Broody Hen Thread!

[chicksurreal]

If you look at that link it shows how to tell in 76 hrs or so, or even earlier - I remember seeing the circle that is shown in the 52 hr photos. But yes, checking fertility by breaking the eggs is one way to know if ANY of the eggs are being fertilised before you set them, and pinpoint likely hens to collect from for brooding!

Thanks, that's good to know. Some of my girls lay very dark shelled eggs and I can't see anything, but the white eggs are pretty easy to see through!

 

[JJFarms]

I have 3 broody hens, they all had there chicks one week apart. Can I have them all separated, when can I move them together? Will there be any problems?

 

[chicksurreal]

I have 3 broody hens, they all had there chicks one week apart. Can I have them all separated, when can I move them together? Will there be any problems?

Hi!

We have had several broody hens with chicks that we integrated back into the flock at an early age. We have chicks that are about 5 weeks and some that are about 6 weeks old that are running around with everyone else. They have their mammas to protect them. That's always the first question I ask myself, will they be safe and not be able to escape through the fence or be attacked by the other chickens, etc.

As long as the broody is with them and the other chickens aren't overly aggressive, they should be fine as long as they can get to food and water and have some hiding spots to get away from other chickens if they need to. We have a very large run (2500 sf), so that helps too.

Another concern is where will they sleep in the coop. Our broodys usually take up a spot in a nesting box or corner of the coop on the floor where other chickens won't be jumping down on them. We also have week old chicks that are still seperated from the main flock with their broody. We won't put them in with the rest until they are 5-6 weeks old, but they can still be seen through the fence during the day, so everybody gets to know them ahead of time.

 

[CanaDawn]

Can hens count? Geese (at least the wild ones) don't seem to be able to, and abandon goslings that don't keep up without a look back (although they do also accept any gosling at all near the same ages as the ones they hatched, without question).

 

[chicksurreal]

Can hens count? Geese (at least the wild ones) don't seem to be able to, and abandon goslings that don't keep up without a look back (although they do also accept any gosling at all near the same ages as the ones they hatched, without question).

Mine don't seem to be able to. They will go find chicks that have fallen behind if they hear them cheeping, or call to them at least. They don't seem to keep them rounded up though. I can only imagine what it would be like to keep track of 8 or 10 kids all the same age. Lol!

 

[tiffmw10]

Advice needed.

My Brody had two eggs. One hatched last week and until yesterday, she's been sitting on the second one. Yesterday, she was off the nest several times and when I went into the nursery this morning, she was throwing straw all over the place. Egg is cracked (but there's a pip). I'm freaking out.

Do I leave it or add to my incubator, hatch and put baby back with momma and sister??

Help.

 

[fisherlady]

Advice needed.

My Brody had two eggs. One hatched last week and until yesterday, she's been sitting on the second one. Yesterday, she was off the nest several times and when I went into the nursery this morning, she was throwing straw all over the place. Egg is cracked (but there's a pip). I'm freaking out.

Do I leave it or add to my incubator, hatch and put baby back with momma and sister??

Help.

If you see signs of life then you can place it in an incubator set up to hatch and then slip it back under the mama hen after it dries and fluffs, however, a week is quite an age difference for young chicks so you will need to very closely watch it the first few days to see if she accepts the little one and even if she does it may be hard for it to keep up so you will need to keep them in a safely confined smaller area until it can keep up with it's older sib. staggered hatches are often very problematic and frequently result in chicks needing to be brooder raised or at least needing a lot of supervision to ensure their safety.

 

[tiffmw10]

If you see signs of life then you can place it in an incubator set up to hatch and then slip it back under the mama hen after it dries and fluffs, however, a week is quite an age difference for young chicks so you will need to very closely watch it the first few days to see if she accepts the little one and even if she does it may be hard for it to keep up so you will need to keep them in a safely confined smaller area until it can keep up with it's older sib.  staggered hatches are often very problematic and frequently result in chicks needing to be brooder raised or at least needing a lot of supervision to ensure their safety.

Thank you for getting back to me. I really appreciate it!

The chick is moving inside and it's now in full zip mode. I'm watching it very closely today. The reason for the stagger hatch is because one of my other ladies laid in my Brody box while she was up eating. After she sat, I didn't notice it was under there for a few days.

 

[chickchick8]

Just wanted to share a picture. This is Peach. She is a hard headed broody. I just pulled her off her second nest of the month. I guess I'm going to let her sit this time, but not in her favorite spot: a honeysuckle 'cave' in the neighbors yard of all places. Sheesh! My hens think they run the place or something.

Here she is giving me the broody momma drama stink eye while I fix a dog crate for her in the rabbit house. She's such a goober.

 

[tiffmw10]

Just wanted to share a picture. This is Peach. She is a hard headed broody. I just pulled her off her second nest of the month. I guess I'm going to let her sit this time, but not in her favorite spot: a honeysuckle 'cave' in the neighbors yard of all places. Sheesh! My hens think they run the place or something. Here she is giving me the broody momma drama stink eye while I fix a dog crate for her in the rabbit house. She's such a goober.

She's gorgeous!