Broody Hen Thread!

[Morrigan]

Update on my broody, who had the rotten egg explode under her around day 17/18. I had cleaned up her nest as best I could, and broke an egg in the process, killing the chick inside. Heartbreak. She was left with 7 eggs, but with the rotten goo getting on her feathers and in the nest, plus my disruption so late in the process, I didn't have a lot of hope.

Well, its day 22 and I see 1 beautiful, healthy little chick jumping around the nest. I'm so relieved. I was prepared to start scouring the local feed stores for chicks to put under her if I didn't see anything by day 23. I'm not sure if there will be any others, but I will happily take what I can get after that experience.

I guess this is why people candle their eggs, -- to remove duds so they don't explode. A lot of people counsel against disturbing the broody or handling the eggs in any way. I'm not quite sure what to think now.

What are the thoughts of people here on whether, and when, you candle eggs under a broody? Does it matter if you are going to need to forcibly move her off the nest? I never saw her off the nest once, the whole 21 days.

 

[SIMZ]

-because my nest boxes are elevated, this generally means she picks a spot on the coop floor, digs out a divit in the bedding and that is where she goes each evening to snuggle the kids through the night.

Where do your hens incubate the eggs? In the elevated nest boxes? Or do you move a broody and her eggs somewhere else for that time and then she moves them back into the coop? Thanks!

 

[SIMZ]

So far so good with my broody hens out and about. There are some loud scuffles, but so far so good. At first the 1st broody was attacking the 2nd, but they seem to have worked that out, too. Here is the hen with the youngest chicks. The older chicks & mom are far away in the yard.

The youngest chicks can't back in the little hutch at night, so the hen had them underneath. I had to put them all back in last night...but if that's the biggest hassle I have for a few days, I won't complain.

 

[MesMama]

Update on my broody, who had the rotten egg explode under her around day 17/18. I had cleaned up her nest as best I could, and broke an egg in the process, killing the chick inside. Heartbreak. She was left with 7 eggs, but with the rotten goo getting on her feathers and in the nest, plus my disruption so late in the process, I didn't have a lot of hope.

Well, its day 22 and I see 1 beautiful, healthy little chick jumping around the nest. I'm so relieved. I was prepared to start scouring the local feed stores for chicks to put under her if I didn't see anything by day 23. I'm not sure if there will be any others, but I will happily take what I can get after that experience.

I guess this is why people candle their eggs, -- to remove duds so they don't explode. A lot of people counsel against disturbing the broody or handling the eggs in any way. I'm not quite sure what to think now.

What are the thoughts of people here on whether, and when, you candle eggs under a broody? Does it matter if you are going to need to forcibly move her off the nest? I never saw her off the nest once, the whole 21 days.

I'm curious about this too, I don't think mine are ever off the nest and I don't want an egg to explode like what you had happen. I guess we have to pick the lesser of the two evils, 1-forcibly remove them and candle the eggs risking breaking their broodiness and 2-dealing with rotten eggs exploding and no chicks therefore causing the hens to grieve? I don't know what the best thing to do is

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Where do your hens incubate the eggs? In the elevated nest boxes? Or do you move a broody and her eggs somewhere else for that time and then she moves them back into the coop? Thanks!

They hatch where they choose - I've had some choose to nest on the floor, some who have nested outside the coop (more an issue with my previous, more free-range flock) and some that have nested in the elevated boxes. For those in the boxes, the litter in my coop is deep and the boxes are not "that" high up - once the chicks have all hatched mama will pop down to the floor and call the babies to follow - they do. If I happen to be around at the time she's ready to move them I'll lend a hand, but have not had any chicks suffer injuries from taking the leap (sort of like wood ducks do- and from much higher heights than my nest boxes).

 

[MesMama]

So far so good with my broody hens out and about. There are some loud scuffles, but so far so good. At first the 1st broody was attacking the 2nd, but they seem to have worked that out, too. Here is the hen with the youngest chicks. The older chicks & mom are far away in the yard.

The youngest chicks can't back in the little hutch at night, so the hen had them underneath. I had to put them all back in last night...but if that's the biggest hassle I have for a few days, I won't complain.

Awwww! Super cute little babies

Pardon my ignorance hehe, but what breed are those?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I'm curious about this too, I don't think mine are ever off the nest and I don't want an egg to explode like what you had happen. I guess we have to pick the lesser of the two evils, 1-forcibly remove them and candle the eggs risking breaking their broodiness and 2-dealing with rotten eggs exploding and no chicks therefore causing the hens to grieve? I don't know what the best thing to do is

You can candle without forcibly removing the hen - just slip your hand under her, take an egg and candle it - return and repeat. I've never had an issue with a broody "breaking" over minor hands on activity - ie checking her nest daily to ID and remove eggs that are not marked as the eggs she was started with. For the daily "donated eggs check" I just slide my hand under her and then raise it up slightly to lift her up off the eggs so I can see them - any unmarked eggs can easily be picked out with my other hand, and then I just lower her back down, remove my hand and let her get re-settled. The less fuss *you* make about this sort of thing, the less fuss she is going to make about it.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

So far so good with my broody hens out and about. There are some loud scuffles, but so far so good. At first the 1st broody was attacking the 2nd, but they seem to have worked that out, too. Here is the hen with the youngest chicks. The older chicks & mom are far away in the yard.

The youngest chicks can't back in the little hutch at night, so the hen had them underneath. I had to put them all back in last night...but if that's the biggest hassle I have for a few days, I won't complain.

Too cute!! Sometimes a nice set of "steps" are easier for littles to navigate - depending on your setup this may be a simple solution to help them be able to get in/out.

 

[SIMZ]

Awwww! Super cute little babies

Pardon my ignorance hehe, but what breed are those?

Thanks! They're Black Copper Marans with a Blue & Olive Egger in the mix.

 

[SIMZ]

Too cute!! Sometimes a nice set of "steps" are easier for littles to navigate - depending on your setup this may be a simple solution to help them be able to get in/out.

We made ramps, but they don't see to "get" those. Steps would probably work better. Thanks for the suggestion. It's also good to know about your hens nesting where ever.