Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

If I remember correctly she is bottom left. Could be bottom middle. Either way the door to the coop is immediately left of the boxes and any rigging would make it where I could not get in. My husband and I are both off tomorrow from work and I think we will rig something up in another corner. Now I just need to find some eggs I want her to hatch and hope she cooperates with my plan. Think I'll do like PD riverman suggested and trade out eggs everyday until I get the ones I want. Which will give me opportunity to move her and see how she does with it. You guys are all great with the help. Wouldn't normally be able to be on here this much at work but as I'm a labor nurse no one wants to have a baby today if they can help it.

Sounds like a plan.

BTW: You only need to trade out eggs if others are laying in that nest...a regular egg can be used as a "throw away" and not go bad for several weeks. I wouldn't bother her at least for a few days...just feed her nummy treats after you move her and let her settle in on eggs without disturbing her. Then when you are ready swap out those eggs for the ones you want her to hatch which will be fresh and set at the same time.

My thoughts.
Lady of McCamely

 

[n3kms]

Well, she was only sitting on one egg. Most of my eggs are fertile so I had to remove it. But I don't have my breeds separate and I have a BLRW roo and a Cream legbar roo. So I wanted her to hatch some purebred chicks. I have made a little pen in the coop.

You can see Anastasia in the lower left nest box. I was planning move her and her golf ball tonight to the cardboard box. Does it look like this setup will work? She will be able to have her own water and bowl of food. And a small area to dust bath and stretch her legs.

 

[fisherlady]

N3Kms, the setup looks very workable for her brooding time. If you plan to keep her in there after the chicks hatch you will need to add some small size mesh or wire fence around the base to contain the chicks. 1/2 inch hardware cloth works well for that.

 

[n3kms]

N3Kms, the setup looks very workable for her brooding time. If you plan to keep her in there after the chicks hatch you will need to add some small size mesh or wire fence around the base to contain the chicks. 1/2 inch hardware cloth works well for that.

Thanks. I do have some of that but it is only 2 ft tall, we used it on the bottom of the run for that very reason. I will probably add that or I may just open it up after they hatch and hope she protects them well. Might hear other folks experience, this being my first time. I guess every fllock has different dynamics. Mine don't all necessarily love each other but they seem to get along okay. When I mixed the 10 older ones with 14 that were 5 weeks younger they kind of bossed them around but didn't try to hurt them. I could keep them in for a bit but because I don't have proper walls in the coop there would probably still be escape holes. I might be able to work it. Probably would be better for them to have a few days of peace. Be even better if this wasn't during the winter.

 

[fisherlady]

For inexperienced hens or flocks new to broodies and babies it is nice to give the mama hen a few days of peace and quiet with the chicks. The small mesh wire only needs to be about 8 to 12 inches high, it is just to prevent problems of them escaping and hens on the outside from pecking at them. the barrier can be removed after you have a chance to evaluate the flock behavior and after you see that the mama hen has her chicks listening for her vocalizations.

 

[n3kms]

That sounds like a good plan. I need a better way to secure the area where I planned to get in and out. There is an opening I have to work on. I went out to collect eggs and check on Anastasia and there were two eggs in the box I had set up I guess it must be an acceptable nest box. Now I just have to make it an inaccessible nest box. Think I'll leave her where she is until I get it figured out.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I wanted her to hatch some purebred chicks.

Are you getting some purebred eggs?

 

[n3kms]

Yes, I am planning to. I was wanting some Bresse in the spring and was hoping for a broody then. I know someone a few hours away with some. But I think I will try to get some heritage barred rocks from DMRippy. She lives about 45 min away.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I concur with Fisherlady. Looks like you have a good plan.

 

[n3kms]

I might have had a good plan but I kind of screwed it up. We were finishing up the enclosure and it was not good and dark outside but was pretty dark in the coop, so I decided to go ahead and move her. She just sat on the new nest and didn't move, so all good, right? Well my husband shined a light on her to see how she was doing before we left. She didn't react so I took a picture and the flash put her over the edge. She jumped up and tried to get back to her nest box. She couldn't so she just sat on the floor all night. My husband went out after light and she had got back in the new box but when he opened the enclosure to put food in she ran out and went out of the coop and got some food. Now she is back in the original nest box. I guess I messed that up. I'll try again tonight. Not getting my eggs till Tuesday so I have a little time. Figure is i chronicle this maybe someone else won't make my same mistakes. Oh and one more thing. I replaced her egg with a golf ball but when I moved her there was an egg in the nest. It was not hers because it was blue. When I moved her I moved both golf ball and egg. When she moved back she took the egg but not the golf ball. Sometimes chickens seems pretty dumb and sometimes pretty smart.