Broody Hen Thread!

[wabbit1964]

I started up the incubator for the first time yesterday.... then today I suspect my Buff Orp is broody..... but tonight she's perching with the others and not nesting on the eggs I left under her today.
Would be cool to have some chicks hatch from a chick going broody as well as some from the incubator where the kids can watch through the windows. I'm going to keep a close eye on her and see if maybe she is in the beginning of broodiness or just having a moody day today.

 

[fisherlady]

I started up the incubator for the first time yesterday.... then today I suspect my Buff Orp is broody..... but tonight she's perching with the others and not nesting on the eggs I left under her today.
Would be cool to have some chicks hatch from a chick going broody as well as some from the incubator where the kids can watch through the windows. I'm going to keep a close eye on her and see if maybe she is in the beginning of broodiness or just having a moody day today.

Would be cool for your kids to see both ways... you can always place eggs from your incubator under the hen if she decides to commit later. Hens can't tell time, so she won't care if she is sitting for 21 days or 12. LOL

 

[Dianuzhka]

OK I end up with 5 chicks of 12 shipped eggs, the remaining 7 where quitters. And found an unmarked egg that's in the incubator right now, I'm guessing my hen's, so not completely sure how old it is, but i knock in the shell and it answer so I'm waiting for him to hatch. My roo's name is lucky so I'm like "this is definitely lucky Jr.!"

 

[emilee427]

Day 5 in incubator....12 eggs in...10 eggs developing for sure!!! Other 2 are thick shelled so I can tell yet but I'd say not too shabby

 

[Jharper]

I don't think I ever showed a picture of cotton and my black cochin bantams brood.

 

[flock4samuel]

So we have 3 laying hens: a Blue Cochin, a RIR and a Wyandotte. The RIR lays every day, the Wyandotte about 5 days a week, and the Blue Cochin will lay 5 days in a row, take 2 or 3 days off then lay 4 in a row, etc. In the last 3 days our Blue Cochin has gone broody, oddly enough though she didn't lay an egg on the first day she went broody. She has decided to spend most of the day in the nesting box, and when our RIR wants to lay an egg, she just moves in next to her, lays the egg and lets the Blue Cochin sit on it. The Cochin is friendly enough in the next box, she doesn't have any problem with me moving her out of the way to get to the eggs, and she does come out for a total of about an hour to 90 minutes a day to eat/drink/scratch. She comes out on her own, she just spends an unusually long amount of time on the nest, and since we have no rooster, no amount of sitting will produce chicks. Do I need to be concerned about the amount of time she's spending on the nest?

 

[Jharper]

So we have 3 laying hens: a Blue Cochin, a RIR and a Wyandotte. The RIR lays every day, the Wyandotte about 5 days a week, and the Blue Cochin will lay 5 days in a row, take 2 or 3 days off then lay 4 in a row, etc. In the last 3 days our Blue Cochin has gone broody, oddly enough though she didn't lay an egg on the first day she went broody. She has decided to spend most of the day in the nesting box, and when our RIR wants to lay an egg, she just moves in next to her, lays the egg and lets the Blue Cochin sit on it. The Cochin is friendly enough in the next box, she doesn't have any problem with me moving her out of the way to get to the eggs, and she does come out for a total of about an hour to 90 minutes a day to eat/drink/scratch. She comes out on her own, she just spends an unusually long amount of time on the nest, and since we have no rooster, no amount of sitting will produce chicks. Do I need to be concerned about the amount of time she's spending on the nest?

Well, the first few days of the embryos life, if cooled they can go dormant for a short period of time and can wait to be sat on again. Hopes this helps.

 

[billyb]

Hi everyone! I'm not new to chickens but I am new to broody hens! And I just have a few questions. My one bantam a d' uccle bantam, just went broody! She is always is the nest box. Laying on the others eggs and if I try to get my eggs she puffs up her feathers all the way and makes a few "coos". So I was just wondering if I should put some water and food in the nest box with her? Because I haven't seen her on the ground in over a week! Also should I still let my other hens lay by her? Because I am putting some fertile eggs in there by the end of the week, so for now I put a NON fertile egg under her to keep her going because I want her to be broody. Will she stay broody with eggs under her? Any answers and suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

-Billyb

 

[suncatcher]

just marking my place......

 

[fisherlady]

Hi everyone! I'm not new to chickens but I am new to broody hens! And I just have a few questions. My one bantam a d' uccle bantam, just went broody! She is always is the nest box. Laying on the others eggs and if I try to get my eggs she puffs up her feathers all the way and makes a few "coos". So I was just wondering if I should put some water and food in the nest box with her? Because I haven't seen her on the ground in over a week! Also should I still let my other hens lay by her? Because I am putting some fertile eggs in there by the end of the week, so for now I put a NON fertile egg under her to keep her going because I want her to be broody. Will she stay broody with eggs under her? Any answers and suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

-Billyb

If she doesn't look to be loosing weight or showing signs of being 'droopy' looking I'd say she's managing to sneak off to eat and drink when no one is around to see her. We had a surveilance camera set up on our broody just to be nosey and we were amazed at how often she hopped up for a minute or two and then ran back to the nest. If there is somewhere convenient to place food and water it won't hurt to do it. If there is no poo in the nest then she is getting up at some point though.
If the other hens aren't scaring her off of the nest or causing eggs to be broken then probably not a big deal as long as you make sure to clearly mark your good hatching eggs so you can remove the extras as the other hens lay them.
If the other hens seem to be freaking her out or you notice breaking eggs or other problems then you may need to block her nest off from the others with chicken wire or something. But I wouldn't do that if it hasn't become a problem. Some folks also try moving their broody hens to a location away from the regular nesting boxes, or at least out of a nesting box favored by the other hens to avoid conflicts. Again, I wouldn't worry about moving her now if she hasn't seemed bothered. Moving, if needed at all, is best done at night and may require penning the broody into her new nesting area a couple of days to prevent her from trying to return to the other nest.