Broody Hen Thread!

[MzPlacedHippie]

Aww. So far so good with these.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I have not had time to read the entire thread and want to know if the broodiness trait is passed from the male or female?

That is a great question and I hope someone with good understanding of genetics...much better than mine... answers.

I do know that the hen determines the sex (the ova determines the sex not the sperm)...which I should think would be more closely linked to the hormone structure and thus broodiness behaviors produced by those hormones.

I also know it is the breed types. Those that are closer to the original chicken type, the more heritage, game bird types, and a number of the Asian types (Silkies, Cochins) are more likely to go broody as they have not been manipulated by commercial growers/breeders to gain breeds that do not go broody...ie commercialized breeds that produce eggs rather than sitting on them. But then we would go back to the hen being a good broody because of good hormones.

Interesting question...hope someone more knowledgeable answers it.
Lady of McCamley

 

[MzPlacedHippie]

Me too! I'd love to hear!

 

[foreverlearning]

My first ever broody's first ever hatch!

 

[Audio51]

Awww...never get tired of seeing baby chicks!

 

[ukshamo]

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I just read on another post that this person has much better success with shipped eggs hatched under a broody than in an incubator.

What experiences have you had with shipped eggs...better under broody?

(May be my spring project as I want some specific breeds.)

Lady of McCamley

 

[docbeans]

I have a question for everyone who has hatched with a broody hen before.

We're on our second attempt. Our first attempt was a miserable failure (multiple mistakes, ultimately the broody abandoned her nest and the half-incubated eggs during a nest move).

A few days ago, we had another one of our cochins go broody for the first time. She is one of our elevated nesting boxes, and so we are worried if we let her hatch there, that ultimately the chicks will fall to their death. We tried to move her the other night, while she was deeply asleep, to a cat carrier. She was locked in for 2 days, with food/water. She seemed settled on the nest this morning, so I opened the door so she can get out to get food. She was off the nest (golf balls only at this point) for about an hour or two, then went back to the old nest.

How have others dealt with this? Can I let her hatch in the elevated box and move her after the chicks hatch to a safer location? Do I have to keep her completely locked in the cat carrier (I'd rather not, she keeps knocking over the feeder/waterers and making a mess).

This time we won't be putting eggs under her until we've overcome the issue but I'd like to do it in the next day or two!

 

[docbeans]

I should add that I don't have a good space to move her too other than the carrier... we don't have a separate run area that we can use.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I have a question for everyone who has hatched with a broody hen before.

We're on our second attempt. Our first attempt was a miserable failure (multiple mistakes, ultimately the broody abandoned her nest and the half-incubated eggs during a nest move).

A few days ago, we had another one of our cochins go broody for the first time. She is one of our elevated nesting boxes, and so we are worried if we let her hatch there, that ultimately the chicks will fall to their death. We tried to move her the other night, while she was deeply asleep, to a cat carrier. She was locked in for 2 days, with food/water. She seemed settled on the nest this morning, so I opened the door so she can get out to get food. She was off the nest (golf balls only at this point) for about an hour or two, then went back to the old nest.

How have others dealt with this? Can I let her hatch in the elevated box and move her after the chicks hatch to a safer location? Do I have to keep her completely locked in the cat carrier (I'd rather not, she keeps knocking over the feeder/waterers and making a mess).

This time we won't be putting eggs under her until we've overcome the issue but I'd like to do it in the next day or two!

She clearly doesn't like the cat carrier because it is so small she can't move without making it a mess, so she won't stay there for you.

I created a nice brooding hutch with run out of free plywood shipping crates placed on an old grape arbor base and set up a broody run around it, but I know not everyone has the space to something like that.

If all you have right now is the cat carrier...then I'd probably let her hatch in the high nest and move mom and chicks shortly after they have all hatched and dried out.

I have not personally done this, but I know others let their chickens hatch chicks in a high nest with success. They do move the chicks as the chicks will fall out of the box (usually without hurting themselves...they are amazingly resilient to a waist high drop...but I always hate to see them do it). Mom usually just takes up residence on the ground then. (My experience when mom took the chicks out for the first run outing and they couldn't get back up the ramp. Mom set up shop on the ground...we fixed the ramp so the chicks can easily go up it and mom took them back into the broody hutch.)

I find it's better if you have a broody nursery area/run for them rather than leaving them on the ground. The sound of chicks will certainly draw predators...any neighbor cats, rats, and hawks that you didn't even know were in the area.

Many people report success in letting their hen brood her chicks among the flock, but I find it best to separate them. Separation offers better protection for the hen and chicks from others who might be aggressive with the chicks (even with momma trying to protect them, which can stress momma). It is better for them to be isolated from the main flock until their immune systems grow.

Many wait until 6 to 8 weeks to introduce them to the main flock. Ag literature recommends about 5 months to avoid Merek's exposure until the chicks are older. (You'd really have to have them separate for that.)

You'll also generally want separation for feed reasons. Your chicks will be on chick feed, usually medicated, which you really don't want your layers on...and they will go in and gobble it up as it is higher protein than layer feed. The little chicks also shouldn't be eating the big layer feed as it has way too much calcium which can harm their kidneys.

Good luck with your project. Report your experiences. We'd love to hear how it worked for you.

Lady of McCamley