Broody Hen Thread!

[fisherlady]

Well after setting 40 eggs in the incubator I think I have one going broody. She seems serious and so I just keep putting eggs under her. Lol she is small but I think about 25 will do the trick. Lol

25 eggs would be too many for all but the largest hens.... and doubtful then, unless they are small eggs. A hen should fully cover all eggs of her clutch at once, any which stick out around the edges are prone to chilling and may develop slower or not at all. A hen will try rotating them around so they get some warm time but often it ends up reducing the hatch rate overall because even more get chilled. For best results it is suggested that you place a reasonable number to start (say 12-15 for a large hen) and then once she settles on them you can add more a couple at a time until you notice they are no longer completely covered, stop there and remove one or two so she isn't overcrowded.

You can keep the rest in an incubator and if you candle the broody hen's eggs about day 10 or so you can pull the ones which didn't develop (if any) and replace them with ones from the incubator.

 

[Sambi89]

Well my BO is my very first broody girl! I almost cried when she was still on the eggs on day 3. My OEGB went through a "phase" and after two days never went back and I was heart broken. Well she has been on over a week now and I am eggstatic lol. Any and all suggestions for her is welcome and wanted.

 

[lacymorgan]

Well my BO is my very first broody girl! I almost cried when she was still on the eggs on day 3. My OEGB went through a "phase" and after two days never went back and I was heart broken. Well she has been on over a week now and I am eggstatic lol. Any and all suggestions for her is welcome and wanted.

Keep the area she is in quiet and peaceful for her and keep us updated on the eggs this is exciting news

 

[Mccluckers]

Hello, my broody frizzle is on day 3 she was pacing up and down the side
Of her little part of the coop. I though she may just want some fresh air and grass so I let her out, she ran straight down to the dust bath area and was dust bathing for about 5-10 mins I thought "right will take her back in now" she decided she didn't want to go in and wanted to go with the rest of the flock,seemingly forgotten about her eggs. Anyway I finally got her in the coop after about 5mins of herding. The eggs were still warm she went straight into the nest box with her best friend who was laying an egg I moved her into her bit and she then went straight onto the eggs. Do you think she will stick it out? If not I don't have an incubator but I'm trying to borrow one from a friend.
I won't let her outside again and hopefully she will still stir on them(obviously she has food and water in with her. Thanks

 

[Sambi89]

Hello, my broody frizzle is on day 3 she was pacing up and down the side
Of her little part of the coop. I though she may just want some fresh air and grass so I let her out, she ran straight down to the dust bath area and was dust bathing for about 5-10 mins I thought "right will take her back in now" she decided she didn't want to go in and wanted to go with the rest of the flock,seemingly forgotten about her eggs. Anyway I finally got her in the coop after about 5mins of herding. The eggs were still warm she went straight into the nest box with her best friend who was laying an egg I moved her into her bit and she then went straight onto the eggs. Do you think she will stick it out? If not I don't have an incubator but I'm trying to borrow one from a friend.
I won't let her outside again and hopefully she will still stir on them(obviously she has food and water in with her. Thanks

From what I've read they are totally fine to get off the eggs for up to an hour a day (possibly more) and the eggs are still fine. My chickens free range and can have the run of our yard. My Bo is my first broody but she gets up for about 30 minutes a day and always heads back to the nest after a while. She'll first eat and drink then she'll make the biggest poopy you've ever seen. Then she'll run around dust bathing and clucking around like a normal chicken. Then all of a sudden she'll puff out and run back to the nest like she's on a mission. (I imagine it's how I look when I leave the stove on) and then bam she's back on the nest head down and concentrating on hatching her babies. I would definitely let her out, being broody is hard enough. But I'm no professional it's just my opinion and that's not very knowledgeable. Good luck I hope she stays dedicated.

 

[Mccluckers]

From what I've read they are totally fine to get off the eggs for up to an hour a day (possibly more) and the eggs are still fine. My chickens free range and can have the run of our yard. My Bo is my first broody but she gets up for about 30 minutes a day and always heads back to the nest after a while. She'll first eat and drink then she'll make the biggest poopy you've ever seen. Then she'll run around dust bathing and clucking around like a normal chicken. Then all of a sudden she'll puff out and run back to the nest like she's on a mission. (I imagine it's how I look when I leave the stove on) and then bam she's back on the nest head down and concentrating on hatching her babies. I would definitely let her out, being broody is hard enough. But I'm no professional it's just my opinion and that's not very knowledgeable. Good luck I hope she stays dedicated.

Ok,I cannot let her out all the time though because she get chucked of the nest, I will let her out again if I see her pacing.

Thanks

 

[aart]

Quote: .....or....if she's penned off from the rest of the flock to protect the nest from other hens messing with it, which is what I did with mine,
and there's room in her 'pen' for her stretch her legs, just leave her in there...or only let her out every few days to dust bathe if you can't fit a bin of dust in the pen for her.

 

[Forevermore5413]

I'm so excited my blue Cochin Sky has gone broody hopefully I will have some babies near the 24. She sitting on eggs from the barred easter egger/Plymouth rock hen, Charcoal the black Cochin hen, and a SL Wyandotte hen who were all with our SL Wyandotte rooster Pistachio. There are also some blue copper maran eggs from our blue coppers Stinker and Moron(my mom named him because she couldn't seem to pronounce Maran). So I am hoping for splash :3

 

[Mccluckers]

.....or....if she's penned off from the rest of the flock to protect the nest from other hens messing with it, which is what I did with mine,
and there's room in her 'pen' for her stretch her legs, just leave her in there...or only let her out every few days to dust bathe if you can't fit a bin of dust in the pen for her.

Yes I is quite a big 'pen' I will let her out every few days.

 

[casey197530]

I wonder what chicken went broody the most times in the world? HMMMMM???? /img/smilies/hu.gif

My white silkie she is broody all the time but I love it way better hatch rate