Broody Hen Thread!

[irene48k]

Thank you, I had heard its rare for white leghorns to go broody. I let my chickens free range, but I am separating the broodies from the rest of the flock for the chicks safety. My first broody just hatched 3, and the other is hatching hers now, I'm moving them to my shed after their all hatched so predators cant get to them. And ofcourse I'm moving them at night, to relieve any stress. I'm so excited.

 

[chickbrad24]

Thank you, I had heard its rare for white leghorns to go broody. I let my chickens free range, but I am separating the broodies from the rest of the flock for the chicks safety. My first broody just hatched 3, and the other is hatching hers now, I'm moving them to my shed after their all hatched so predators cant get to them. And ofcourse I'm moving them at night, to relieve any stress. I'm so excited.

It's very exciting seeing mother hens with their new chickies and seeing them interact and teaching them the way of life.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Can more dominate hens push lesser hens off the nest as well ? My 3 broodies so far have been harmonious buts that's because my nest boxes are totes. They are right next to each other but they are out of sight out of mind to each other.

Constantly...less dominant hens often are pushed off the nest by more assertive hens so much so that they become very unsettled brooders, shifting from nest to nest abandoning eggs in the wake.

Out of sight is good, unless they have equal access to an open run and can confuse the boxes upon return (happens a lot). Then the assertive hen will push off the lesser, who can get confused and unsettled.

However, if it is working for you, then just keep an eye if you see hens begin to shift nests. Sometimes no harm is done, but sometimes eggs get bumped out in the process or 2 hens will attempt one nest leaving the other abandoned.

LofMc

 

[donrae]

When I've needed to move a broody to a specific spot I pretty much have to lock her in that space. I set her up with a nice dark nest and some sacrifice eggs. Some settle right in, some squawk and carry on like it's the Apocalypse. Once in a while the squawkers don't stay broody, but usually by the second day they've settled down. That's why I use sacrifice eggs at first, I've had hens break eggs trampling on them during the transition. Once she's setting tight, I pull the sacrifice eggs and place the desired hatch eggs. I always mark them with a sharpie, even if she's the only hen in the space. Mark the calendar, do a sniff test and check mommas condition every other day or so, and it's magic! Baby fuzzy butts in just 3 weeks

 

[Timily Farms]

Here is momma with 2 babies far still has 7 eggs left hoping for a couple more

 

[judykarlson]

wonderful!!!! beautiful!!!!

 

[judykarlson]

nature is amazing! I got so excited when we had our first chick.!!!!!! and just as exciting for the rest!!!!! I remember going out to the shed and hearing a little peep;.... peep!

 

[tracy0052]

We have a Buff Orpington that went broody yesterday. My son came in from gathering eggs and said she wouldn't move. Today she is still sitting in the same nesting box. She puffs her feathers up and balks at us when we even go to touch her and tries to peck. She must be sitting on all the eggs that were laid today and what she was sitting on yesterday but I don't know for sure. Collected none today. We have 11 hens various breeds and one Cochin roo. I notice fertile eggs when I use them. But I can't say for sure they all are. AND yesterday I just got chicks! We live on the edge of town so have limited space. So what is my best bet with this? Do we let her go? What are the chances the eggs are fertile? Will she be ok if we leave her with the rest of the chickens? This is our first broody hen in three years of having chickens.

 

[16 paws]

Hi,
I had a broody start sitting on eggs on Monday, but then yesterday night she got off and slept on the roost. She was still making broody noises and clucking her head off this morning so I stuck her back in the nest and she sat back down on the eggs again. She is an 11 month old Buff Orpington, who has only laid for about a month. Her mother was an amazing broody, so I was surprised when she got off. What should I do? Should I try to break her off her broodiness or should I let her sit it out. I was just in the process of buying some hatching eggs for her (our flock is mixed, so I wanted some pure breed chicks), when she got off the nest. Will she get off again? I have had at least 4 broody hens every year and none have ever done this before.

Hi 1001,

I have observed that sometimes my broodys will start off by being a little on and off at first, then they get serious after a couple days. I would just give her some fake eggs at first and see what she does. You will be able to tell soon enough. Does she have other hens trying to use the nest box? I know in my coop that is the biggest hurdle I have to overcome.The other hens breaking the eggs. I have tried to move my broodys several times because eggs were getting broken by the other hens trying to lay in there. Even thou it is a triple nest box they seemed to all want to lay their eggs where the broody was sitting. I even have several other nest boxes in the coop which they used. I have not had any luck trying to move my broodys. They have all left the new nest to go back to the original spot. I finally had to just chicken wire around the whole thing to keep the other hens out. I really didnt like that either because she couldnt get outside to dust bathe.

I did have some broodys start off in a nest box that I could move. So I moved the whole thing into a spot in the run where I could let her have some room to get off the nest and have a dust bath. That worked out great.

Good luck
Marie

 

[Lady of McCamley]

We have a Buff Orpington that went broody yesterday. My son came in from gathering eggs and said she wouldn't move. Today she is still sitting in the same nesting box. She puffs her feathers up and balks at us when we even go to touch her and tries to peck. She must be sitting on all the eggs that were laid today and what she was sitting on yesterday but I don't know for sure. Collected none today. We have 11 hens various breeds and one Cochin roo. I notice fertile eggs when I use them. But I can't say for sure they all are. AND yesterday I just got chicks! We live on the edge of town so have limited space. So what is my best bet with this? Do we let her go? What are the chances the eggs are fertile? Will she be ok if we leave her with the rest of the chickens? This is our first broody hen in three years of having chickens.

Mark these eggs, and then see how she does. Since you are not overly vested in their success (just got chicks), and they are inexpensive non-crucial eggs, it would be a great opportunity to see if your flock can handle communal brooding with this hen and how this particular hen handles brooding.

She probably will be pushed off the nest by others trying to lay, or she may start and stop, leaving these eggs undeveloped. But then you know how she behaves and that she does not do well in the communal brood. You could then try moving her and see how she does.

If you want to give her the best chance of being successful, then move her to another isolated location or find a way to isolate her into where she is now. Let her settle for a couple of days, then give fresh eggs (or you could candle these first eggs if she's been good and set what's developed). The idea of using fake eggs is to see if the hen will settle BEFORE you set crucial or expensive eggs if you don't want to waste eggs. However, if these are barnyard eggs anyway, of no particular value, then they can be used to see if the hen will stick and even develop (even with a move) if the hen remained faithful.

I always set inexpensive, non-crucial eggs for a first time broody, and use that as well for any new broody set up I want to try. It is a great way to learn how that hen behaves. I then know how my hens behave for when I have expensive eggs and need to set in all different situations.

Always use a non-crucial brood as opportunity to learn with little risk.

LofMc