Broody Hen Thread!

[Phoenixxx]

I'm hatching my first eggs under my broody Welsummer. It's so exciting; she's on 6 turkens and 6 silver pencilled plymouth rock bantams and we are nearly 5 days in. My dilemma is that right now I'm using my only dog crate for a sick Dorking so I don't have anything to separate her from my others in the flock. I'm going to have to try and attempt to block off the nesting box she's using from the others so she's not disturbed. Easier said than done. Here's a pic of the mother to be

I think she'll be fine. I remember growing up when we let a hen brood once, we didn't do anything special for her. The nesting arrangement was 2 or 3 shelves running the length of the coop seperated into cubbies. I don't remember there being any problems and all the eggs hatched! We had the ability to split the coop into two coops simply by closing the door in the middle; we may have seperated her and her clutch (I can't remember for sure) but not until after they hatched.

 

[fisherlady]

I bought two goldtop birds a few weeks ago ( silkie x sussex) as they are renowned for falling broody easily. Ive kept this breed before and have always been impressed by their laying, broodiness and general long life!!


I put some eggs in their hen house to encourage them to go broody and left any eggs that they added to the clutch, It ended up having 21 eggs in and so i have marked the clutch and started to take any new ones away. One of my hens happily sits on the eggs until about 11.30 in the morning and then she gets off. she has plucked the feathers on her underside and so i thoguht she might be tempted by becoming broody but its been a while now and she still hasnt sat for more than half a day at a time.

Should I be making the nest more private for her? Ive not separated her incase it caused her any distress but im not sure if the 3 other hens are annoying her


Any ideas?

It doesn't sound like your hen has committed to being broody yet... my suggestion would be to remove the eggs for now (since they won't have developed right if they are only being sat on part of the time)... place golf balls or other 'fake eggs' in a nest area within the coop that you feel is suitable for a broody to set on once she does decide and begin a collection of eggs on a cool spot on your kitchen counter or somewhere else suitable for storage of hatching eggs. I just use a cardboard egg carton, place the eggs round side up, mark them with a date and when the carton is full pull the oldest eggs each day and replace them with the new ones (I only choose 2 or 3 of my best eggs each day). Tip one end of the carton up on a block about 1.5 inches and switch ends 2x day to help prevent the yolk from sticking to the inside of the shell.
Once your broody has committed (setting around the clock and only getting out for short breaks to eat, dust bath and poo, not laying eggs anymore and generally puffy and irritable looking) you can then give her whatever # of eggs you have chosen for her. Make sure they are marked at that time so you can remove any added later by other hens.
With your girls it shouldn't take too long before one (or both) of them decide to park themselves in a nest!
Good luck!

I found my Silkie sleeping on a sneaky egg last night. It was my EE's egg, but was in a totally different house than she (the EE) has ever laid in, yet in the house the Silkie sleeps in. I've read that sometimes EE's will lay in a silkies nest, but wow!!!! Lol

I wouldn't be surprised if the EE wasn't the one being sneaky! I have caught my broody hens (my silkie in particular) stealing eggs from other nests and carrying them to her preferred spot! They are incredibly resourceful when they want to be!
I'm thinking you will need to be finding her a few eggs in the near future!... or just wait, and she will find them for herself!

 

[sonderah]

It doesn't sound like your hen has committed to being broody yet... my suggestion would be to remove the eggs for now (since they won't have developed right if they are only being sat on part of the time)... place golf balls or other 'fake eggs' in a nest area within the coop that you feel is suitable for a broody to set on once she does decide and begin a collection of eggs on a cool spot on your kitchen counter or somewhere else suitable for storage of hatching eggs.  I just use a cardboard egg carton, place the eggs round side up, mark them with a date and when the carton is full pull the oldest eggs each day and replace them with the new ones (I only choose 2 or 3 of my best eggs each day). Tip one end of the carton up on a block about 1.5 inches and switch ends 2x day to help prevent the yolk from sticking to the inside of the shell.
  Once your broody has committed (setting around the clock and only getting out for short breaks to eat, dust bath and poo, not laying eggs anymore and generally puffy and irritable looking) you can then give her whatever # of eggs you have chosen for her.  Make sure they are marked at that time so you can remove any added later by other hens.
 With your girls it shouldn't take too long before one (or both) of them decide to park themselves in a nest!
Good luck!
I wouldn't be surprised if the EE wasn't the one being sneaky!  I have caught my broody hens (my silkie in particular) stealing eggs from other nests and carrying them to her preferred spot!   They are incredibly resourceful when they want to be!
 I'm thinking you will need to be finding her a few eggs in the near future!... or just wait, and she will find them for herself!

Lol I'm saving eggs for her indoors. She is new here and can barely get into the coop on her own. We need to remodel the "ladder" in that pen. The 2 houses a aren't connected to one another so she'd have had to get into one, get the egg, and then carry it down to the ground, then back up to the other. That would be a miraculous thing for her to do, but would GREAT to watch!!! Lol I stuck a few eggs in that spot that is ok if they freeze or whatever, just as an "encouragement" for her. I have 2 of her eggs put aside right now to go in the bator Friday, along with what I get between now & then. She is more than welcome to take its place though!!!

 

[HarrietB]

Lol I'm saving eggs for her indoors. She is new here and can barely get into the coop on her own. We need to remodel the "ladder" in that pen. The 2 houses a aren't connected to one another so she'd have had to get into one, get the egg, and then carry it down to the ground, then back up to the other. That would be a miraculous thing for her to do, but would GREAT to watch!!! Lol I stuck a few eggs in that spot that is ok if they freeze or whatever, just as an "encouragement" for her. I have 2 of her eggs put aside right now to go in the bator Friday, along with what I get between now & then. She is more than welcome to take its place though!!!

I put her on some infertile eggs as pot eggs seem to be so expensive these days! Im super keen for at least one of them to go broody im trying everything i can! Im not sure if letting them free range is better or keeping them in? or should i separate her altogether?

 

[fisherlady]

Quote:
I would allow her to come and go like any other flock member. If you deliberately isolate her it will cause her more stress I think, because birds are social creatures and wish to be included in regular flock activities the majority of the time. When her hormones kick in she will separate herself as much as she needs to and then you can decide where you would prefer her to brood. Once a hen is broody they don't seem to mind separation... but not till then.

 

[sonderah]

I do not have a broody yet, but have a Silkie who has decided to sleep on eggs at night, so I'm thinking maybe she's considering it.

My question is... I do not want her to brood where she is sleeping. So I know I'll need to give her time to be sure she is comitted. Should I do that time where she is, or when I think she's ready, move her and then wait to see?
Where she has chosen to lay and sleep on eggs is inside a small "coop" that is up off of the ground. The bottom has wood slats with cracks between them. I'm just afraid she will not be able to keep the eggs warm enough with the air coming up under them also. Plus, I just spent a week making a new brooder pen when I bought a Silkie. Lol

 

[silly4buttons]

Only one egg hatch it was from my own chickens all my shipped eggs never piped so disappointed I really wanted a d Anvers oh well here is Tilley with her new chick

 

[pollo portero]

What a great couple of faces! What is that they're in? Makes me want a Silky hen! One of the Copper Marans I bought at a farm auction went broody over 13 eggs about 18 days ago and we are waiting breathlessly for the hatch! but, there is a slight problem...i know that the eggs are not all at the same developmental point. When Giselle (the broody) started setting, I figured she'd give up like the other hens who tried in the week or so before her, and let her be. At that time, she had 3 eggs under her. 3 days later, she was still viciously

determined to brood and the other hens had "gifted" 10 more eggs to her. This was thrilling to me!! but, i am worried about the timing. What happens when eggs of different ages hatch? I figured that there would be another broody ready to take any "late-Bloomers" from Giselle, but one has not been forthcoming, yet. I candled the eggs on day 13 and it looked like there were some eggs less developed than the others. So, what should I expect ?

...and what is the deal with the enormous poops?!

 

[NewToFarming]

It looks like those girls are in a covered kitty pan. My girls absolutely love using them for nest boxes and they are easy to clean. Your girl will most likely abandon the nest after the first chicks hatch to care for them.

 

[AmericanMom]

Got my Java going strong...On day 10... Got 10 more in the incubator on day 7, thought when they hatched I would try to give them to her at night and see if she would adopt them....Now I have a problem...1 incubator with 14 more days to go on these eggs (all are doing excellent) but found a lady who will sell me fertile Bourbon Red Turkey eggs for $10 bucks a dozen...simply cannot pass this up, picking them up Sunday.... Can you see my dilemma...I think if I stuck the eggs from the bator under MS broody butt she would accept them but with the 3 day difference would she sit long enough to allow them to hatch??

On edit, see that this question was just asked.... hmmm... I'm still going to try it tho, maybe she will feel them moving and stick it out