Broody Hen Thread!

[robbiebobbie]

We have large nesting boxes that our smaller hens lay eggs in and out Black Jersey Giants lay in a plastic bin that we put straw & pine chips in. Now we have a BJG that is broody; so we moved her bin to the opposite side of the coop and put another bin set up the same way for the other BJG's to lay in. They do not. The get in beside of her and lay their eggs and she doesn't mind. Then the same day we did this, our Bantam became broody and she took over the BJG's nest when she got up for a drink and some food. The BJG went to the nest we setup for the others to lay eggs in. We had to take some of the eggs from the first nest and put them in with the BJG since the Bantam cannot get all of the eggs under her. Now the other hens still just keep laying in the nest with the BJG. We have marked the eggs under her and the Bantam so we can collect the new eggs. Did this ever happen to anyone else? Also, our one Domonique is missing now. Around the same time our BJG became broody. She was at the bottom of the pecking order. Could she have gone broody also and is out somewhere in a nest she built? We have looked all over several times and we don't see any feathers or any signs of her. She was my favorite. Sigh!! Any suggestions as to what to do about the other hens laying in the same nest as the broody hen? This is our first year for broody hens. They are all around 12 months old.

 

[PD-Riverman]

We have large nesting boxes that our smaller hens lay eggs in and out Black Jersey Giants lay in a plastic bin that we put straw & pine chips in. Now we have a BJG that is broody; so we moved her bin to the opposite side of the coop and put another bin set up the same way for the other BJG's to lay in. They do not. The get in beside of her and lay their eggs and she doesn't mind. Then the same day we did this, our Bantam became broody and she took over the BJG's nest when she got up for a drink and some food. The BJG went to the nest we setup for the others to lay eggs in. We had to take some of the eggs from the first nest and put them in with the BJG since the Bantam cannot get all of the eggs under her. Now the other hens still just keep laying in the nest with the BJG. We have marked the eggs under her and the Bantam so we can collect the new eggs. Did this ever happen to anyone else? Also, our one Domonique is missing now. Around the same time our BJG became broody. She was at the bottom of the pecking order. Could she have gone broody also and is out somewhere in a nest she built? We have looked all over several times and we don't see any feathers or any signs of her. She was my favorite. Sigh!! Any suggestions as to what to do about the other hens laying in the same nest as the broody hen? This is our first year for broody hens. They are all around 12 months old.

Sure it has happened to everyone that has had chickens for sometime------Some like myself do not want to deal with this type problem anymore, so I move all my broodies---to a private hatching pen.

I do not have to deal with the broody getting off her nest to eat----comes back and another hen is in her nest---laying a egg---so she takes another next----then her original eggs she has been setting on for days gets cold and dies.

Or other hens getting in her nest with her----stomp and break some 18 day old eggs with a fully formed chick---that dies.
Or having to look under her each day to remove fresh layed eggs.
Or another chicken peck and kill her just hatched chicks when she comes off the nest with them
Or watching her and other hens stomping on her chicks while she is in a fight
Or, etc
Or, etc

I just properly move her to a private nest----keep throwing in a little food and water(not where she can get to it while sitting on the nest)-----In about 21/22 days, she comes off with her chicks----no fighting, no pecked chicks, etc, etc. Piece of Mind!! No worries!!

 

[MesMama]

Is there a thread that has pics of pens etc that people use to separate the broody's? Just trying to get an idea of what kind of set up I need so I don't forget anything

 

[Majd]

hey everyon!
I always hatch my chicks with my flock's girls... We've always done that and never had an incubator... All natural... And as usual this spring we had many pullets from last season go broody... One of them hatched 9(wich is bad for us lol), the other hatched thirteen(not bad), and the most recent hatched 14 and one died, so 13.
I wrote this post thinking i would share the story of another new special broody. She's a true fighter. First of all i want to introduce my lovely hen: Elma. When she was a young girl, she went broody and hatched out some 18 chicks or so (I can't remember that was 8 years ago or so. Yep. I was like 10 or 11)... Anyways she was a great mommy and raised them all to adulthood... And ever since she never went broody again... But never stopped laying her beautiful white rounded eggs... Even through her 8th birthday (wich is this spring)... She is soooo sweet, my favourite of the whole flock... So this season she started laying in the spring as usual(although she used to lay through winter) and then gradually began clucking like broodies do, but still continuing to lay... Until suddenly she went full broody and was very determined to become a mom... We were soo surprised and quite happy for her... But we didn't her to go through the stress of broodyness... So we put her in a wire cage to break her broodiness about tow weeks ago... On the first day all went well but she was still broody, the second and third day the same... On the fourth day one of my family members forgot to move her cage to the shade, and the temperature was about 40 degrees celcius... (A heat storm) so when i went back home there i found her... She was suffering a heat strole... Her body was boiling... She looked like an old man just had a heart attack and a stroke at the same time... She was upside down he leggs very stiff and could barely breath... I quickly took her home and put her in tap water... The water quickly turned hot.... I changed it over and over but her body wasn't cooling quickly enough... So i quickly grabbed an ice water bottle from the fridge and startied washing her with that water... And quickly enough she started shaking from the cold, i was a bit relieved by then...then i grabbed a paper towel and dried her well... She seemed relieved but couldn't express it because she was still looking like hrandpa just had a stroke.... Poor girl... I made her a deep comfortable nest is a box line with towels and put her in for the noght.... She put her head on the edge and closed her eyes and was making a snoring sound... She was in deeeesp sleep... Like when you come back from camping and take a shower and go to sleep... I wasn't sure she was gonna make it .... Oh and i gave her plenty of water directly in the mouth and the tight dose of panamax and some food... The next morning the family let the flock out so i went to the coop thinking that I'm gonna have to barry her... But she was nowhere to be found... Wow did she get better that quick? Did she die and noone told me? I wnet back out and there she was preening herself like nothing ever happened last night... I was like this is a miracle... And guess what... Yes she was still broody!!! That day she didn't seemed broody anymore because she didn't go to her nest but was still clucking... She toon that day off to recover fully( smart girl) the next day arroung noon she was back in her mest box!!?!?! Let me tell you thata traditional way to break a broody 100% percent is to dip her chest area in some cold water well.. And it always works wonders... This girl had a good 15 mins taking a cold baths with ice cold water from had to toe , she's 8 years old... And guess what she still wanted to be a moma! So the next day when she was still determined... I felt so heartbroken for her and grabbed 18 of out eggs(shes a chibby girl) and she readily took them in her nest made especially for her needs... Now she's been sitting for three days... I take her out once daily and give her treats as much as possible throughout the day... And make sure all is going smoothly... She looks at me soo cutely beeing so grateful and so happy... I can tell from her face... Hoping all goes well for her....
By the way... 8 years is not veey old here... In the US maybe... But not here... Our chickens live an average of 12/13 years strong... And laying during the teens is not far from reality... And 18 eggs are not too much on her i promise... She can hold more.... Our chickens are all mutts from the areas old generic pool (except for a few red sex links that we have)... This is just for you to understand the situation more... And we've had chickens like forever... It's part of our lifestyle in the countryside...
I will post pics soon if you guys are interested... Sorry it was so long!
And happy natural hatching
(This was wrote tow weeks ago on another thread... So now she's 2 week on her eggs, now down to 16 eggs because of one infertile and one blood ring... And excuse my spelling i'm on my iphone).

 

[PD-Riverman]

Is there a thread that has pics of pens etc that people use to separate the broody's? Just trying to get an idea of what kind of set up I need so I don't forget anything

This is one of my 4 section -----for 4 broodies. All you need is a place for a nesting box and some space she can stretch her legs, poop---- eat and drink----a dust bath would be nice. A place when the chicks hatch---they can not get out but can get back into the nesting box.

 

[SIMZ]

Hi everyone!

I have three broody hens with chicks. They're in a "broody tri-plex" that we made and thought would work, but it's not working. The chicks are getting through the fence and getting stuck in the neighboring pens. Unfortunately, I can't make it work for all three hens. Two of the hens hatched their chicks a few days ago, so I'm thinking of giving all the chicks to one of those hens and removing the other hen (after dark). While I hate to do it, it seems to be the best solution right now.

Before I do that I have questions:

Will the other chicks accept the new hen as "mom"?

Should I put the other hen back in the coop or into a separate cage for a few days until she's no longer broody?

Thanks.

 

[fisherlady]

One of our recent broody hens had her chicks up on the big bird shelves at 2 weeks with her... they are now old hands at it at the ripe old age of 4 weeks and don't even hang with her on the shelf... but this little one has figured out the safest spot for sleep...her big buddy Grayson, our oldest roo.

DH snuck out later to see if she was still there...

 

[StarMeKritten]

One of our recent broody hens had her chicks up on the big bird shelves at 2 weeks with her... they are now old hands at it at the ripe old age of 4 weeks and don't even hang with her on the shelf... but this little one has figured out the safest spot for sleep...her big buddy Grayson, our oldest roo.

So cute! Some of our 4 week old chicks have been sleeping with my australorp rooster. They love to follow him around during the day too. He is so sweet with them.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hi everyone!

I have three broody hens with chicks. They're in a "broody tri-plex" that we made and thought would work, but it's not working. The chicks are getting through the fence and getting stuck in the neighboring pens. Unfortunately, I can't make it work for all three hens. Two of the hens hatched their chicks a few days ago, so I'm thinking of giving all the chicks to one of those hens and removing the other hen (after dark). While I hate to do it, it seems to be the best solution right now.

Before I do that I have questions:

Will the other chicks accept the new hen as "mom"?

Should I put the other hen back in the coop or into a separate cage for a few days until she's no longer broody?

Thanks.

Why not just stick them in 3 vented boxes for a few minutes----while you fix the cage where the chicks can not get through to the next section-----a few bucks of wire or some boards, even some cut up pieces of plastic type Yard-sale/or other signs. I had some chicks get into the next hens cage some years back----she had chicks too---killed everyone of the other hens chicks. Some people use 1" poultry wire for cage sides-----real young chicks can go right through it. I use 1/2 hardware cloth. Good Luck

 

[fisherlady]

So cute! Some of our 4 week old chicks have been sleeping with my australorp rooster. They love to follow him around during the day too. He is so sweet with them.

Thanks, we also often find our youngsters hanging out with one of the roosters through the day, and many times they roost along them or even under them on the shelves once they are not as attached to the broody. This group started younger than most, but seem to really enjoy their 'big bird' status. I have to give the roosters credit for their patience, they helped with over 30 clutches last year and we are on 14 (already hatched out) this year.