Broody Hen Thread!

[sharol]

I have some questions. My broody's chicks are almost 2 weeks old. I have them in a pen and extended it yesterday, today she got out (I have no idea how!) but stayed near her babies... which tells me she's ready to free roam with them. My question is, will her chicks be ok with 9 other chickens roaming the yard as well? 2 of them are mischievous males which terrorize my 5 week olds (all 13 of them are penned up in a movable run). I am concerned they might have their way with these new chicks. This is her first time brooding and she has 6 to look after.

 

[sharol]

OT:

Does anyone but me HATE the "hover to see video" ads alongside the discussion board?

 

[reyecat]

http://instagram.com/p/d68V0Ex6E9/#

Lovely little surprise this morning.

The dad is a beautiful calm, friendly, huge Barred Rock named Viktor.

The eggs are from ameracaunas, rhode island red, Rhode rocks and I think Marigolds. It will be interesting to see what these chicks look like!

The mom is an americauna, a lovely lady with a gimpy foot. Her name is Mrs. Weasley.

I hope they all hatch! She sat on 6 or so for about 12 hrs before I realized she was broody and stuffed another 6 under her. I hope that's not too big of a gap.

 

[Gen9]

Thanks for the suggestion sharol. There is really one that does it (looks about 4 months old cockerel) - I think the other just tags along - I received them as a pair for "free" ... they must be the reject birds that someone "didn't have room for" we're just going to eat them, they're only EEs and I had a hard time selling a Polish Crested rooster, so I'm not going to bother. Well, all this time, I thought the side-kick was a male, but lately I've been seeing the real troublemaker trying to mate with it... HMMM. interesting. LOL so either it's trying to mate or just dominating it, by the looks of it, but it's never able to mount.. I do plan on locking up all the boys and they can have their own area (where they can't see any ladies) which will mean a quieter yard, and no terrorizing or fighting. Seems like the 5 week old boys are the only ones getting picked on. Right now I'm working on it, I have a couple coop projects and runs that I'm making right now. In regards to the hover over ads, I don't like them either lol I hope I didn't derail this thread!
Ok, back to broodies and such.
Looks like she'll have to wait until I can get this coop finished today. I keep telling her "one more day! hang in there!"

 

[Gen9]

http://instagram.com/p/d68V0Ex6E9/#

Lovely little surprise this morning.

The dad is a beautiful calm, friendly, huge Barred Rock named Viktor.

The eggs are from ameracaunas, rhode island red, Rhode rocks and I think Marigolds. It will be interesting to see what these chicks look like!

The mom is an americauna, a lovely lady with a gimpy foot. Her name is Mrs. Weasley.

I hope they all hatch! She sat on 6 or so for about 12 hrs before I realized she was broody and stuffed another 6 under her. I hope that's not too big of a gap.

Good luck!

 

[MzPlacedHippie]

Well Miss Tilly has inspired Little Hawk into broodiness! These girls are EE/production red mixes, so I'm totally surprised. Didn't have many eggs so Little Hawk has her last laid plus two from my best layers. She seems happy enough.

 

[julie0477]

well this is the ending to my broody hen story. Pretty happy. to recap - my silkie was sitting on four eggs when two more were slid in by another hen a full week later than the rest. On days 20 and 21 the first four hatched (although one died before it made it all the way out of the egg). Around day 25 my broody quit sitting on the remaining eggs accept for at night. I was pretty sure they were goners. One of the eggs got pooped on by mom so I rinsed it in warm water (too warm I fear). Day 28 (only day 21 for this egg) one of the abandoned eggs pipped! Later that evening with just a tiny bit of help from me we had a new little fluffy butt. The momma ignored her at first. I put her under a lamp to dry and snuck her in the nest after dark. As you can see all worked out for this little chicky. That's her big brother (or sister) showing her around! . Sadly the last egg didn't make it. I think it may have quit after I rinsed it. I'm still pretty happy overall. Better results than expected.

 

[LONDON HENS]

My hen for the second time this year has had a very successful hatch!

 

[chickarooo]

That is so cute my hens chicks hatched two weeks ago she was a first time mother and is the best I have probably ever had

 

[NewToFarming]

I have some questions. My broody's chicks are almost 2 weeks old. I have them in a pen and extended it yesterday, today she got out (I have no idea how!) but stayed near her babies... which tells me she's ready to free roam with them. My question is, will her chicks be ok with 9 other chickens roaming the yard as well? 2 of them are mischievous males which terrorize my 5 week olds (all 13 of them are penned up in a movable run). I am concerned they might have their way with these new chicks. This is her first time brooding and she has 6 to look after.

You could give it a try with her out when you are there to supervise??? How old are these boys? If they are young they should do better as they get older. My boys help care for the chicks. Momma should be pretty protective and will warn them to stay away also. I know my girls will not let any of the other chickens near their babies that they don't want near them. No matter how small the Momma is. LOL They bring them of the nest, ready to kick butt. LOL

I just seen your other post. Yeah, at 4 months they are in what I call that horrible teenage boy phase! He should settle down as he matures and might end up being a good protector and helper with the chicks.