Broody Hen Thread!

[Arkansas81]

well i thought my alice went broody again-glw. so i put 5 eggs for her, well i've seen her off the nest now and again, but when she is off the nest another one of my hens plops herself down and sits. this goes on through out the day. everytime i go to collect and inspect the eggs they are in a different position (still in the same nesting box) and toasty warm. i marked the ones i wanted left out there and i collect the fresh.

well this morning went out and lacy (cochin banty) is sitting on about 12-13 eggs, not moving, growling, puffing up at me. i feed the others, walk in and out of the coop, collect the other eggs-she is staying put! so now i guess she is "playing" the momma game like the others. all the eggs but 2-3 are going to be my smaller breeds, the others my LF. i watched her as she got herself all settled back in to see if she was able to cover them all completely-she did!

so question if she decides she is going to raise them, can she? she is tin-y, i'm sure they will be bigger than her in a couple of weeks no problem. will she be able to handle the larger chicks ok? or should i fix her and the chicks their own spot after they hatch?

i'm new to this hatching thing...so what do you all think? thanks!

 

[FirewifeJess]

well i thought my alice went broody again-glw. so i put 5 eggs for her, well i've seen her off the nest now and again, but when she is off the nest another one of my hens plops herself down and sits. this goes on through out the day. everytime i go to collect and inspect the eggs they are in a different position (still in the same nesting box) and toasty warm. i marked the ones i wanted left out there and i collect the fresh.

well this morning went out and lacy (cochin banty) is sitting on about 12-13 eggs, not moving, growling, puffing up at me. i feed the others, walk in and out of the coop, collect the other eggs-she is staying put! so now i guess she is "playing" the momma game like the others. all the eggs but 2-3 are going to be my smaller breeds, the others my LF. i watched her as she got herself all settled back in to see if she was able to cover them all completely-she did!

so question if she decides she is going to raise them, can she? she is tin-y, i'm sure they will be bigger than her in a couple of weeks no problem. will she be able to handle the larger chicks ok? or should i fix her and the chicks their own spot after they hatch?

i'm new to this hatching thing...so what do you all think? thanks!

I think it will be fine, don't worry. If you want a real life example of a banty raising large fowl, check out the Chicken Chick on Facebook; she had a Silkie named Frieda hatch a bunch (IIRC 6-7) Buff Orpingtons! They're HUGE compared to her and she's still mothering them.

 

[erinchelsea]

Well I went out and stuck 13 eggs under my BA broody. 7 I gathered today and 6 I had sitting on my counter from yesterday. Wish me luck!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Well I went out and stuck 13 eggs under my BA broody. 7 I gathered today and 6 I had sitting on my counter from yesterday. Wish me luck!

Good luck!! Hey, even if you get just a few "free" chicks, that's awesome!

 

[Jharper]

I wish my BA would go broody. I have to build some more nest boxes for them.

 

[Arkansas81]

FireWife-thanks for the info! Good to know, so I guess at the end of the month I might have some fluffy butts

 

[FirewifeJess]

Mama with her surrochicks

 

[Jharper]

Mama with her surrochicks

She's like imma gonna get ya if you don't leave me alone!!! HAHA

 

[erinchelsea]

So stinking cute!!!

 

[erinchelsea]

I moved my mama tonight to a separate pen within the coop. Hope she likes it! The other girls were trying to lay in her nest box, today she had 5 extra eggs in there so I had to separate her. It will be great for after the chicks hatch too.