Broody Hen Thread!

[BuffsAndReds]

Hi Everyone,
I just got my first broody hen. My kids came to me the other day saying they had to move one of our hens to get the eggs. I thought about that for a minute and went to check on her. I watched her for a few days and she was still on the nest. I noticed she would come out to eat and drink but would make a bee line right back to the nest. I decided to let her have 7 eggs. I tried moving her (nest box and all) to another coop. She didn't like that. So i moved her back to the big coop. Does anyone else let their broody stay with the flock in the same coop?

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Hi Everyone,
I just got my first broody hen. My kids came to me the other day saying they had to move one of our hens to get the eggs. I thought about that for a minute and went to check on her. I watched her for a few days and she was still on the nest. I noticed she would come out to eat and drink but would make a bee line right back to the nest. I decided to let her have 7 eggs. I tried moving her (nest box and all) to another coop. She didn't like that. So i moved her back to the big coop. Does anyone else let their broody stay with the flock in the same coop?

I'm still a newbie, but I'll at least share my experience. My second broody this spring (and second ever) stayed in our single nestbox, as my first broody was occupying the broody pen. We gave her 5 eggs and marked them all with a pencil. The other 4 hens laid their eggs around her, and we collected the non-penciled ones every day. She hatched all 5 successfully and had no problems integrating them into the flock, so either it can indeed work like that, or we got by with dumb luck.

 

[Demidog]

I'm on my first broody too! From what I've been told it's personal choice, you don't have to separate them. I had to move my broody though because she was sitting in the favorite next box that all the hens like using and they were sitting on top of her laying more eggs. I've seen 3 hens in the box at the same time squabbling for space! Now I've moved her she's staying put and i don't think the others are bothering her now. I've just candled the eggs and removed 3 that were the least developed. The other hens eggs are mixed in because they were laying in the same box. I think the 4 that are left are not all at the same stage and i hope it's not going to cause problems. She went broody about 4-5 days ago, the eggs are probably a day apart. I'm hoping another goes broody too so i can collect eggs to put under her all at the same time.

 

[BuffsAndReds]

We put eggs under her two days ago. I cant wait to candle them. I wasnt sure if she was going to stick to it being its her first time and she is less than a year old.

 

[svfarm]

This is getting aggravating. The chick that I was going to put a safety hole in pipped on a blood vessel. It's always something with these eggs from this hen.

 

[SilkieNation]

I posted this on another related thread without an answer, so I'll post here and see if anyone can tell me...

why people go to such extreme lengths to break broodiness? Is it because they want the hen to start laying again i.e. egg production, or is there another reason, like it's dangerous somehow for the hen? I have read some crazy stuff about how people try to break the broodiness. It all sounds more like traumatizing the hen than anything else. No food or water for a few days, dunking in water, hanging from a cage, hanging from a cage with bright light, isolating in a coop with super bright lights 24/7... It's awful, IMO. I don't get it.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I posted this on another related thread without an answer, so I'll post here and see if anyone can tell me...

why people go to such extreme lengths to break broodiness? Is it because they want the hen to start laying again i.e. egg production, or is there another reason, like it's dangerous somehow for the hen?  I have read some crazy stuff about how people try to break the broodiness.  It all sounds more like traumatizing the hen than anything else. No food or water for a few days, dunking in water, hanging from a cage, hanging from a cage with bright light, isolating in a coop with super bright lights 24/7...  It's awful, IMO. I don't get it.

Because if you don't want chicks or don't have fertile eggs to give her, the hen can starve and exhaust herself basically to death out of sheer stubbornness and instinct. She'll sit for a LOT longer than the normal 21 days if she's really determined.

Also, broodiness can be catching. If you don't nip it in thd bud, you can have your whole coop go broody on you. Mine went down like dominoes. One per week until three of my four hens was broody, not laying, and ALL my nesting boxes were occupied!

 

[alibabba]

We put eggs under her two days ago. I cant wait to candle them. I wasnt sure if she was going to stick to it being its her first time and she is less than a year old.

I worried also, mine are about 10 months too.

First broody was wanting to go broody way for a couple weeks, fluffing her feathers, yelling at everybody she ran into out in the yard "keep away" (that is translated, she actually said, "eeeeeeoook" in everyone's faces. Hilarious, because all the rest were like, "what the h*%l?? ETA (she is tiny everyone else is BIG but get along very very well...usually.

So she did finally settle in...on or about day 18 with what looks like 6 good eggs.

Man, the 2nd took right to it, no fiddling about. Just sat down one day and didn't get up!

I like broody hens

 

[alibabba]

I'm on my first broody too! From what I've been told it's personal choice, you don't have to separate them. I had to move my broody though because she was sitting in the favorite next box that all the hens like using and they were sitting on top of her laying more eggs. I've seen 3 hens in the box at the same time squabbling for space! Now I've moved her she's staying put and i don't think the others are bothering her now. I've just candled the eggs and removed 3 that were the least developed. The other hens eggs are mixed in because they were laying in the same box. I think the 4 that are left are not all at the same stage and i hope it's not going to cause problems. She went broody about 4-5 days ago, the eggs are probably a day apart. I'm hoping another goes broody too so i can collect eggs to put under her all at the same time.

Hmmm, that must've been tough. I am on ebay incubator shopping so I'm ready in case anyone ever quits or I have unhatched "hatchables". There were none to manage, I gathered everyday or 36 hrs. So I chose and marked what she was setting on.

 

[alibabba]

Candling is such a good thing. I wash, disinfect, dry my hands. Put a soft rug down and candle when they are out and about.


I hate yolkers....all warm and delightful and should be developing, but not fertile.

I'll bet it's because everyone is so like, hippie mellow and free ranging, Peace and Love...Even the roo only treads a hen in the am and maybe later in the day. And he's like 11 months old. Better that than a meanie though. He prefers good conversation..


Maybe I should keep them in the pen. So he can focus...