Broody Hen Thread!

[fisherlady]

I have a americauna x silkie hen that just started laying:.. Only lasted about 10 days then went broody. After a couple weeks I thought I would stick a couple eggs from a friend under her. Sure enough, 21 days later we got two Banty babies! They are doing well. We thought of separating as our 5 sex links are in the same coop... But decided to mess with them as little as possible. She is still stealing other hen's eggs and sitting on them. Should I get more fertiIle eggs? How long will she stay broody for?

I have to second PD Riverman's question.... does she still have her two chicks?

If so, then most likely she is just being slow to transition from 'hatching mode' to 'mama mode'. Some first time broody hens just get a bit confused. It is normal for a hen to spend a couple of days after hatch still on the nest because the little ones need cuddling and warmth more than food those first 2 or 3 days. The little ones do hop out from under her for short periods, but it isn't until day 2 or 3 that you see them out of the nest area for any length of time usually. (I say 'usually because I do have a couple of experienced broodies who seem to get the gang out within 24 hrs of the last hatcher being dry, but they are my 'drill sergeant' broodies! LOL)
Attempt to stop her from taking the other hen's eggs or check her multiple times a day to remove any she does get, if need be you may separate her for a couple of days to an area/pen/cage that makes her concentrate just on the 2 chicks she already has. When you notice her spending more time up and about with the youngsters teaching them to scratch and do general 'chicken things' and only going back to a nest area for a warm up once in a while or for the overnight then she is finished with the hatch mode and is probably going to be fine adding her back into the regular coop area. This would normally only take 2 or 3 days. She may snap out of it if you just move her to a different nest within the coop, but you would most likely need to block off access to her old nest area, and maybe even visually block it off.

Do not get additional eggs! The hen needs to concentrate on the chicks she already has and having already spent 5 weeks being broody so you should not encourage her to set any longer, even if she will.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I prep her nest/hay/bedding so it is concaved. I then put every how many eggs in the nest I feel she can cover good----smaller hens less bigger hens more. My biggest hens get 12 to 14, my game bantam get 7/8 regular chicken eggs around 10/12 bantam eggs.

I had one experienced person--he hatches out 500 in a year--tell me that you should always have an odd number of eggs in the nest. Odd numbers tend to form a round shape. which is the same shape as the hen. Even numbers of eggs form a square or rectangle and an egg invariably ends up out from under the hen and gets chilled. It isn't always the same egg that gets chilled, so the whole clutch of eggs can end up chilled one at a time. That's also why you don't want to put too many eggs under the hen--they don't fit and some get chilled, she rolls them back under her and another egg pops out and gets chilled.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I have a americauna x silkie hen that just started laying:.. Only lasted about 10 days then went broody. After a couple weeks I thought I would stick a couple eggs from a friend under her. Sure enough, 21 days later we got two Banty babies! They are doing well. We thought of separating as our 5 sex links are in the same coop... But decided to mess with them as little as possible. She is still stealing other hen's eggs and sitting on them. Should I get more fertile eggs? How long will she stay broody for?

Doesn't she have some babies to take care of? How long ago did the babies hatch?

My little Silkie hatched an egg and then went broody several weeks later. She also laid eggs at the same time, silly thing. She was in a pen by herself with her chicks and had a little dog-house coop. I never thought to check for eggs so soon after hatching a chick and ended up with about ten eggs the dog was happy to eat--she would sit on her eggs and her chick. I ended up taking her away from her chick when it was two or three months old so I could combine it with the 7 chicks another broody hatched at the same time. She wasn't happy about it, but she stopped being broody althoughshe wasn't really all that committed to being broody anyway.

I see a lot of posts that seem to suggest that if the hen is broody, she needs to brood. I don't think there is any biological need to fulfill the brooding instinct.

I have a bunch of backyard Silkies that seem to always be feeling various levels of broodiness. When I go out to check for eggs, I just pick them up and put them down by the food. Sometimes they eat and go hang around with the other chickens, sometimes they go back to the nest. I do this several times a day. They are keeping good weight so I just let them be. Their egg production is not an issue for me or I would do something to get them out of their broodiness.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Gramma Diane is still trucking along on her eggs. Next Sunday/Monday should be the moment of truth

(I may or may not be debating taking a personal day, lol)

 

[Blooie]

Gramma Diane is still trucking along on her eggs. Next Sunday/Monday should be the moment of truth

(I may or may not be debating taking a personal day, lol)

Every time I see you refer to Gramma Diane I have to chuckle. That's ME! Yup - all of the families at the Ronald MacDonald House in Aurora, Colorado, called me that.

 

[Rhandi74]

Here is a few pics of Jewel with her ducklings.

Today's lesson dust bathing. She must think they are very slow learners since she has been trying to teach them to scratch for several days now. I think she decided to move on to the next lesson and hope they will eventually catch on to something. LOL

 

[fisherlady]

Here is a few pics of Jewel with her ducklings.


Today's lesson dust bathing. She must think they are very slow learners since she has been trying to teach them to scratch for several days now. I think she decided to move on to the next lesson and hope they will eventually catch on to something. LOL

they are adorable! And it is cute that she is trying so hard to teach them to be good little chickens!

but wait till they find a mud puddle and start trying to swim! She will freak!

 

[calliescluckers]

@fisherlady88 thanks for your reply! Yes she has her two chicks!

 

[ChickyChickens]

they are adorable! And it is cute that she is trying so hard to teach them to be good little chickens!

but wait till they find a mud puddle and start trying to swim! She will freak!

LOL, one of my hens raised a batch of goslings and when they were about 3 weeks old (it had rained a lot the previous evening) they found a puddle! They jumped right in! The poor hen did not understand what was going on and was trying to call them out, but nothing worked. I felt so sorry for her, she had this wierd look on her face as if to say "oh my word, since when do chicks take water baths)
LOL, it was soo funny!

 

[calichicken]

Hi All!
I had a question I am hoping some experienced broody hen people can answer! I have a bantam cochin that has been broody most of the summer and hatched some chicks. She just finished her broody cycle(no eggs to hatch this time) about 2 weeks ago. My question is when or will she grow back in those breast and belly feathers she plucked out when she was broody? If so, how long typically does it take(assuming she doesn't go broody AGAIN LOL!) Thanks so much for any info