Broody Hen Thread!

[fisherlady]

I want one of my hens to hatch their own babies sooooo bad!! They keep teasing me and staying in the nest all day, then changing their minds. Grrrrrrr!!!!! Lol

They never cooperate when you want them to! Though if they are teasing you may end up with one once the weather breaks! Be careful what you wish for though!
I love having broodies, but I would rather not of had them all at once when it was zero degrees out!

 

[LunarBug]

Thank you very much fisherlady!

 

[sonderah]

They never cooperate when you want them to!  Though if they are teasing you may end up with one once the weather breaks!  Be careful what you wish for though!
 I love having broodies, but I would rather not of had them all at once when it was zero degrees out! 

Lol. That would be bad! I only have 2 brooder cages. And have more hens than nests. They usually only use 1 anyway, sometimes 2, more so lately, since the broody teasers stay in the favorite most of the day, even though they have 4! Silly birds! I just think it would be adorable to watch them raise the babies! That's my only real reason. Although I hate having a brooder, I'll still be incubating, & brooding inside.

 

[AliceGee]

I've got a broody question if anyone can help please My silkies currently sitting on six eggs at about day 16. I've read somewhere that at day 18 the hen stops leaving the nest for food etc. but 4 days without food or water? :s really? She's a first time mum so she's a bit clumsy and rolls the eggs a bit when she gets back on so I'm concerned if she does keep getting off and on after day 18 she's going to ruining the chicks positioning in the eggs. Is that a problem or won't that matter?
Thanks

 

[Searsmom]

I want one of my hens to hatch their own babies sooooo bad!! They keep teasing me and staying in the nest all day, then changing their minds. Grrrrrrr!!!!! Lol

Mine have started doing that. It's definitely agitating.

 

[fisherlady]

Thank you very much fisherlady!

You're welcome!

Quote: I currently have 4, Rosie has chicks who are almost 3 weeks old, Bess and Connie are due to hatch tomorrow and Frannie is due to hatch next Saturday... we have had to do some major rearranging to get them all their own 'area' . Though Rosie now has her chicks in the main coop with the rest of the flock, she just has a nest area on the floor in a 'quieter' corner.

Quote: If the hens are starting to show broody signs and you want to encourage it... you could try adding in a slightly larger but deeper box (we use medium sized cat carriers. Many of my broody hens like them and since they are moveable you can add it into the coop to provide an extra laying box so even if the hen doesn't choose to brood in it the other hens will lay eggs in it and reduce the competition and disturbances for the other boxes. If you are lucky and the hen does decide to brood in it you can simply move it to a convenient spot after you are sure she is setting (if you want to move it at all)

 

[sonderah]

You're welcome!
I currently have 4, Rosie has chicks who are almost 3 weeks old, Bess and Connie are due to hatch tomorrow and Frannie is due to hatch next Saturday... we have had to do some major rearranging to get them all their own 'area' . Though Rosie now has her chicks in the main coop with the rest of the flock, she just has a nest area on the floor in a 'quieter' corner.

If the hens are starting to show broody signs and you want to encourage it...  you could try adding in a slightly larger but deeper box (we use medium sized cat carriers.  Many of my broody hens like them and since they are moveable you can add it into the coop to provide an extra laying box so even if the hen doesn't choose to brood in it the other hens will lay eggs in it and reduce the competition and disturbances for the other boxes.   If you are lucky and the hen does decide to brood in it you can simply move it to a convenient spot after you are sure she is setting (if you want to move it at all)

We have those big plastic tubs u get at the dollar store as our nesting boxes. I chose to put them in the holes so that I can remove and clean them easily. Plus, they r easy to pick up and move with a chicken setting on eggs. I have an EE quarantined in one of the "cages" (that we built for a broody mommy) that is coming out today. So I'll scrub it down and prepare it, just incase. I have 3 that seem to be toying with the idea. I'd be perfectly happy with one. They are all Buff Orpington, so a usually broody breed, but mine are hatchery, which I've been told don't brood as well as whatever a non hatchery would be called. Lol

 

[fisherlady]

I've got a broody question if anyone can help please

My silkies currently sitting on six eggs at about day 16. I've read somewhere that at day 18 the hen stops leaving the nest for food etc. but 4 days without food or water? :s really? She's a first time mum so she's a bit clumsy and rolls the eggs a bit when she gets back on so I'm concerned if she does keep getting off and on after day 18 she's going to ruining the chicks positioning in the eggs. Is that a problem or won't that matter?
Thanks

Some hens don't get up after day 18 or 19, but most of mine do, they just don't stay off of the nest for more than a minute or two at a time though... usually just to get a drink maybe and do their broody poo away from the nest. We give our broodies a small dish with food such as scrambled eggs or chopped cooked fish, mixed with seeds or chick starter... this allows them to snack a bit without getting up, and water is always close by.
Her rolling the eggs is more likely intentional than clumsiness, the hens will frequently rearrange the eggs in the nest to aid in regulating their temperature and development rate. I have video of our silkie doing so 3 or 4 times a day (think spy camera! LOL). The hens don't seem to have problems with the positioning thing and in the last 40 or 50 eggs we have hatched in the past year with broodies we haven't had any pip at the wrong end and fail (never found one dead in a shell pipped at wrong end at least)

 

[AliceGee]

Some hens don't get up after day 18 or 19, but most of mine do, they just don't stay off of the nest for more than a minute or two at a time though... usually just to get a drink maybe and do their broody poo away from the nest.   We give our broodies a small dish with food such as scrambled eggs or chopped cooked fish, mixed with seeds or chick starter... this allows them to snack a bit without getting up, and water is always close by.
 Her rolling the eggs is more likely intentional than clumsiness, the hens will frequently rearrange the eggs in the nest to aid in regulating their temperature and development rate.  I have video of our silkie doing so 3 or 4 times a day (think spy camera! LOL). The hens don't seem to have problems with the positioning thing and in the last 40 or 50 eggs we have hatched in the past year with broodies we haven't had any pip at the wrong end and fail (never found one dead in a shell pipped at wrong end at least) 

Great thanks a lot!! That's a fantastic answer! Makes me feel much more at ease

 

[fisherlady]

Quote:
Those tubs would be great! Especially for a big hen like the Orps! I guess my phrasing wasn't great on my post... when I said 'deeper' I was actually referring to how far back away from the entrance to the nest the hen could set.... our cat carriers allow the hens to set way in the back and I think they just like the feeling of safety and isolation it gives them. But the carriers would have to be quite a bit bigger to be comfy for a broody Orp!

As far as hatchery vs heritage... the hatchery stock seems less prone to broodiness but that absolutely isn't a rule... many hatcheries actually get their chicks and eggs from local breeders who may or may not breed broodiness out of their birds, think of the hatchery as sort of like WalMart, they make some of the stuff themselves, but many items come from more specialty manufacturers, WalMart just profits from gathering everything you want into one place for convenience... so broody types absolutely show up.

Rosie (who is in many of the videos and pics I recently posted) is a hatchery Black Giant (their version of the Jersey Giant) who went broody at 10 months old...