Broody Hen Thread!

[Jenneh85]

Thank you Barbara;

Yes you are correct about her eggs, they seem to be a tad miss-shaped and thin, I feed my gals scraps when I have them and premium chicken feed from the feed store 2 1/2 scoops of everything for them, more corn now because of the winter. Boredom may be the culprit as they are in a run and don't get the total free range due to too many predators around where I love and I do not have a rooster nor do I want one.

I have two buff orpington and she is is the only one that went broody out of the two, its been 2 days now and she hasn't laid a egg, but the other buff orpington shells are just as thin, I collected egglingtons egg and it had a crack in it but not like she was trying to get to the middle, the blue layers eggs are a bit more tougher, and my only RIR has a stronger egg then the buffs, what could be causing this in just the buffs?

what food would you recommend for higher protein an calcium?? they do get oyster shell but i would like to refrain from giving them any egg shells.

 

[Jenneh85]

Here are a couple suggestions. The eggs could be thin shelled and getting broken, or at least that may have gotten her started eating them. Put some crushed oyster shells in your feed to make sure the egg shells are not too thin. I feed fermented feed an throw a little bit of oyster shells in when I mix the feed. My chickens have access to a pan of oyster shells, but they just don't eat enough of it. I have thin shelled egg problems, if I don't add crushed shells to the feed even though the feed has around 4% calcium..

Also, buy some nest eggs, if you don't already have some. Put a few in some of the nests and a few on the floor. Tractor Supply sells ceramic nest eggs that look like the real thing. The hen may get tired of trying open the ceramic ones and pecking eggs all together.

I do have some ceramic eggs, and she tends to hoard them and lay on them and prevent the other gals from laying. So i have 6 nesting boxes for 11 chickens, I am starting to think that all the commotion of this past rains of me moving stuff around on them to let the goats in has made her stressed out.

I have yet to build a goat hut for my 3 does for the rains, I have to stop putting them in on the kennel side that the chickens run around in during the day.

Its a two sided kennel built for the chickens originally but after Arizona rains, I had to convert half of it to a temp hut for the goats.

I will get down and dirty today and build a hut for the does, that way I can make a play pen for the chickens to curb this "boredom" I don't want my gals unhappy and to start eating my rainbow eggs.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

Hey guys I have an emergency.. My mama hen left all her 1 week old babys out in the cold. 3 died and the rest are laying down shivering and chirping. Ibe brought them in the house under the heat lamp. Is there anything else I can do for them?

 

[Jenneh85]

Hey guys I have an emergency.. My mama hen left all her 1 week old babys out in the cold. 3 died and the rest are laying down shivering and chirping. Ibe brought them in the house under the heat lamp. Is there anything else I can do for them?

for now I guess keep them under a heat lamp with some wood shavings to help keep them warm, and give them water and chicken feed, I don't know why the mama hen would just up and leave her brood. More experienced people are on here. Thats what I would do though.

 

[jenniferlamar70]

for now I guess keep them under a heat lamp with some wood shavings to help keep them warm, and give them water and chicken feed, I don't know why the mama hen would just up and leave her brood. More experienced people are on here. Thats what I would do though.

Thanks so far I have them snuggled in a straw bed in the house under the brooder light. I tried giving them nutridrench. She has been a great mama until now.

 

[Jenneh85]

Thanks so far I have them snuggled in a straw bed in the house under the brooder light. I tried giving them nutridrench. She has been a great mama until now.

I am sorry you lost 3, I found some other links you can click on to try and find out what to do.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/307958/mom-hen-abandoned-her-chick-this-is-getting-crazier


https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/348735/mother-hen-abandoning-chicks-at-night-need-help-asap


Hope this helps more. I do find it strange that a hen would just leave her brood if her chicks were too young to be left.

 

[the poppster]

Was it her first brood? I had a black jersey giant hen, who was a great broody hen...till the chicks were about the same age, then she basically ignored them...she didn't tidbit them...if you put some treats into her tractor with them...she would just run over and chow down...not Momma hen behavior...she only stuck with the chicks, because she couldn't get back to the flock...she kept the chicks warm at night because she slept in the nest area of the tractor...she wasn't aggressive to the chicks, she was just uninterested in them...poor babies wandered around confused...about a week later I decided to clean and replace the bedding, I usually do it at least once a week...well to my surprise I found 8 eggs in the nest box...so her broodyness must have broke about a week after the chicks hatched...it explained her behavior...but I don't know why it happened...I hope the babies make it...so sorry about the little ones that didn't make it...sometimes mother nature doesn't seem very motherly.

 

[16 paws]

Hey guys I have an emergency.. My mama hen left all her 1 week old babys out in the cold. 3 died and the rest are laying down shivering and chirping. Ibe brought them in the house under the heat lamp. Is there anything else I can do for them?

I would raise them with a mama heat pad brooder. It works great. Just do a search on this site to check it out.
I raised my blind chick up with it.
Good luck to your littles...
Marie

 

[lpyrbby]

Question. I've come here before with suspected broodies that never panned out lol. I have a new possibility with, of all hens, my EE. She's quit laying and has been pretty adamant about staying in the nest box, much more than the others did. It also seems shes good at keeping the others from laying in the box with her. She's not soiling the nest box overnight either and in the dark hours, will puff up but not try to bite or defend.

In daylight hours though, she's easily scared off the nest. If we open the nest box lid to collect eggs, she high tails it out of there. If I go in the coop and she thinks I'm coming to the box she's in, she high tails it out of there. She's normally a flighty bird so I'm not all that surprised, but I guess I figured she'd get into the groove if she were *really* broody. Anyone ever have a hen like this?

 

[nchls school]

Question. I've come here before with suspected broodies that never panned out lol. I have a new possibility with, of all hens, my EE. She's quit laying and has been pretty adamant about staying in the nest box, much more than the others did. It also seems shes good at keeping the others from laying in the box with her. She's not soiling the nest box overnight either and in the dark hours, will puff up but not try to bite or defend.

In daylight hours though, she's easily scared off the nest. If we open the nest box lid to collect eggs, she high tails it out of there. If I go in the coop and she thinks I'm coming to the box she's in, she high tails it out of there. She's normally a flighty bird so I'm not all that surprised, but I guess I figured she'd get into the groove if she were *really* broody. Anyone ever have a hen like this?

Yes. One of my serama was similar. With time she stopped rushing from the nest but still acted skittish and afraid. Her eggs are hatching today. I have given them to another, more stable, hen to finish hatching and raise.