Broody Hen Thread!

[Jharper]

Thanks Jharper for the suggestion.  If I do this, how often should I let her out to feed and do her business?   once a day?  more often/less often?  I've read they'll stay on their eggs for up to a couple of days before taking a break

Once a day should be good, but you might want to get a chick waterer and feeder for her up by the nest you will put her in.

 

[Stephanie739]

My australorp is broody again. She hatches babies, and then a few months later is ready to hatch some more...#4 and she isn't even 2 years old. I love broodies so that is not my problem.

The problem is that she decided to nest in the poop underneath perches in a small temporary coop I had set up for some younger chickens (some were hers from the last hatch). I just realized she was sitting on eggs tonight. The eggs are covered in poop and stink really bad. There are 6. I tried scraping them clean with a dry paper towel without much luck. I decided to candle, hoping they had either just began developing or were not developing at all, but of the 6, 5 look to be at least 2 weeks developed. It was very hard to see life, but that is probably because the eggs are so filthy.

What would you do? I'm already worried that trying to scrape the cleans have damaged the protective coating. I have of course moved mom and eggs to a clean nesting area.


Edited to add: Why on earth would she nest in there? ewww is she crazy or is it because she wanted to be close to the other babies (now about 4 or so months old) .

 

[Runawaylobster]

Here's a great site that describes how she stops her broodies.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search/label/broodiness

thanks i read up on it but i don't have a broody breaker

 

[Stephanie739]

Has anyone had a broody hen that decided to sit on eggs in the poop under perches? ugh...

The picture below is the mini temp coop that she decided to brood in, behind the front wall, right in the poop. Only a few chicks still use this place anymore


. There were 3 in there tonight, right over the broody when I found her.

 

[bobbi-j]

This seems to be a good place to ask this question. I have a hen with four 1-week old babies in a pen separated from the rest of the chickens. It's my broody/nursery pen. I may have another broody that I'd like to put in that same area (it's plenty big for both of them) in a nest box so she can also hatch out some babies. My plan is to keep the current residents in there (they occupy space on the floor, the nest box is a bit off the floor) for awhile longer, and move the broody in there, too. Does anyone else do this? Are there any potential problems I need to be aware of? I've had chickens for a long time, but have never had broodies.

 

[Jharper]

This seems to be a good place to ask this question. I have a hen with four 1-week old babies in a pen separated from the rest of the chickens. It's my broody/nursery pen. I may have another broody that I'd like to put in that same area (it's plenty big for both of them) in a nest box so she can also hatch out some babies. My plan is to keep the current residents in there (they occupy space on the floor, the nest box is a bit off the floor) for awhile longer, and move the broody in there, too. Does anyone else do this? Are there any potential problems I need to be aware of? I've had chickens for a long time, but have never had broodies. 

The hen with the babies will attack the other hen.

 

[Stephanie739]

The hen with the babies will attack the other hen.

It depends on the hen, in my opinion. My regular broody isn't aggressive at all. All she usually does is puff up when other animals get too close to her and the babies. She might jump at a dog who comes close, but I've not seen her offensively attack other chickens.

 

[Jharper]

It depends on the hen, in my opinion. My regular broody isn't aggressive at all. All she usually does is puff up when other animals get too close to her and the babies. She might jump at a dog who comes close, but I've not seen her offensively attack other chickens.

Well it could be vise versa.

 

[Jharper]

I have a RIR broody and she SCREAMS!! She doesn't bite though. That's the funny thing. My Cochin bantam growled and bit.

 

[bobbi-j]

Thanks for your replies. I guess it was a false alarm, anyway. Apparently the hen has decided to just sleep in that particular nest, as she was off it today. My thinking was, she'd be setting in the nest box, getting off for food and water, and the mama and babies will be living on the floor, minding their own business. My concern was when the setting one would take her daily stretch. Oh well, I am hoping for another broody or two sometime this summer, but it will be better if the current ones grow up a bit first.