Broody Hen Thread!

[frannyglass]

My ameraucana hen has been making noises exactly like the video above for about a week. The past two times she's laid an egg she has stayed on it, acting like that, so I'm sure she IS broody, I'm just wondering if it's normal for them to behave like that even when out of the nesting box? She makes those dinosaur noises anytime she is displeased with one of the other chickens or if she thinks I am going to touch her. I was worried that something was wrong with her until she finally started doing that in the nesting box and I looked up broody chicken noises and found that video, but I could not find any thing wrong when I examined her. Will broody hens act like this all the time, even before they start staying on the nest constantly? Thank you for reading!

 

[holm25]

Man you guys I had family help watch the birds when I was with cousins and when I came back I had 4 broodys!! 2 orps and 2 Blue Cochin bantams I am setting Olive egger eggs under 1 banty and different crosses under the others!!

 

[LowerBamaMama]

Well if broody mama has 7 eggs under her that are developing on day 9 of incubation but then Clucky, Diane and Margaret come along and lay fresh eggs under her, she might adopt their eggs.  This would cause her to not be able to handle all the eggs and possibly none would hatch. 

Or her original babies would hatch but she wouldn't want to take them out of the nest like she should because of the other eggs still developing.

I usually try and keep them in the same area but maybe in a small dog kennel.

I couldn't mark first clutch in some way with like a pencil and just collect all the other eggs? Or will collecting the new eggs stop her from sitting on them?

 

[JJSS89]

Yeah that's fine, I mean depending on the amount of other hens it might be no problem. When I have a Rhode Island Red go broody, I get them out of there quick because there are 20+ others that want to lay on top of her

I personally don't like messing with them but there's no reason you couldn't do it that way

 

[LowerBamaMama]

Yeah that's fine, I mean depending on the amount of other hens it might be no problem.  When I have a Rhode Island Red go broody, I get them out of there quick because there are 20+ others that want to lay on top of her 

I personally don't like messing with them but there's no reason you couldn't do it that way

Only planning on keeping 4 layers. 3 Bielefelder girls to lay and super broody Cochin my chicken friend wants to be rid of. I'm planning on building an 8x8 A-frame tractor style coop to raise out my meat birds but I wasn't planning on building any enclosed nesting area in there, hence my concern for keeping them in my layers coop. If I decide to build a nest box in the grower pen will I keep the brood hen in there all the time and just move the eggs I want to hatch over to her there? I've never done this and need to know what I need to build to be prepared.
Thanks y'all!

 

[JJSS89]

With that number, you'll probably do just fine with that strategy.

 

[LowerBamaMama]

I

With that number, you'll probably do just fine with that strategy.

To be clear, I'll be fine keeping her and the eggs in the layer coop?

 

[JJSS89]

Yeah, that's what I meant.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

While it all depends on your flock dynamics and environment, the reason it is generally best to separate a brooding hen, especially if you are hatching especially desired eggs, is that even with marking eggs tend to get kicked out and stomped on during the shuffling in and out of the favored nest box the broody has set up camp in.

If she is a lesser assertive bird others higher on the pecking order will even push her out of the nest while they lay which frequently forces her to set up somewhere new thus abandoning the developing eggs.

Some flocks can handle communal brooding with the right chemistry, but in many it simply causes poor hatches and abandoned nests.

I have a designated broody hutch and run for my brooding queens who live there 24/7. Other volunteers from the main coop get moved there at night, allowed to settle for a couple of days on fake clutch, then hatching eggs set at the same time.

If you keep in the main coop, the least to do is set eggs at the same time and mark. Pull out new eggs daily and watch that the hen is not being rousted or eggs tromped or clutch grows so big the hen fails to cover well.
LofMc

 

[LowerBamaMama]

While it all depends on your flock dynamics and environment, the reason it is generally best to separate a brooding hen, especially if you are hatching especially desired eggs, is that even with marking eggs tend to get kicked out and stomped on during the shuffling in and out of the favored nest box the broody has set up camp in.

If she is a lesser assertive bird others higher on the pecking order will even push her out of the nest while they lay which frequently forces her to set up somewhere new thus abandoning the developing eggs.

Some flocks can handle communal brooding with the right chemistry, but in many it simply causes poor hatches and abandoned nests.

I have a designated broody hutch and run for my brooding queens who live there 24/7. Other volunteers from the main coop get moved there at night, allowed to settle for a couple of days on fake clutch, then hatching eggs set at the same time.

If you keep in the main coop, the least to do is set eggs at the same time and mark. Pull out new eggs daily and watch that the hen is not being rousted or eggs tromped or clutch grows so big the hen fails to cover well.
LofMc

Thanks y'all!! So much to learn!!