Broody Hen Thread!

[annanimal]

It is very unlikely that she will accept them. I wouldnt advise it but you can try just be VERY cautious and if she starts to peck them remove them, do it at night though when the hen is sleepy.

 

[dandylion1]

Ok thank you!
All though she seam sleepy now. I sthat just how broody hens always are?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

This morning I marked all the eggs under my broody hens. My black copper maran has 12 eggs under her and my blrw has 10.
Can anyone help me with how to keep my other hens (mainly my barred rocks) from kicking my black copper maran out of her nest?
my black copper maran has been sitting for 9 days now and my blrw has been sitting for 7 days today.

You've gotten good suggestions as to move them (which can work well if the hen is compliant), make other nests more attractive (definitely try that but it never seems to work for me...the broody always chooses the "golden nest" that the others are determined to want too)...and I would add, if possible "subdivide" your coop...I've literally built a little partition around the broody who is determined to stay in the main coop so that she doesn't get pushed out of the nest by others...an issue you do want to address quickly as eventually the broody will pull up stakes all together and go elsewhere or stop brooding well, becoming what I call a fickle brooder, constantly shifting locations.

Good luck with your hatches!

Lady of McCamley

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Ok, So I have my first broody hen. My beautiful splash silkie Fifi. Well she has not left her nest in three days. At first she was in the coop with the other hens and they were climbing on top of her to lay their eggs as well. As she was not letting me have any of the eggs and I know they are not fertile as I do not have a rooster. I took her, nesting box and all out the coop and put her in a dog crate in the garage with some food and water so that she would not be disturbed by the other hens. Well I could not tell that she has left her nest at all for food and water which concerned me. So I put a fresh cut tomato in with her and purchased her 3 fertile eggs to hatch, hoping it would help her through this. Am I doing the right thing? I can't put fresh tomato in with her everyday. How long will she sit on that nest without getting up to feed or drink? And is it safe for her to do so?

Thanks for any input,
Jennifer P.,

Unless you are standing over her 24/7, chances are she is getting up and you simply aren't noticing it.

I am of the camp that nature will generally do a better job of it than I will, so I simply place food and water close by, but not so it can tip into the nest, and let my broody do her thing. They will lose some body weight in the process, that is natural, but I personally have never had a broody starve herself to death (although I've heard that can happen).

I like to keep a nutrient boost in the water (like Chick Saver), and I put my hen on the chick crumble as that is high protein and lower calcium (which she doesn't need as she isn't laying). You can also leave high nutrient treats by her such as chopped hard boiled egg, yogurt, black oil sunflower seeds.

They will get up once a day, sometimes once every other day, eat, drink and leave one very large stinky poo, then go back to the nest.

Remember, if you placed the eggs in an incubator you would expect the incubator to stay warm and constant 24/7 to incubate the eggs, so the hen has to be equally focused on sitting on those eggs, only occasionally getting up, if she is going to have a successful hatch.

Lady of McCamley

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Yes everyone is thriving! I'm misting them with a bottle every 5 minutes so nothing is drying out! I now have 4 external pipers who are very vocal

How is the hatch going?

Lady of McCamley

 

[dandylion1]

I decided not to risk trying to give her the chicks and since i cant let her hatch anything, i was going to take her out of the nesting box. When i started to lift he up, she just walked out of the coop and did a big watery poop that doesnt look normal and now shes just standing outside the coop amd wont eat or drink the food and water im offering her. I also noticed she has a patch of feathers of her fluff. im starting to think she is sick and don tknow what to do. Shes just standing there falling asleep. Is this at all normal for when they take abreak from sitting?

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I just want to give a genuine heartfelt thanks to Fisherlady and Lady of McCamley for their fountain of information they supplied so many and myself on this thread. We found this beautiful surprise when we came home from camping late this morning and then just moments ago:





We watched a brood mate join our one chick as it zipped it's shell in a matter of moments and strongly pushed itself into it's new beautiful world. The silkie Momma seems to be doing a wonderful job teaching the older one to eat already and keeping them tucked under when chilled. We are thrilled with our 2 out of 7--the rest just never developed or were infertile. We have a friend that set eggs from the same breeder in her kindergarten class room and I think we'll get a buckeye and welsummer from her to add to this brood...maybe tomorrow in the middle of the night. We are in awe of this miracle.

 

[PBGGG]

Hi guys! I have a Muscovy hen sitting on 8 eggs currently, today is day 9 for her. I think this is going to be a staggered hatch, since the other Muscovies keep coming in and laying her some eggs.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I decided not to risk trying to give her the chicks and since i cant let her hatch anything, i was going to take her out of the nesting box. When i started to lift he up, she just walked out of the coop and did a big watery poop that doesnt look normal and now shes just standing outside the coop amd wont eat or drink the food and water im offering her. I also noticed she has a patch of feathers of her fluff. im starting to think she is sick and don tknow what to do. Shes just standing there falling asleep. Is this at all normal for when they take abreak from sitting?

I can't say for certain what is going on, but it does sound concerning if that was truly watery diarrhea, as is the listlessness in connection with that. Watch and wait and this time. If she is brooding, she'll want to go back to the nest and be very interested in gathering her eggs under again. If she is sick, she'll look listless and hung down and may or may not want to go back to the nest and once there will likely be very unconcerned about eggs. Check for any signs of moisture around the eyes and nose, and any nicking, rasping, or gurgling sounds.

A broody hen will act trance like if you lift her up, then awaken, and act more normal even a bit hyper as she stretches, grabs a quick bite/drink, deposits a big poo, and then prepares to return to the nest. Broody poo is typically darker, often thicker almost tar like, but can be a bit thin, and stinkier. If it is hot where you are, chickens can produce a thin watery diarrhea to cool off. It could also be a sign of fever. I'll post a link to poo photos so you can see what I'm talking about.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html

The missing feathers could be normal if they are off her breast, as broodies will pluck their breast to allow better heat transmission to the eggs. Broodies also often molt after they end brooding. If it is missing from the vent area, then suspect lice/mites or possibly gleet which is a fungal infection of the egg tract and can cause listless behavior and runny watery poo, with missing feathers at the vent. (I'll post links of that to compare). If it is vent gleet, it will be important to get good probiotics in the bird and antifungal med if it has gone systemic.
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html

Good luck in figuring out what is going on with your bird.
Lady of McCamley

 

[Dknichelson]

How long after a broody(silkie) hatches eggs will she begin to lay again? I had one hatch eggs and one under the impression that she hatched the eggs and both have stopped laying completely. The chicks are about a months old now.