egg shell We have 3 hens altogether and have left her to sit on her eggs with the rest of the flock they haven't been bothered by it and don't try to get in her nest box with her they have just left her alone and carried on doing what they always do only going up if they need to lay. We are slightly confused about moving her and the chicks into a separate area or just leaving them all where they are and changing there feed to chick feed and a little ramp from the nest box to the floor where there is sawdust and then there is a big ramp all the way down to outside floor. Would we need to put a little barrier across that to stop the chicks going out but low enough for the hens to get in and out to lay? thank you very exciting!!!

if they have been getting along just fine....the broody is probably the boss hen in the flock....that's why the others don't bother her....as long as the chicks can get in and out following mom, they shouldn't have any problem with the rest of the flock. She will protect them from the other birds....and if there is a nice quite corner in the coop....Mom might just settle down and let the chicks nest in her feathers. I don't think you have to move them....just watch them interact with the other birds....if there looks like they are having a problem...you can move them....if not I'd let them be. Good luck! And hope all goes well!

 

[Selsley]

Hi We have just been out to our broody barred rock on day 22 and we have CHICKS!!! We don't no how many she has hatched yet but we heard them and saw a bit of broken egg shell We have 3 hens altogether and have left her to sit on her eggs with the rest of the flock they haven't been bothered by it and don't try to get in her nest box with her they have just left her alone and carried on doing what they always do only going up if they need to lay. We are slightly confused about moving her and the chicks into a separate area or just leaving them all where they are and changing there feed to chick feed and a little ramp from the nest box to the floor where there is sawdust and then there is a big ramp all the way down to outside floor. Would we need to put a little barrier across that to stop the chicks going out but low enough for the hens to get in and out to lay? thank you very exciting!!!

we set aside an area for the goose under our 3 nests when we built the coop in the corner of our shed, we put our broody down there as the goose refuses to sleep inside.
we had to block her in in the first week to make sure she returned to that nest and not to her high original nest. we gave her outside access once a day where she was monitored, and when she finally returned to her eggs on her own, the barrier was removed. the hens didnt come to see the chicks till they started digging and running about the coop floor on day 4.
on day 7 they were introduced to the cock outside where they spent 2x15 minute periods, before that they had stood in the hatchway looking out. the next day they were in and out all day,
on day 9 they went out in the morning and didnt come in till dusk, they have been out all day ever since, at 3 weeks today, they are always within a short distance of mum, but they are now doing their own thing, which makes it a bit harder to track them, as some will be in the corner digging 2 will be climbing over and in a pile of old branches and some will be in the compost heap,
i dont think yours will go outside until mum thinks they are ready, we have no floor and have a deep pile of wood mulch which they dug big holes in in our coop, so they had things to learn in the coop before going outside, they are only getting the odd "hop it!" peck outside but i have seen they fighting themselves, so im assuming they are getting put and finding their pecking order.

we are not experienced keepers, so we let nature teach us.