Broody Hen Thread!

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Thanks, "Mommy 2 Wee Ones". I think they are fine. It's my long young Speckled Susex pullet that I feel bad for. I had to re-home her buddy because she turned out to be a he (they were sold to me as 7 week-old pullets), and now the chicklets and mama have squeezed her off the main roost and she sleeps by herself on a secondary roost on the other side of the coop. :-(

I am just wondering ... since your two remaining chicks are from an early June hatch, wouldn't they be old enough to be integrated in with the main flock? Mine were hatched July 17, so quite a bit younger than yours, and they are fine all together, but that's probably because they were always able to see the main flock from their section of the run and the only time the girls didn't see them with their mama was at night because they had their own broody coop in their section of the run. We took down the fencing a few weekends back, and the integration went remarkably well: just some chest bumping and pulling on mama silkie's topknot, but everyone seemed to sort things out rather quickly. We have a compost area in the run where we toss kitchen scraps a veggie garden rejects and I also threw down some scratch and some clover pulled up from the yard, so they were happy and distracted.
Am I correct in my assumption that the reason you are waiting for them to get older/bigger before you integrate is because they have separate living space and can't see the rest of the gang at all? If so, maybe, if it's possible, you can set up an area within your main pen with some temporary fencing, so everyone can get used to one another a bit without the risk of physical altercations? I think it may make integration less of a deal, and you may be able to do it sooner.

Back2Roots, Because the 2 chicks are Banty size, I am a bit worried that their Father might hurt them. Their pen is in full view of the other chickens, so they can see each other. No Name was fighting with one of the hens through the wire & she pecked his comb & made him bleed, which upset my youngest daughter. The pen is welded wire, with chicken wire at the bottom, because they were so little when they went in, they could squeeze through the welded wire.


This is Hank, he is the father of No Name & Puffles. Hank is 1/2 Silkie & 1/2 Buff Orph.
It is hard to see how big he is in this picture, since I took it on a step above him. But he would not stay still long enough for me to get a good shot of him.


This is No Name, Momma is our Banty, Hank is Daddy. As you can see, No Name has a very good view
of the yard, yesterday he also tried to mount one of the EE who flew into their pen, to steal food from them.



And last but not least....Puffles, see the Silkie throwback, looks nothing like Hank LOL
This is why I am now wondering if Lollypop could be his Mother, because she is also 1/2 Silkie.
Puffles has always been tall, even as a chick, that is why I now think that Ramin (Banty) is not it Mama.

The other pen is next to the main coop, and No Name & Puffles would have plenty of room to roam, and also be in view of the other chickens. And since Puffles can't fly, I would like to keep him safe from Bossy Hens. LOL I am thinking that in the spring, when the other possible chicks to be, will be close to 5-6 months old, and be big enough to integrate with No Name & Puffles, then they can be their own little flock, and not have to battle their Father & Uncle for hens.

 

[ChickyChickens]

2 more of my hens have decided today that they want to be mommas (one second time and the others first time, she is 21 weeks)The older bigger one has got 15 eggs and the other one is smaller so she only has 12 (and its her first time..)
They are due in the beginning of October! cant wait to see some more little fluff balls!

 

[Kathyandmark]

We have been doing Chickens for about two years, We have a broody Americana.. So since our town does not allow roosters
we found someone who sells fertilized eggs..we bought 12. 2nd day we found only 11 eggs..then dropped to 9 and now we only
have 7.. we have been reading blogs and it seems that we should seperate her from the others so we wont be taking the chance of eggs broken and taking the wrong egg. So my questions are.. Are they eating them... could it be her doing it and I will take any information on the brooding subject cause I would love to have little chicks come into my flock (seems they are so tight it takes a
long long time to incoporate any new hens.. Can someone give me information on how to have the eggs fertlize this way... THanks

 

[Back2Roots]

Quote:
Ohhh, now I get it ... I didn't realize you were talking about bantams and large breed integration. I think your plan for their own little flock sounds like the best idea for you/them. I enjoyed looking at the pics. You have an interesting mix of birds - all very handsome, pretty or cute!

 

[tangles88]

Great thread. My australorp went broody. I bought 12 fertilised eggs to hatch. I separated her completely from the other hens and coop. Unfortunately she broke 2 of them on separate occasions. I cleaned up the mess each time so hoping the rest will be okay.
We have one more week before we hopefully get chicks.
Do you have advice on the best way to integrate the new mother and chicks with the main flock once they arrive?

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

We have been doing Chickens for about two years, We have a broody Americana.. So since our town does not allow roosters
we found someone who sells fertilized eggs..we bought 12. 2nd day we found only 11 eggs..then dropped to 9 and now we only
have 7.. we have been reading blogs and it seems that we should seperate her from the others so we wont be taking the chance of eggs broken and taking the wrong egg. So my questions are.. Are they eating them... could it be her doing it and I will take any information on the brooding subject cause I would love to have little chicks come into my flock (seems they are so tight it takes a
long long time to incoporate any new hens.. Can someone give me information on how to have the eggs fertlize this way... THanks

Kathyandmark, My hen who is broody now & sitting on eggs, was broody, or what I thought was broody back in May. A friend gave me 3 fertile eggs, and I put the eggs with her & put her on lockdown. I checked on her every other day, just to check food & water, each time, she was sitting on the nest. At the one week mark, I went in to check her & she was roaming around, I looked at the nest & no eggs, no shells, nada. So she ate them, and I let her out, because she was no longer broody. Fast forward 3 1/2 months later, and this same hen is broody again and sitting on close to a dozen eggs. Have only seen her up off the nest twice in 9 days, and then right back on after maybe 10 minutes of stretching her legs an eating & drinking (even though I have food & water under the stairs with her.)
Are your hens puffing & growling at you when you get within touching distance? Is she in with the others? You may need to make her, her own space away from everyone else. I made a broody house 3 years ago, when my Buff Orph went broody, and then a week later had to make another, because one of my other Buff Orph went broody too. A quick & easy way to make a broody house, is to use a wood pallet as your base, plywood floor, sides & roof, and a door cutout. Then make sliders on either side of the door frame to slide the door into. I pitched the roof, so rain and or leaves would not pile up on the roof.

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Quote:
Banty Mama can hold her own with the other hens, but adding another roo into the mix, I don't think it would go well for No Name. I just want to be on the safe side. Thanks, I have always like variety with my hens, make a more interesting flock. My girls still miss our roo, Owl, he is the one on my avitar. He was a GLW, very sweet, and took care of his ladies.

 

[ChickyChickens]

Great thread. My australorp went broody. I bought 12 fertilised eggs to hatch. I separated her completely from the other hens and coop. Unfortunately she broke 2 of them on separate occasions. I cleaned up the mess each time so hoping the rest will be okay.
We have one more week before we hopefully get chicks.
Do you have advice on the best way to integrate the new mother and chicks with the main flock once they arrive?

I don't know what your situation is but in my situation I have a huge farm on which they can free-range! So I normally leave mine to do it by themselves\. They normally get it right but if they don't then I will let my hen out only when I am supervising so that I can intervene! I normally doo this for about a week before she has finally been integrated into the flock!

 

[justin24]

Here's fluff ball

her second brood

 

[justin24]

And this is tinka bell