Broody Hen Thread!

[Joeyg119]

I have two grey-ish Brahmas, does anyone know if they tend to go broody and with it being almost end of July in N.E. Ohio is it too late for them and the potential peeps? also IF she does, do I separate her from the rest of my hens?

 

[sharol]

I'm new at this too. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on trying to decide how to handle my BO and her chicks . once they hatch. There seem to be two distinct schools of thought on the issue.

1. Protect the babies at all costs. Isolate the hen and her eggs to keep them safe from the rest of the flock.

The downside of this is (as I see it), hens are quite social creatures, and isolating them would be like putting a pregnant woman in isolation for the duration of her pregnancy and the infancy of the child -- and we all know that wouldn't be wise.

2. Hens have been hatching eggs in the company of the flock for thousands of years. leave her alone and provide food and water through the incubation then let her deal with the other hens and her babies.

The downside of this one is that a chick might get hurt by the adults in the coop, or the broody may not turn out to be a very good mother allowing the chicks to die or be killed.

I don't think there is any set answer.

I'm doing the "wait and see" thing. Marlena, my broody BO, has 5 eggs. One is peeping this morning and she changed her schedule dramatically. Usually she comes out for her constitutional mid afternoon, but this morning, she was out before the run was open at 6 a.m. I checked the eggs while she was out, and all seems to be going on schedule (today is day 19). My plan is to watch and see what happens with the chicks. If she is protective and taking care of them they will stay with the flock. If she isn't as protective as she should be, she and the chicks will be moved to my portable coop/run for a few weeks with time to free range with the whole flock every day. If she is careless, I'll bring any babies she has in to my brooder and raise them myself. The whole point of this exercise was to let her raise some chicks, so .....

I am not an expert, but I have read a great deal about broodies and hatching. We will see how that translates to success.

I have two grey-ish Brahmas, does anyone know if they tend to go broody and with it being almost end of July in N.E. Ohio is it too late for them and the potential peeps? also IF she does, do I separate her from the rest of my hens?

 

[Shellz]

I'm new at this too.  I've been reading everything I can get my hands on trying to decide how to handle my BO and her chicks .  once they hatch.  There seem to be two distinct schools of thought on the issue.

1.  Protect the babies at all costs.  Isolate the hen and her eggs to keep them safe from the rest of the flock.

The downside of this is (as I see it), hens are quite social creatures, and isolating them would be like putting a pregnant woman in isolation for the duration of her pregnancy and the infancy of the child -- and we all know that wouldn't be wise.

2.  Hens have been hatching eggs in the company of the flock for thousands of years.  leave her alone and provide food and water through the incubation then let her deal with the other hens and her babies.

The downside of this one is that a chick might get hurt by the adults in the coop, or the broody may not turn out to be a very good mother allowing the chicks to die or be killed.

I don't think there is any set answer.

I'm doing the "wait and see" thing.  Marlena, my broody BO, has 5 eggs.  One is peeping this morning and she changed her schedule dramatically.  Usually she comes out for her constitutional mid afternoon, but this morning, she was out before the run was open at 6 a.m.  I checked the eggs while she was out, and all seems to be going on schedule (today is day 19).  My plan is to watch and see what happens with the chicks.  If she is protective and taking care of them they will stay with the flock.  If she isn't as protective as she should be, she and the chicks will be moved to my portable coop/run for a few weeks with time to free range with the whole flock every day.  If she is careless, I'll bring any babies she has in to my brooder and raise them myself.  The whole point of this exercise was to let her raise some chicks, so .....

I am not an expert, but I have read a great deal about broodies and hatching.  We will see how that translates to success.

That sounds well thought out. It's good to play out the scenarios in your head & then have preparations in place (if able) to deal with any fall out.
I have an extra challenge this year. 3 broodies instead of 1. I have broody #1 sequestered in the coop (her 1st time) with her own pop door & private yard. She is due Tuesday. Then I have broody #2, who is also a first timer. Broody #3 was broody last year & did a great job protecting her chicks from the flock. She was last to go broody this month. So #2 & #3 are in nest boxes with no restrictions. I took out eggs I had been incubating for a week & gave them to these hens. They are due on the 29th. Timing is good to cull my heritage meat birds & this will help alleviate stress when the chicks hatch. I sure have my work cut out for me this year!

 

[lilliesanchicks]

Even with her sharing the nest box with another duck who I then moved to the new nest I made for her.
She managed to hatch so far one duckling. So cute and yellow.
Will get pictures later she is still on the nest.

 

[MommaBee]

I meant to post this on this Broody board to see if you guys had any suggestions, it is on the main page too, sorry.... Any advice would be appreciated!!!


We have had a broody who has been a fantastic sitter. We woke up this morning to find 3 new baby chicks and some still hatching. After careful inspection, we found 1 dead. when I removed it, it was smash and had one leg missing, clearly chewed off. You could tell it died right after hatching. It was not fluffed up like the others we found this morning.

Is this normal for a momma to do on her first time hatching? Was she so startled that she killed the first one? Are the others safe? She seems protective of them. She is not mean but pushes them back under her wings and breast when we are close?

I am thinking we should just let nature run its course but I would hate for he to kill anymore of them.

 

[PineTopFarm]

I'm new at this too.  I've been reading everything I can get my hands on trying to decide how to handle my BO and her chicks .  once they hatch.  There seem to be two distinct schools of thought on the issue.

1.  Protect the babies at all costs.  Isolate the hen and her eggs to keep them safe from the rest of the flock.

The downside of this is (as I see it), hens are quite social creatures, and isolating them would be like putting a pregnant woman in isolation for the duration of her pregnancy and the infancy of the child -- and we all know that wouldn't be wise.

2.  Hens have been hatching eggs in the company of the flock for thousands of years.  leave her alone and provide food and water through the incubation then let her deal with the other hens and her babies.

The downside of this one is that a chick might get hurt by the adults in the coop, or the broody may not turn out to be a very good mother allowing the chicks to die or be killed.

I don't think there is any set answer.

This was my first year allowing broody hens to hatch eggs. I had two broodies. Both hatched and are raising their young in the coop where they freely mingle with the rest of the flock. I've not had any problems.
I free range my chickens and both mother hens took their chicks out within a couple days of hatching. They have been protective and kept the chicks in heavily brushed areas initially.
I agree, chickens are social animals and in nature they would be socialized to the flock on day one. My thought is to trust nature and you will have a healthy and vigorous flock.

 

[lilliesanchicks]

I meant to post this on this Broody board to see if you guys had any suggestions, it is on the main page too, sorry.... Any advice would be appreciated!!!


We have had a broody who has been a fantastic sitter. We woke up this morning to find 3 new baby chicks and some still hatching. After careful inspection, we found 1 dead. when I removed it, it was smash and had one leg missing, clearly chewed off. You could tell it died right after hatching. It was not fluffed up like the others we found this morning.

Is this normal for a momma to do on her first time hatching? Was she so startled that she killed the first one? Are the others safe? She seems protective of them. She is not mean but pushes them back under her wings and breast when we are close?

I am thinking we should just let nature run its course but I would hate for he to kill anymore of them.

Sounds like a one time thing.
She seems to be taking care of the others very well ,there might have been something wrong with the other chick.
We will never know.

 

[MommaBee]

Sounds like a one time thing.
She seams to be taking care of the others very well ,there might have been something wrong with the other chick.
We will never know.

Thats kinda what we were hoping. Just a one time thing. She has been sitting for a very very long time. Like 4 weeks on infertile eggs before we got her some fertile ones. So 7 weeks total. I am guessing she was just shocked when one hatched? I guess we will just watch her closely.

She would have killed the others already if she was going to be a bad mom right?

 

[jammyjammy2112]

my silkie went broody and her eggs are due the 9 of august this is her third broody and biggest clutch of eggs she has sat on she has 9 eggs this time

This is her on her clutch of eggs now.
This was one from her last clutch.
This was her last clutch when they where a bit older.

 

[Jharper]

my silkie went broody and her eggs are due the 9 of august this is her third broody and biggest clutch of eggs she has sat on she has 9 eggs this time

This is her on her clutch of eggs now. This was one from her last clutch. This was her last clutch when they where a bit older.

Her head looks soooo small compared to her body!