Broody Hen Thread!

[chickenoverlord]

I have four hens that are ETERNALLY broody. I gave one a bunch of eggs a few days ago (14+ eggs) and she is sitting tight! Yaaaaay!

 

[kukupecpec]

So one of the eggs hatched under my broody! She has 7 more.
She is in the nest box in the run with the other chickens. Is there anything I need to do?
She is in the top right blue box - these pix are just so you can see the coop.
I'm worried about the chicks getting through the chain link, and of course the rooster and other hens picking on the babies or taking out momma if she protects them.
Do I need to separate them? I have another small coop and run I can put them in, but they will be in there with some other young chicks (4-8weeks of age)

 

[chickenoverlord]

She needs moved to a nesting area that chicks can get in and out of without too much trouble. It should be safe to put them in with the other chicks, as long as they have their momma to protect them, but avoid tha situation if possible. DO NOT leave them in with the other grown chickens, and don't move anything until all th babies have hatched and dried.

 

[Ginger Assassin]

So one of the eggs hatched under my broody! She has 7 more. She is in the nest box in the run with the other chickens. Is there anything I need to do? She is in the top right blue box - these pix are just so you can see the coop. I'm worried about the chicks getting through the chain link, and of course the rooster and other hens picking on the babies or taking out momma if she protects them. Do I need to separate them? I have another small coop and run I can put them in, but they will be in there with some other young chicks (4-8weeks of age)

i would because our little baby chicks got pecked to death within an hour.

 

[TXchickmum]

-would move them as well. My little bantam broody and her new chick were in a separate area with just one other broody bantam hen. They did well for two weeks, and then the broody without a chick came off the nest briefly and severely pecked the mama hen's chick. It survived, but has been moved indoors with the mama in order to heal. -won't be placing them back in their coop/run area for several weeks.

 

[emmanoz]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I have a problem that I hope someone can help me with. I have a broody silkie sitting on 3 eggs, it's both her and my first time hatching this way. she is still in with the flock and has been totally devoted, however when I lifted her off for her morning constitutional today I found that 1 of the eggs had hatched and she had squashed the chick, she also had lots of blood around her beak as if she had been trying to help. Is there anything I can do to help with the remaining eggs? I also have eggs pipping in the incubator today, should I move the 2 remaining eggs to the bator or leave her to it and cross my fingers? I was also planning to move her to a separate run with her chicks (if any hatch) Is she likely to accept the chicks from the bator too? As I said I am a total novice with broody hens and she is also a novice, although a totally devoted one, so any advice would be really helpful![/FONT]

 

[kukupecpec]

thanks everyone for the help! Here is the small Brooder that we built for some other chicks that has outgrown it, do you think this will work? I put her in it for now just to be safe but if you guys think this won't work then please let me know so I can get her into a proper place.

 

[Jharper]

thanks everyone for the help! Here is the small Brooder that we built for some other chicks that has outgrown it, do you think this will work? I put her in it for now just to be safe but if you guys think this won't work then please let me know so I can get her into a proper place.

Perfect!

 

[Onyx9370]

So are layers liable to go broody at any time? My pullets haven't even started laying yet, but I ended up with 3 roos so I thought that once they are laying if anyone went broody I would let them have a go with some eggs. Do younger pullets tend to go broody or just the bit older gals?

 

[chickenoverlord]

thanks everyone for the help! Here is the small Brooder that we built for some other chicks that has outgrown it, do you think this will work? I put her in it for now just to be safe but if you guys think this won't work then please let me know so I can get her into a proper place.

they need to be lower down,so that the hen can take them out of the nest. Also, you need chick feed and a watere that is easily accessible to the mother and babies. I woud reccomend fencing a small space for them.

So are layers liable to go broody at any time? My pullets haven't even started laying yet, but I ended up with 3 roos so I thought that once they are laying if anyone went broody I would let them have a go with some eggs. Do younger pullets tend to go broody or just the bit older gals?

it has little to do with age, and everything to do with breed. Some breeds are mor broody than others. Name a breed, ill tell if it's proe to go broody.