Broody Hen Thread!

[Chookin gooood]

She probably smells as broody poos are smelly!!! Its strange, i had one that did that but only to lay her egg! I'm sure if she was hurting her or annoying her she would of moved by now......

 

[Biginner]

Okay, so will they will be protected from the other chickens by her? Or will the other chickens not even bother with the chicks?

most likely the other chickens will leave the chicks alone. and the hen will protect them.

i'm saying most likely because there might be some freek of nature thing happen where the mom will reject the chick. but I've never seen that happen personally. I've had hens hatch and raise ducklings with no problem.

 

[Biginner]

i HAD , HAVE A COCHIN WHO HAS GONE BROODY, WELL SHE ABANDON THE EGGS AND MOVED TO ANOTHER NEST. SO I MOVED HER EGGS BACK UNDER HER IN THE NEW NEST. WELL SHE MOVED BACK TO HER ORIGINAL NEST AND NOW HAS BEEN JOINED IN THE SAME NEST BY ANOTHER CHICKEN WHO SITS ON TOP OF HER?!! WHAT DO i DO ABOUT THAT! I CANT SEPARATE THEM, THEY KEEP GOING INTO THE SAME NEST TOGETHER.. AND THE ONE COCHIN SHE STINKS.. BUT NOTHING LOOKS ABNORMAL IN HER VENT AREA AND THE ONE THAT HAS STARTED SITTING ON TOP OF HER LOOKS OK TOO... WEIRD.

I've had hens double, even triple up and sit on the same clutch at one time. right now 1 hen is raising chicks and adopting the others that hatch while the other is still sitting.

if you look carefully you can see all 3 of them in the box

 

[cwcochran1961]

WELL THE THING IS THERE ARE NO EGGS IN THERE.. NEITHER OF THEM HAS LAID ANY. I DONT KNOW. IM NOT GONNA WORRY ABOUT IT, THEY WILL FIGURE IT OUT ON THEIR OWN. LIKE YOU SAID IF THE ONE ON TOP WAS BOTHERING THE ONE ON THE BOTTOM I'M SURE SHE WOULD GET HER OFF OF HER. SOME ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED OVER THE LAST YEAR IS THAT CHICKENS ARE A LOT SMARTER THAN PEOPLE( NON CHICKEN OWNERS) BELIEVE.. THEY AMAZE ME EVERYDAY. THINKING ABOUT GIVING HER A BATH IF SHE EVER COMES OUT OF THIS.. MAN SHE STINKS SO BAD. THEY DO LOOK KINDA CUTE IN THERE TOGETHER.

 

[Carin]

Runawaylobster
I usually give the broody a few eggs - not more than 8 and then I put more eggs in the incubator. At the moment my one hen has 14 chicks- she hatched 5 and I had the rest in the incubator. They hatched almost a week after her chicks. She accepted all of them. She is a Brahma and that may play a role and this special hen will accept any chick. I did this many times before with different Brahma hens and never had a problem although I think the limit in age difference is a week. A bigger age difference and the babies cannot keep up.

 

[AVintageLife]

One thing I've learned about chickens, they will always surprise you! And one of the great things about EEs, and the most frustrating, is that you really don't know what their genetic makeup is. They are mutts, crosses with all sorts of breeds, and any one of those could have been a breed known for going broody.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I LOVE my EE!

I love my EE too they are SO much fun.

 

[cluck-cluck]

cwcochran1961, I had another hen insisting on laying her egg with the broody every day, so if the eggs weren't distinctive (which mine were) I would mark the ones the broody is on (with a permanent marker as pencil will rub off) so that you can collect the fresh eggs every day. You don't want the broody to not have enough room to keep them all warm, then loose the ones she was originally setting to the cold.

I have a blue laced wyandotte that is broody. Can i put day old chicks under her at night and when she wakes up with them will she claim them as her own?

I think so, has she committed to setting for a while already (like a week?)

So can I purchase fertile eggs and my hens will sit on them until they hatch? I'm assuming "broody" means they want to sit on eggs for babies? I'm still learning and eagerly awaiting any info I can get to make it easier to add more to my flock.

Yes, just make sure she is committed first, try throwing her off the nest a few times over a couple of days, if she remains, you'll probably have a committed bird. You don't have to do this, but if you're worried and want to be sure...?

So sorry to hear that. How many days was she setting before she gave up? I'm so nervous about my EE Zelda, keeping fingers crossed she will go the distance ( is at Day 7 on fertile eggs but actually Day 12 if you count the five days on golf balls while I searched for the eggs). I didn't think EE's were inclined to go broody so I was surprised but she seems stuck tight to the nest. I'll be so sad if she doesn't make it, I'm already making plans for the chicks in my head.

She'll probably keep going, mine did. And mine was a white leghorn! LOL

Okay, so will they will be protected from the other chickens by her? Or will the other chickens not even bother with the chicks?

I am inexperienced as well, and my broody was the top of the pecking order, so I've had no problems. I guess if your girl is not at the bottom of the pecking order, I wouldn't worry, but if she was the bottom, I dunno.... I'd observe her and she how "stron" she is being when the others come around in that case. In my case, none of the girls even got close the whole time she was brooding. They came close-ish, and Henny Penny made the slightest noise, and they scampered away! They still do, with the babies running around.

Runawaylobster
I usually give the broody a few eggs - not more than 8 and then I put more eggs in the incubator. At the moment my one hen has 14 chicks- she hatched 5 and I had the rest in the incubator. They hatched almost a week after her chicks. She accepted all of them. She is a Brahma and that may play a role and this special hen will accept any chick. I did this many times before with different Brahma hens and never had a problem although I think the limit in age difference is a week. A bigger age difference and the babies cannot keep up.

Well, that answers my question... I have about another week to go with my incubator eggs, and the others hatched this week, so I'm guessing it's too much of an age difference to mix 'em up. What a bummer... LOL

 

[cjhixon]

I have a RIR or similar that is broody. She has no eggs. I've tried to convince her to give up several times but she is sitting and won't move. It is pretty sad. I'd like to find her some eggs locally to sit on. Nothing sadder than a broody hen with no eggs! My other hens have stopped laying, or they are hiding their eggs. Seems to happen any time there is a broody hen in the house.

 

[cluck-cluck]

Do you have a Trader Joe's nearby? They sell fertile eggs, and if you buy them fresh enough (check the Julian date on the carton, not expiration date) and get some that are less than 10 days old if possible, let them come up to room temperature and let her hatch some leghorns!

Make sure they say fertile on them!

 

[CSWolffe]

Have you looked into ordering some from this site? I ordered some on a friday, a few days after my hen started brooding, and they arrived on monday. A little more expensive than Trader Joe's fertilized eggs, but you get to pick your breeds, instead of getting White Leghorns.