She is doing great this morning! Babies are snuggled, food and water close by. She is still sitting though, she may need a day or two to get off the nest with them. I closed the coop off for now, because she is in the favorite nest box. Once she gets them up, I will move her to a better broody area. Yeah! So glad the grafting worked!
Broody Hen Thread!
- Thread starter FarmerBoy24
- Start date
Thanks, Marie. It did work.
They all wound up on the main roost, top rung, sandwiched between mama and my head hen.
Awww, so sweet!
I wouldn't worry about her sitting. The babies still need lots of warmth and sleep time. She'll get them up and about when they are ready.
Oh how cute! Mama looks happy and the chicks are even happier!She is doing great this morning! Babies are snuggled, food and water close by. She is still sitting though, she may need a day or two to get off the nest with them. I closed the coop off for now, because she is in the favorite nest box. Once she gets them up, I will move her to a better broody area. Yeah! So glad the grafting worked!
I love happy endings!
Oh how sweet. Isnt that the cutest thing? Take some pictures if you can.
Marie
Back2Roots - Had the same issue last year, kept mine separate till they were big enough to handle the big girls bossing them. My issue right now is, my two remaining chicks from my early June hatch, are the size of their Mama (Banty Hen), their father is more than twice their size, one chick is a roo, the other is a "I have no clue". It is a throw back to it's silkie grandpa, so I have to wait till it crows or lays. Because of their size, at night they are moved to a large black water container, and are in their own pen during the day. I hope by Nov. they will be big enough to move into the slikie pen, which has it's own fenced in area and coop.
I have a Broody Mama, who is sitting on, I don't know how many eggs, for a week now. I just hope none are her's (her half brothers are the Roo's), most of the eggs are from my EE, and my little Banty. She is under the stairs of our deck, and is so far back that we can not reach her. So I hope that she does not do what she did last time we though she went broody, and put her on lock-down....and eat the eggs.
Good Luck with your little ones.
I have a Broody Mama, who is sitting on, I don't know how many eggs, for a week now. I just hope none are her's (her half brothers are the Roo's), most of the eggs are from my EE, and my little Banty. She is under the stairs of our deck, and is so far back that we can not reach her. So I hope that she does not do what she did last time we though she went broody, and put her on lock-down....and eat the eggs.
Good Luck with your little ones.
I feel ashamed to not know what I have for Bantams. But I have a young Bantam hen, red w/ leggings that is setting. Since the only hens I have laying are 2 EE, and 2 Banties,(not sure which ones, or kind) that is what she is setting on. Haven't dared disturb her to see. If I can figure out how to post pics on here maybe someone can tell me what I have. How many days should she set for hatching? Don't really want any more chickens, but would be fun to try this just once. Already had to give away one Bantam rooster because he had singled out one hen and had her so terrorized that she wouldn't return to coop at night. Oh, and will she leave the nest to eat and drink or should I separate her somehow?
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Sadie57, your broody hen will sit for 21 days, but they could start hatching in 20. Broody Mama's take about a week to collect the eggs they want to sit on. But once they are on, that it is. I put food (chick start) & water close to my Broody Mama (and check it ever other day), so she does not have to get up much. About the halfway mark, you may see her get off the nest and stretch her legs, and do that big poop, that you swear could never come out of a chicken, but does. Mine has been off the nest up to 20 minutes, and then gets back on for the long haul. My Buff Orph were easy when they got broody, I could move them & their eggs to the broody house I build & put them on lock down, till the chicks started hatching.
My first broody hatch, I kept Momma & babies locked in, till all the eggs hatched, then let them explore in their own fenced in area. Both my broody Mama's left their babies by 3 weeks. The next year, as chicks hatched out, we snatched them from Mama & brought them into the house & raised them till they could go out to their own pen. This spring, Mama nested under our deck steps & because we were afraid the chicks might get injured by our other chickens, I snatched them from Mama, and brought them inside the house. The next day Mama came out & I put her with her babies, inside the house. Mama was a Banty, so she had room inside the rubbermaid container to move around.
The one who is broody now, is also under the stairs, so I am on watch, have 2 more weeks to go, before we know how many chicks we may get. I will do the same thing, snatch them away from Mama, till she is done hatching all the eggs, then bring her in with her chicks. She is bigger than a Banty, but not as big as a full size hen, she is half Silkie. So I may try to find a plastic container that is a bit wider, to give her more move around space.
The date is wrong, she was born May 2013, and Lollypop was about 4 months old when this pic was taken. You can see her head poof in this shot.
She tried to go broody this past May, but she changed her mind.
This is our Banty, Ramin & her 4 chicks, 2 were lost to a snake, when they were 8 - 9 weeks old.
Mama went back to the main coop when the chicks were 5 weeks old, we moved the babies to their own coop at 7 weeks.
When the snake got the two, we moved them back to the large black watering container we used for the duck pond.
So each evening we go out, gather the two little ones up, and put them to bed, and in the morning, let them out in their own
penned area.
If we get any chicks out of this next hatch, we will have to do some rearranging, the older 2 chicks will have to be moved to the empty coop I have (separate fenced in area), and the new chicks will get the other penned in area. I have never had chicks this late in the year, my hens always went broody April - June, so this is new to me to have one go broody this late in the year.
As long as your Broody Mama is in a safe quiet place, and is not being bothered by the other hens, she should be fine. Just start looking for chicks a few days before you think they are due, just in case your dates are off.
Good Luck!
My first broody hatch, I kept Momma & babies locked in, till all the eggs hatched, then let them explore in their own fenced in area. Both my broody Mama's left their babies by 3 weeks. The next year, as chicks hatched out, we snatched them from Mama & brought them into the house & raised them till they could go out to their own pen. This spring, Mama nested under our deck steps & because we were afraid the chicks might get injured by our other chickens, I snatched them from Mama, and brought them inside the house. The next day Mama came out & I put her with her babies, inside the house. Mama was a Banty, so she had room inside the rubbermaid container to move around.
The one who is broody now, is also under the stairs, so I am on watch, have 2 more weeks to go, before we know how many chicks we may get. I will do the same thing, snatch them away from Mama, till she is done hatching all the eggs, then bring her in with her chicks. She is bigger than a Banty, but not as big as a full size hen, she is half Silkie. So I may try to find a plastic container that is a bit wider, to give her more move around space.
The date is wrong, she was born May 2013, and Lollypop was about 4 months old when this pic was taken. You can see her head poof in this shot.
She tried to go broody this past May, but she changed her mind.
This is our Banty, Ramin & her 4 chicks, 2 were lost to a snake, when they were 8 - 9 weeks old.
Mama went back to the main coop when the chicks were 5 weeks old, we moved the babies to their own coop at 7 weeks.
When the snake got the two, we moved them back to the large black watering container we used for the duck pond.
So each evening we go out, gather the two little ones up, and put them to bed, and in the morning, let them out in their own
penned area.
If we get any chicks out of this next hatch, we will have to do some rearranging, the older 2 chicks will have to be moved to the empty coop I have (separate fenced in area), and the new chicks will get the other penned in area. I have never had chicks this late in the year, my hens always went broody April - June, so this is new to me to have one go broody this late in the year.
As long as your Broody Mama is in a safe quiet place, and is not being bothered by the other hens, she should be fine. Just start looking for chicks a few days before you think they are due, just in case your dates are off.
Good Luck!
I agree, it is cute. I can try for a photo, but it's getting dark earlier and earlier here and the girls like to leave it until the last possible moment to retire for the night, so the there's not a lot of light left in the coop. I hate to disturb them with a flash when they're settling in, but maybe they won't care.
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