Broody Hen Thread!

[DarynA146]

The very best thing is to let mom raise them. They grow faster and are hardier and I think better chickens for it. (And mom is rewarded for all that hard work!)

However, you can take them from her and heat lamp brood them, and if you do it right after hatch and put eggs under her she MIGHT begin to brood again; however that would be very hard on your hen. Brooding is hard work and takes a lot out of the hen. Her body will need to rebuild itself, which she does while she takes care of the chicks. Also taking the chicks away doesn't mean she will immediately start laying again nor brood again soon. Usually the hen molts after brooding, and in this time takes care of the chicks (anywhere until they are about 4 weeks to 12 weeks...how long varies depending upon the hen). In time, she begins to lay again, and after a time will brood again depending upon the bird and breed.

Silkies are notoriously broody so many will brood frequently. My Silkie is a frequent brooder. She hatches, tends them until about 8 to 10 weeks (mothering them), then "launches them" and begins to lay and be a chicken, and in time goes broody again...generally she broods 3 times a year.

I have not tried this but I did read an article that gets double the punch for the brood by starting eggs under a hen, taking those eggs away one week before lock down (at about 14 to 16 days) and finishes that bunch in an incubator, then puts another fresh set under the hen to finish out with the hen. That is about the most you could get out of one hen safely...nature has built in overlap so that most good broodies will brood for about 5 weeks.

Lady of McCamley

So when they hatch it would be better to leave them with their mother. Im just not clear on the fact that if i leave the chicks with the mother for ever she will not go broody again.

 

[fisherlady]

Quote: ... a hen sometimes has hormones take over and she will 'go broody' and will want to set on eggs to hatch, then raise the chicks.... usually a hen will raise her chicks till they are 5 to 8 weeks old, teach them about being chickens and then she will 'wean them' and she will return to roost with the other adult birds of the flock and leave the youngsters to fend for themselves.
After she returns to roost with the other adult birds she will begin laying again and return to her normal chicken behaviors. She may not have the hormonal urge to go broody again until the next year... or it may be in another 4 weeks, it depends on the bird. Some birds are broody once and never again.... there is just no way to tell.
You can't force a bird to lay eggs, they do it based on their hormones... you can't force a bird to go broody... again, it is hormones... and you can't make a bird stay with chicks past the time she feels she should leave them.

There are many wonderful reference books which may help you understand the basic ins and outs of chicken ways... many are offered here on BYC...
http://coopedup.net/buy/index.php?route=product/category&path=43

 

[Manningjw]

A number of us have written on the tricks of integration on this thread and the "Old Fashioned Broody" thread recently, so you can also glean from those posts.

Good luck.
Lady of McCamley

I only hatched shipped eggs once, under my faithful expert Gracie... and she gave me 8/8.... but I understand that is rare on shipped eggs. Not because of the hen factor, more so because the shipped eggs often have problem air cells.

I don't know how big your hen is, or how many eggs you have total between your own and shipped.... but my suggestion would be to let her start with a handful of your own on the same day as you set the shipped eggs in the incubator. Check the shipped eggs after 7 or 10 days and by then you will know what your total number of viable eggs should be. Decide then if you want her to hatch them or you want to graft them after the incubator hatch. Either will work, though I always opt for broody hatching... but on shipped eggs that may be a bit risky for some folks.

Thank you both for your responses!

I will have to browse through the Old Fashion Broody thread again it seems as well!

The eggs from my own flock I am hatching I am worried about integrating with the shipped eggs because the shipped eggs are pure bloodlines. If I cannot tell 100% who is who after hatch I risk keeping the wrong chicks - ie being able to tell who is Splash vs chicks that are single gene dominant white over black/silver.

Now i am thinking about incubating the shipped eggs first like you said but then swapping out half way through so the broody raises the shipped chicks and my own flock chicks only after I identify who I am keeping.

 

[Manningjw]

... a hen sometimes has hormones take over and she will 'go broody' and will want to set on eggs to hatch, then raise the chicks.... usually a hen will raise her chicks till they are 5 to 8 weeks old, teach them about being chickens and then she will 'wean them' and she will return to roost with the other adult birds of the flock and leave the youngsters to fend for themselves.
After she returns to roost with the other adult birds she will begin laying again and return to her normal chicken behaviors. She may not have the hormonal urge to go broody again until the next year... or it may be in another 4 weeks, it depends on the bird. Some birds are broody once and never again.... there is just no way to tell.
You can't force a bird to lay eggs, they do it based on their hormones... you can't force a bird to go broody... again, it is hormones... and you can't make a bird stay with chicks past the time she feels she should leave them.

There are many wonderful reference books which may help you understand the basic ins and outs of chicken ways... many are offered here on BYC...
http://coopedup.net/buy/index.php?route=product/category&path=43

In the case of my broody, this will be her third broody cycle (I broke her second attempt and she started laying eggs again 1-2 weeks later) and she will be 1 year old on May 5th. She is like a super broody, and she came from bloodlines that aren't known for broodiness which is odd. She followed what you stated, she raised chicks for about 4-6 weeks and started laying eggs again about week 3-4 which was surprising to me she would start so early.

 

[abserbean]

So here is my broody hen, sitting on nothing! She's been in the nest for about a week, she will come out once a day to eat but goes right back, This is her second time being broody, the first was broken by a move to my house (she is a rescue, barnyard mutt) but had lasted about three months prior to us getting her. I've decided to let her sit a clutch this time, assuming I can get some fertile eggs for her. Here's hoping she does well! I'm not sure if she will be a good broody, but she is determined to try.

 

[celestialdreamer]

This might be a stupid question, but has anyone had success letting a broody hatch eggs while in with the rest of the flock? I have a Mottled Java that wants to be a mama so badly, but I don't have anywhere else to put her separately at this point due to other poultry projects. I was thinking if she will actually sit on some eggs I could at least move her and her nest to a large dog crate before hatching? Would that work? If that is a realistic solution, at what point could she be returned to the flock with her babies? Our coop isn't big enough to separate her out while they are small so I would have to bring her into our garage.

 

[fisherlady]

So here is my broody hen, sitting on nothing! She's been in the nest for about a week, she will come out once a day to eat but goes right back, This is her second time being broody, the first was broken by a move to my house (she is a rescue, barnyard mutt) but had lasted about three months prior to us getting her. I've decided to let her sit a clutch this time, assuming I can get some fertile eggs for her. Here's hoping she does well! I'm not sure if she will be a good broody, but she is determined to try.

Good luck! Hope you find eggs local... a handful of barn yard mixes should make hearty little ones for her to start out with. If you were in Central Pa. I would get some to you.... check at your local Tractor Supply or Feed store, if the employees themselves don't have chickens I bet they could put you in touch with someone local who does! They know who is in week after week getting feed and scratch!

 

[fisherlady]

Quote:
I agree with Hannahs... she will most likely happily keep them in a small area in the coop for the first few days, this allows them to learn her vocal cues and how to listen to her, it also improves their speed and evasion skills. Ours are in the coop with the flock in a seperated area for the first week or two (mama decides when she wants to go into the main coop) After the first 3 or 4 days I open the doors to their area when I am outside in the coop area to allow supervised visitation with other flock members and the broody can choose to take the youngsters on field trips also. This 'visitation' time allows me to gauge how well the broody deals with other pushy flock members and also allows the youngsters to learn to avoid the problem flock members in short sessions... and they do learn quick.
After the first week or so, if you aren't seeing problems with fighting or overly aggressive behavior then you can decide when to remove the barrier or allow them more interaction time.
I find mama likes to free range with the chicks after about day 3, I supervise it pretty close the first week, but free ranging seems to be the most stress free way for the flock to get used to the young ones (if weather and property set up allows). I do make sure the broodies have a cozy and 'safe' spot for their nights with the youngsters, I don't like them to be bothered when they are nesting, it doesn't need to be totally fenced off, but should be in an out of the way spot and easy for the hen to feel she can defend it.
Celestialdreamer...I have quoted a previous reply in the hopes of helping answer your question...

a few of our senior hens (high in pecking order) stayed right in the coop throughout their brood time, they weren't bothered by other flock members. Others we place in an area in the coop which is fenced off so the flock still sees the hen and eventually the chicks they are given a few days of more privacy to get used to each other before joining the big flock.
I allow the hens to decide when they want to leave the broody area for the main coop. They all free range together, so the little ones do have to learn how to behave around the rest of the flock, but for night time the broody usually takes them back to the separate area until they are about 2 weeks old, that seems to be when the hens are ready to be in the main coop more than the broody area. They still have a nest in a quiet corner on the floor for a couple weeks after that, but they don't want to be in the separated area anymore.

 

[abserbean]

Thanks! I hope I can find her some eggs. I have emailed everyone on craigslist, but no response so far. I do have to go to the feed store today, so I will ask there too. Someone offered me some duck eggs. Can a hen successfully hatch ducks? I'm new to the hatching thing, so wasn't sure if that would be a good idea or not. I didn't want to purchase expensive eggs, since I will probably rehome most of the chicks.

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks! I hope I can find her some eggs. I have emailed everyone on craigslist, but no response so far. I do have to go to the feed store today, so I will ask there too. Someone offered me some duck eggs. Can a hen successfully hatch ducks? I'm new to the hatching thing, so wasn't sure if that would be a good idea or not. I didn't want to purchase expensive eggs, since I will probably rehome most of the chicks.

Yes, a hen can hatch duck eggs... though she may be a bit freaked when her little 'chicks' want to play in mud puddles! For your first experience brooding I would try for chicken eggs... plus, duck eggs take longer, so she would be setting for an extra week beyond how long she already will have to.