Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

She could be a Brown Leghorn with game....the brighter coloring on the chest could have come from the OEGB...or Welsummer...but she has white ear lobes...and I *think* Red is dominant (Welsummer has red)...but some OEGB colors have white earlobes, I believe. Her small size indicates bantam or OEGB came into play. At times, unless you do genetic testing, all you can say is she is a "wee brown bird."

With both your information we decided to leave her and divide the nesting area of coop and keep her on original nest.

The interesting thing is. She's stealing the smaller eggs none of my RIR's or BR. This may sound stupid but can they tell the bigger eggs from the smaller ones? Cause she seems to know.

Yes...they can have a preference. I personally have not seen them choose any specific color...others may comment on that.

I'm still debating moving her to her own place once babies hatch. Is this recommended or should I let nature take it's course? Every hen is scared of her right now. It actually started about two days before she started to go broody. She was trying to bite anyone who came close to her.
I always keep my broody and chicks separate for the first few weeks as I have small, non-dominant hens brooding, but others like to integrate immediately, and that works with the right flock dynamics. You can try her in the main coop with the new chicks...as long as you have chick-proofed the area for escapees and stupid chick tricks...they are incredibly adept at getting themselves into fixes, so look at their eye level. She is so dominant, I think she will do fine with the others around as they respect her. HOWEVER, watch closely as she will have been out of sight for several weeks which could move her out of the top pecking order spot, and trying to fight her way back up could endanger chicks if another stepped into the vacuum. Hopefully your roo will keep things settled.

One more issue which hopefully will be resolved when we divide the nesting area. My BR is stealing her eggs now and sitting

I kicked her out of the nesting box and carefully moved eggs back.
Yep...that is why I keep the broodies separate...the egg tussles. Sounds like your Barred is contemplating brooding too. She may need her own spot

Happy brooding
Lady of McCamley

 

[Angie16hearts]

Happy brooding
Lady of McCamley

You are so helpful ! And full of great knowledge ! I really appreciate walking me through this. As of course I will have more questions as it gets closer to hatching date.

As for the loss of a egg last night. I didn't know they kept them in there wings. I read somewhere they will move with beak or under wings. So guess makes sense. I'm bummed it was my EE egg because my Roo is a EE. But it is what it is. I realize I will loose a few. I hope not however nature is crazy cool! I love watching the process. I hope my rock doesn't go broody. I'm only ready for one right now. I believe she will be broody most her life. In a earlier post I had mentioned she only laid us 5 eggs before she tried to go broody and lost interest. 3 months later I finally get some eggs out of her only to go broody 4 weeks later. I'm very grateful for this thread or I would be lost! I'll keep her process posted.

Day 10 and 18 candle? I am able to move her without her trying to bite me. She trusts me but I don't want to disturb her anymore then needed.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You are so helpful ! And full of great knowledge ! I really appreciate walking me through this. As of course I will have more questions as it gets closer to hatching date.

As for the loss of a egg last night. I didn't know they kept them in there wings. I read somewhere they will move with beak or under wings. So guess makes sense. I'm bummed it was my EE egg because my Roo is a EE. But it is what it is. I realize I will loose a few. I hope not however nature is crazy cool! I love watching the process. I hope my rock doesn't go broody. I'm only ready for one right now. I believe she will be broody most her life. In a earlier post I had mentioned she only laid us 5 eggs before she tried to go broody and lost interest. 3 months later I finally get some eggs out of her only to go broody 4 weeks later. I'm very grateful for this thread or I would be lost! I'll keep her process posted.

Day 10 and 18 candle? I am able to move her without her trying to bite me. She trusts me but I don't want to disturb her anymore then needed.

You are very welcome...I'm glad my experiences have helped...this thread is a great place to learn, and I too have gleaned a lot of useful knowledge from it over the years.

When to candle? Most of us usually candle once (day 10 is good) just so we have an idea of how many to expect to hatch, but you don't have to candle unless you want to. Sometimes it is best to simply wait it out without touching. I prefer not to mess with the eggs a lot as you can introduce bacteria from your hands and simply interrupt stuff...especially as it gets close to hatch day...a lot of broodies hatch on day 20 rather than 21, so I try to avoid a day 18 check unless I have a compelling reason.

Compelling reasons to candle can be if you are trying to maximize hatch rate...ie juggle expensive shipped eggs between incubator and broody to get the best hatch rate (putting the best developing ones under the broody or vice versa)....or if it is warm weather and you fear non-developing eggs will go bad and explode (that can happen in hot weather brooding...not the end of the world as most hens clean stuff up amazingly well...but something best to avoid if you can as it introduces bacteria to the nest).

Otherwise, unless you are dying of curiosity, don't candle.

And yes, of course it was the EE egg that hit the floor. :Sigh: Years ago, my eager kids leaned on the shelf and tipped our little dome incubators over about five days into our first hatch ever (4H project) and 4 of the eggs went splat....makes for a very poor hatch rate. Funny thing is, I caught one of the eggs on impulsive reflex...I grabbed the dome as it was falling and happened to catch an egg in the dome...it went "whir-a-whir-a-whir-whump, whump, whump" as it quickly spun to the bottom of the inverted dome. The other egg had somehow managed to nestle safely at the incubator base...thinking the spun cycle egg was a sure loss, I put it back in the incubator with the other thinking what have I got to lose...THAT spun egg is the one that hatched. The other developed but quit at about day 17 and never hatched.

Yes, we all have good tales to tell about brooding and hatching mishaps.

Looking forward to your continued updates.
Lady of McCamley

 

[vpatt]

I have a question about my Partridge Rock pullet. I don't know her exact age but she has looked like laying age for well over a month. I have seen her nosing around the big nest box and today she was in there for at least an hour but NO EGG! please tell me she would not be broody before I have gotten even one egg from her. There is the chance of her hiding eggs but if so I can not find them. And it doesn't seem like she would be interested in that nest if she had a secret nest.....unless it was the broody thing.

 

[fisherlady]

I have a question about my Partridge Rock pullet. I don't know her exact age but she has looked like laying age for well over a month. I have seen her nosing around the big nest box and today she was in there for at least an hour but NO EGG! please tell me she would not be broody before I have gotten even one egg from her. There is the chance of her hiding eggs but if so I can not find them. And it doesn't seem like she would be interested in that nest if she had a secret nest.....unless it was the broody thing.

It is not unusual for a pullet to play at laying for weeks before she actually does. Sounds like you may get eggs from her soon.

 

[vpatt]

It is not unusual for a pullet to play at laying for weeks before she actually does.  Sounds like you may get eggs from her soon.

Thank you, that would be wonderful!

 

[vpatt]

It is not unusual for a pullet to play at laying for weeks before she actually does.  Sounds like you may get eggs from her soon.

You were right!! She left an egg in a nest in the coop! I'm so happy to have another layer!

e. e. e

 

[Lady of McCamley]

You were right!! She left an egg in a nest in the coop! I'm so happy to have another layer!

.

.

Yeah! Success!!!

Just remember that she will likely be hit or miss for a bit until her reproductive tract comes into full maturity...and she may give you some pretty funny looking eggs until then.

But as a very nice looking production Partridge Rock, she should make for a nice layer for you...and less likely to go broody...while Rocks can, they are not known for being particularly broody...except for @fisherlady Fisher Lady has a bunch of Silver Penciled Rocks that are brooding machines. :I'm a little green with envy here:

But that is not the norm for Rocks..especially hatchery Rocks...you should have a good layer there once she ramps up (which shouldn't take too long with a hatchery Rock).

Lady of McCamley

 

[vpatt]

Yeah!  Success!!!

Just remember that she will likely be hit or miss for a bit until her reproductive tract comes into full maturity...and she may give you some pretty funny looking eggs until then.

But as a very nice looking production Partridge Rock, she should make for a nice layer for you...and less likely to go broody...while Rocks can, they are not known for being particularly broody...except for @fisherlady
 Fisher Lady has a bunch of Silver Penciled Rocks that are brooding machines. :I'm a little green with envy here: 

But that is not the norm for Rocks..especially hatchery Rocks...you should have a good layer there once she ramps up (which shouldn't take too long with a hatchery Rock).  

Lady of McCamley

I am so glad she finally started laying. I will try to be patient while she gets sorted out.

 

[Angie16hearts]

Emergency ! I got home today and pepper had 6 more eggs under her. All laid today so that would be 16 total. I pulled the 6 and relized one of the ones she's been sitting on is in the next box and cold! Oh no! I carefully put it back in her clutch. IS THIS EGG ANY GOOD?

She has been on it since Tuesday night. This is one of the main ones I want to hatch!!

My husband got called into work and won't be back intel friday . I'm assuming I need to get a divider out there myself.

I'm not expecting them all to hatch. I hope she gets all ten. However I realize with all the girls either laying in her box or pepper stealing the others eggs is a lot of movement at that ! I can't see 6 hens laying in 20-30 minutes during her 1-2 breaks. I'm only seeing her up once a day.

I'm really worried about the fertile cold egg!!!

i and the eggs getting shuffled around. I will be up early with what I can find. This will be funny$