Broody Hen Thread!

[Rhandi74]

Thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing my LF Cochin with her ducklings. They have grown larger then her but she still insists on mothering them. They are now 6 weeks old and I plan on giving her 2 more weeks with them and if she has not let them go then I will separate them.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

WE HAVE OUR FIRST CHICK! Jade is still sitting on the nest though... which is good, but when will she get up with the chicky and how will the chick eat? We have them in a brooder (nursery) with food and water and a heat lamp up above it.

Chicks do not need food or water for the first two or three days...Nature's way of allowing momma to hatch all the eggs of one batch as the chicks slowly emerge over the course of 24 to 48 hours. Then momma generally will abandon setting on any unhatched eggs and get up to teach the chicks to eat and drink and scratch periodically sitting so they can nap and warm up. You should leave the chicks with momma to raise and not remove them to heat lamp brooder, if that is what you meant, as it is essential they imprint with mom these first few days. She will keep them safe and warm even in cold weather and teach how to be chicks as well as pass on to them her good gut bacteria for protection from coccidiosis. But if I understand your post you have mom and chick under heat lamp? That is likely too warm for the hen and unnecessary for our weather. I see your location and I live 30 minutes away so I know the weather...my broodies have hatched in December and January....even last January when we had 6 inches of snow, sub freezing temperatures and blowing wind. Momma and chicks were in an enclosed hutch out of all direct weather but with no heat and did fine. (You can see pics of that hatch in BCM brood in my signature line.) My winter broodies have never lost a chick that they hatched. It is bizarre to see them scratching and running around in cold weather but they are fine in their little down coats and momma for a warm up hutch. Just keep them out of the rain and draft is all. You would have to transition mom and chick at this point to outdoor weather so it would be best to leave them where they are making sure the heat lamp is far enough away they can get away from it. If chick only...put it back with mom asap! Congratulations on your new chick and good luck to more. Lady of McCamley

 

[vpatt]

Chicks do not need food or water for the first two or three days...Nature's way of allowing momma to hatch all the eggs of one batch as the chicks slowly emerge over the course of 24 to 48 hours.

Then momma generally will abandon setting on any unhatched eggs and get up to teach the chicks to eat and drink and scratch periodically sitting so they can nap and warm up.

You should leave the chicks with momma to raise and not remove them to heat lamp brooder, if that is what you meant, as it is essential they imprint with mom these first few days. She will keep them safe and warm even in cold weather and teach how to be chicks as well as pass on to them her good gut bacteria for protection from coccidiosis.

But if I understand your post you have mom and chick under heat lamp? That is likely too warm for the hen and unnecessary for our weather. I see your location and I live 30 minutes away so I know the weather...my broodies have hatched in December and January....even last January when we had 6 inches of snow, sub freezing temperatures and blowing wind. Momma and chicks were in an enclosed hutch out of all direct weather but with no heat and did fine. (You can see pics of that hatch in BCM brood in my signature line.)

My winter broodies have never lost a chick that they hatched. It is bizarre to see them scratching and running around in cold weather but they are fine in their little down coats and momma for a warm up hutch. Just keep them out of the rain and draft is all.

You would have to transition mom and chick at this point to outdoor weather so it would be best to leave them where they are making sure the heat lamp is far enough away they can get away from it. If chick only...put it back with mom asap!

Congratulations on your new chick and good luck to more.
Lady of McCamley

They are so cute and at this stage look (to me) just like the three that my broody hatched out Sunday.

Errg....that was supposed to go jynuine

 

[JRL1438]

Hi Everyone!

I have an update on my broody (Twiggs). She had 10 of her 11 eggs hatch and is still wanting to keep the last egg. I candled the last egg and it's full and has a good air cell in it so we are going to see what happens overnight. We carried her box outside today so she could use the bathroom, dust bath, or whatever and the chicks followed but then gravitated over to my daughters leg where it was warmer. Twiggs quickly did what she had to do then returned to her box, clucked, and the little fluffies followed. I took a few pictures while they were out and hope to get some close up individual shots later. Twiggs is a Silkie/EE cross and the daddy is a black with silver leakage Silkie.




Watching mom dust bath

 

[MelissaZeno]

Those babies are so darn cute!

 

[Jynuine]

These two are in a fairly good size brooder on legs with a lid- the heat lamp was over the top of the lid so her water doesnt freeze It's not actually inside the brooder.

I was worried about Jade's shriveled comb (I know she is pretty dehydrated) so I picked her up and moved her to the water. She mostly wanted to eat but baby squeaked like normal and fumbled down to mama and under her and she did a good job of letting her. Im very confident she will be a good mama
I moved them back to the neat after she wasn't interested in water. The heat lamp is quite high- I think it's only maybe 60 degrees in the brooder, it's just in the barn so it's very red from the lamp.

 

 

[Lady of McCamley]

These two are in a fairly good size brooder on legs with a lid- the heat lamp was over the top of the lid so her water doesnt freeze

It's not actually inside the brooder.

I was worried about Jade's shriveled comb (I know she is pretty dehydrated) so I picked her up and moved her to the water. She mostly wanted to eat but baby squeaked like normal and fumbled down to mama and under her and she did a good job of letting her. Im very confident she will be a good mama

I moved them back to the neat after she wasn't interested in water. The heat lamp is quite high- I think it's only maybe 60 degrees in the brooder, it's just in the barn so it's very red from the lamp.

Sounds like you've considered things very well. I just mention stuff like that to be sure those who don't know are aware, especially those who lurk reading posts.

As long as mom can get away from the heat when/if she wants to, that should be fine...I know how frustrating it is to have to haul water...but momma and chick will have to be re-acclimated to the ambient normal temp if it is different before being released to outside, which I am sure you had full intention of doing...again just saying for those who don't know who read these threads.

We in this part of Oregon are lucky that our water doesn't freeze a lot...I have had great luck with an electrically heated dog bowl purchased from Amazon for the larger flock (less than $20 and still going strong on year 2 or 3?). I learned from another BYC'er to flip the dog bowl over, fill the crevice with sand, and then put the normal quart size chick waterer on top to keep it from freezing...that way the babies and mom can have unfrozen water without the potential heat lamp issues.

You've probably got great wiring in that barn, but I burned a coop down with a small heat lamp when I was using it to transition some pullets in a cold snap in November a few years back.But I had it on an extension cord (brand new, rated for outdoors)...the chickens knocked it down and it sparked into a conflagration. Lost all hens and that coop....lucky I didn't lose our house or the neighbors as it must have gone up like a roman candle.

If it is just water freezing, you may consider one of those dog bowls inverted for when their are chicks, right side up for full size hens. Others use fish tank warmers in nipple buckets if you've gone that route.

If you haven't connected yet, the Oregon Poultry Swap Facebook pages are very helpful for connecting and finding resources locally.

So happy to see your little brood and happy momma....oh, don't worry about the comb...especially if she is not wanting to drink...the comb shrinks because of the hormones during brooding...it will look very pathetic by the time she is done, but if she has free access to food and water, she is likely just fine.

BTW....Welcome to BYC too! Great too see someone else from my neck of the woods on here at the Broody spot
Lady of McCamley

 

[ChickyChickens]

Good!! I hope they all survive!

LOL...6/6 hatch!!

Will hens go broody in the winter time? It has been very cold.

Mine do...but here Winter is almost the same as Summer...this year so far I have gotten twice as many broodies in Winter than Summer!

WE HAVE OUR FIRST CHICK!
Jade is still sitting on the nest though... which is good, but when will she get up with the chicky and how will the chick eat? We have them in a brooder (nursery) with food and water and a heat lamp up above it.

Nice I love the ones with a brown face!! What breed??

Hi Everyone!

I have an update on my broody (Twiggs). She had 10 of her 11 eggs hatch and is still wanting to keep the last egg. I candled the last egg and it's full and has a good air cell in it so we are going to see what happens overnight. We carried her box outside today so she could use the bathroom, dust bath, or whatever and the chicks followed but then gravitated over to my daughters leg where it was warmer. Twiggs quickly did what she had to do then returned to her box, clucked, and the little fluffies followed. I took a few pictures while they were out and hope to get some close up individual shots later. Twiggs is a Silkie/EE cross and the daddy is a black with silver leakage Silkie.




Watching mom dust bath

WOW!! Those babes are SOOOOOOO Cute!!

 

[mymilliefleur]

Cute chicks!!!!

Mine are a little over a week old now, and I think they are both roosters.

 

[ChickyChickens]

Cute chicks!!!!

Mine are a little over a week old now, and I think they are both roosters.

Sorry bout that!!!