Broody Hen Thread!

[chickbrad24]

First full day free ranging with mommy..

She is beautiful what breed is she ?

 

[SAMnELLA]

So excited ! My two broody hens that I wasn't sure were sitting on viable eggs, hatched some out today. I don't know how many because they are mostly staying under the hens, but I did see three of them.

I tried to get a picture but they keep hiding under the hens.

 

[luckysaysgo]

She is beautiful what breed is she ?

she's a sweet bantam cochin

 

[Lady of McCamley]

3 beautiful, almost iridescent green Isbar eggs set today under my bantam Cochin, Rosie, who is sitting tight.

LofMc

 

[chickbrad24]

That's so exciting. I now discovered I have 5 broody ducks. I had to go searching my property because day by day one more duck went missing. I thought a predator was taking them. But i did end up finding all 5. 2 of me fawn Indian runners are nesting in an old Christmas tree side by side. My Cayuga + Buff Duck cross I call them a Blue Buff because they are a gorgeous Slate Blue color she is perfectly camouflaged nesting in with rocks. My BO duck is nesting in an evergreen tree and a Khaki Campbell duck is by our mobile home nesting. I am going to have a lot of ducklings in about 25 days.

 

[luckysaysgo]

That's exciting!! This was my first broody hatch...if your cochin is anything like mine..you will have three perfect isbar babies soon

 

[Tdough13]

you could try putting a chick under her to raise i know it means 3-4 weeks of no eggs but it could break her - our hen was broody for 4 months and then we gave her eggs she is 7 days along and happy. is your silkie a good broody as in does she let you look underneath her and still go back to the eggs - ours does and she goes broody every 2nd month so she is going to be our hatcher - we are trying duck eggs next timeI

At this point I would try letting her hatch an egg, but we can only accommodate about two more hens, and no more roosters, and I had already removed all her eggs before I knew she was broody again. I like your idea of getting a chick for her to mother (I don't care if I don't get eggs for awhile), but that would only solve the problem in the short term as I can't keep adding to my flock. She is a very good broody by your definition. I can pick her up, she might half heartedly peck at me once but that's it. Once I disturb her she typically gets up, eats, stretches, pecks awhile. If I put her in the garden she acts like a normal hen again. But eventually she goes back to nesting wherever there is soft material. If it wasn't for the big poops (and no eggs) I might not even think she was broody. I just don't know what to do because I want her to be happy and healthy.

 

[Mccluckers]

Hi guys, my broody frizzle is on day 20 and when I went in the the coop she was pacing up and down the sides of the broody pen, she does this when she wants to have a run around. Anyway I had brought some food down to fill up and she escaped! She ran over to the rest of the flock I looked at her eggs and one was pipped and cheeping I immediately went and caught her and put her back in the pen. The then ate her food for abit and then went back to the nest. Overall she was of for about 10mins when I was there but I don't know how long she was pacing the sides. Anyway will the eggs be okay, or will it get shrink wrapped. I don't know how long it has been pipped. But definitely less than 24hrs.

Thanks

 

[fisherlady]

At this point I would try letting her hatch an egg, but we can only accommodate about two more hens, and no more roosters, and I had already removed all her eggs before I knew she was broody again. I like your idea of getting a chick for her to mother (I don't care if I don't get eggs for awhile), but that would only solve the problem in the short term as I can't keep adding to my flock. She is a very good broody by your definition. I can pick her up, she might half heartedly peck at me once but that's it. Once I disturb her she typically gets up, eats, stretches, pecks awhile. If I put her in the garden she acts like a normal hen again. But eventually she goes back to nesting wherever there is soft material. If it wasn't for the big poops (and no eggs) I might not even think she was broody. I just don't know what to do because I want her to be happy and healthy.

Tdough13

You are in a tough situation, I don't know how you ended up with a silkie hen but it honestly sounds like a poor breed fit for your coop given your circumstances..... but it could still work out. I see 4 choices for you....

1) allow her to hatch eggs when she is in the mood to do so, you will have to have arrangements made to sell the chicks, so you need a source for hatching eggs of a rather popular breed and preferably from good stock so the chicks are easier to sell. You will have to expect roosters in the hatches and have a plan in place to take care of the ones who don't sell.

2) Continue to break her broody mood each time.... it will be frustrating for you and the hen both, but is healthier to break her than let her sit for weeks on end (and most silkies just don't give up easily!)

3) Get sexed day old chicks and graft them to her after she has been broody on fake eggs for at least a couple of weeks. Again, you will have to plan to sell the chicks after they are 5 or 6 weeks old (when she weans them) so make sure you get breeds which are more in demand in your area. This allows you to avoid getting rooster (though some cockerels do slip through the sexing process once in a while, it isn't perfect).... the possible downside is having to plan to brood them yourself if the grafting doesn't work for some reason.

4). Trade your broody silkie in for a hen who is not of a broody prone type/breed. You can advertise her as a known broody and sell her outright that way or someone may want to swap for her if they want a broody and have a coop full of non-broody hens.

 

[fisherlady]

This is Maddie.... our 11 month old White Rock. She is setting on Silver Pencil Rock eggs and due to hatch today or tomorrow. She is the only broody I have ever had who actually drew blood and left real bruises on me (she is a very large hen). I actually resorted to wearing gloves to deal with her the first week or so of her brood. She mellowed out the last 10 days or so but is back to Atilla the Hen mode as of yesterday, so I am figuring she is feeling the chicks shifting around more. I am at work until tomorrow morning so will have to wait for DH to give me an update tonight.