Broody Hen Thread!

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Grafting update-

Last night a added 5 chicks (2 days old) to my Broody hen with her 2 hatches and 4 remaining eggs. It looks like both the chicks and the Broody bonded with each other. One more chick hatched. I moved the little family (and 3 remaining eggs) to a new little coop today to keep the other hens away. I'm not expecting the other eggs to hatch, but I'll wait for the hen to leave the nest a bit before burying them. Who knows, I could get lucky and have another chick...
 
I am going through my first broody experience and have been really lucky, as I was able to keep her with the flock, she had an 80%+ hatch rate, and she has been a great and doting mama. There's nothing like listening to the singing of contented free-ranging chicks and watching a hen pass along her foraging tips.

Now she's about ready to rejoin the flock, and I realized I may have not thought things out that well...

Can someone explain a little about what flock life is like after the broody rejoins the other girls on the roost? Do the pullets ever start hanging out with the layers, or are they more likely to remain separate, at least until they start laying? Does she generally leave the chicks to hang out by themselves? I guess I thought the flock would be one unit, and I am thinking now that this was wrong. I had been planning to sell or give away most of the youngsters once they are weaned, to stay within my landlord's wishes re my flock size. But if that would throw the pullet/s into social isolation, I'll have to rethink my plans...
 
I have 3 broodys with chick, each in their own chicken tractor/broody pen...it's a bit of a pain to have to take care of all of them, but when the chicks get most of their first feathers I use a portable welded wire fence and start introducing then hen and Chicks to the rest of the flock...I fence in a nice lush area and let the flock out the fence is between the flock and the broody..if the flock doesn't target the hen and Chicks I will remove the fence...after a day or two I remove the tractor and give the hen a nest box on the floor of the coop in an out of the way corner...she leads her brood to the coop and into the box...ive had to help them the first couple days...thechicks can be a bit confused at first...but it works...with no blood shed so far...the chicks will tend to hang out together for a few months...but as they mature they should start to integrate with the rest of the flock..as long as they have enough roost room...
 
EEK! I have a broody! :) I am going to try the broody adoption. :) How soon after brooding will a broody adopt babies? She was broody for a few days, but I kicked her off nest-once I realized it was brooding, I have let her sit today-so today is day one...would it be too soon to try to give her 2 day old chicks on saturday? That would be her 6th day of brooding... The coop on town has some girls coming in on that day-its soon but if it would work I want to try!

ETA-Since posting this I have decided to just wait the two weeks min...it means 40 more dollars in shipping but that is alot of piece of mind too. :) I hope she stays on nest! She is doing great! Took a break today to eat and drink and bathe and she is back at it. I replaced eggs with 3 ceramic eggs-Going to try to give her 3 chicks ;)
 
Last edited:
SydneyKellogg said:
What is the lastest an egg can be incubated before I assume the chick is dead
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? Thanks!!
Click to expand...
How many days is the egg/hatch overdue?
There are a few things that should be factored in to counting due date, such as temperature, age of egg when it was set, breed of chicken, etc.
The average is 21 days, but I've heard and read that some can take quite a few days longer. If you have counted 21 days from set date, I would give it another 2-3 days, and then maybe try the "egg float" test - where you gently place the egg in a container of warm water (not hot, and not cold) so that it floats on the surface, and observe carefully. If the egg wiggles or moves on it's own, there's a live chick in there. Pull the egg out of the water quickly, dry it off and stick it back under mama.
 

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