Broody Hen Thread!

[glebreton]

I personally would consider moving eggs and hen as cooperative brooding has not gone well for me...dominant hens tend to chase less dominant broodies off the nest, eggs tend to get broken or kicked out and cold. The risk of moving the hen/eggs is the hen may prefer the original nest to brood and not settle with the eggs on the new nest...some are very set on the original location....others barely notice. If you think she can communal brood/nest where she is...then leave her. I have heard many doing such; I just have not had good of experience with that personally. If she'll move, then I find it best to do so...safer and less stressful for mom and babies.

As to winter hatching...I live in wet Oregon so we don't get sub zero for days on end nor feet of snow....however, I have hatched in cold winter before (and am currently having my Silkie sit on 6 Marans eggs due mid January)....we can and do get cold snaps...One February hatching was during a cold snap...clear (cloudless) and therefore cold...getting low 20's and even upper teens at night and barely making 30 during the day most days that week...I had to haul water to keep birds in liquid water (something we rarely have to worry about here in Oregon).

The things to watch out for are of course, as you mentioned, water freezing. Babies can expire quickly if they can't get water. Also, once hatched, you have to be sure your babies cannot strand themselves away from momma and expire from cold. They are amazingly apt in doing that by a blind corner, hole in the fence, hole in the wall...all manner of "stupid chick tricks" where they can get themselves into a fix and expire quickly in the cold as they will just stand there, trapped or lost, peeping like crazy while mom frantically calls back. That's the only time I've lost chicks in winter...through the trapped/lost chick syndrome. (Oh one was I think do to failure to thrive...something wrong with the chick from the get go.)

As long as they are with momma, she keeps them plenty warm. My first winter chicks dumb founded me on my first winter hatch...they ran around as if it was just fine...I was still getting heat lamp brooding ideas out of my head thinking they will surely die in this cold...don't they know they need a carefully controlled environment?....nope, they feathered in quicker, grew faster, and did just fine running around with momma in below freezing temperatures. I did have them out of direct weather, so it is essential they stay free from direct rain, snow, wind, draft.

The last item I could recommend is be aware that the sound of little peeps will draw every sort of predator out, especially in winter when there are fewer food sources. Make sure your hawk netting is up and your fencing is deep enough and doors latched tight for raccoons, cats, etc.

Because of this (and stupid chick tricks when they are really small), I keep them locked up the first week in the hutch and don't let them out into the run...this is also so that they don't get caught below while mom goes above...another favorite "stupid chick trick"...trust me it is not fun to have to round up the little peeps to put them up with mom into the coop...mom usually takes up residence below, so you have to try to move them all...and they go all different directions as you round them up. It takes them about a week or so to be big enough and smart enough to scale the ramp to follow mom back into the coop nest if you have a raised walkway from the run. If your cage is on ground floor...your worries are over (unless there is a blind corner). I crawl and poke before each hatch to make sure nothing new has opened up where they can get themselves into new trouble.

Mom and babies should be on chick feed. She doesn't need the calcium in layer feed nor do the chicks (that amount of calcium would be harmful to them). Medicated if you prefer, non if you don't but watch for any sign of coccidiosis (diarrhea and bloody poo...I'm talking frank red blood in runny poo not the stringy pink intestinal lining shed that is normal). If you're quick enough medicated feed can save the day, otherwise you'll need Corid in the water.

The other chickens will love the baby feed and gobble it up, so you'll need to keep babies and grown ups separate or fix up a feed system where the babies can get to it but the adults can't. Babies also shouldn't have access to the high calcium layer feed...or put all on a flock grower with oyster shell supplements for the layers.

I also like to start my babies first couple of weeks with the Chick-Saver vitamins and electrolytes with probiotics...and of course ACV...having a good flora in their intestines goes a long way to fend off coccidiosis and other chick hood illnesses. I like to keep my chicks separate from my flock to give babies time to build their immune systems before encountering the big chicken diseases that other birds have immunity to but which can devastate a little chick. (I introduce at 8 to 12 weeks for that purpose and for the purpose that my little momma banty gets picked on by the others...keeping them separate saves a lot of stress on her...she is a very valuable brooder for my flock.)

That's the main things I've learned through the brooding seasons.
Good luck,
Lady of McCamley

Great post Lady...I will probably try moving my bantam next time she is broody. For the second time, I went out and found her off nest after larger hens laid new eggs in her clutch. First time it was upper 60s/low 70s so I don't think it hurt. But yesterday it was mid-upper 40s and the eggs were cool when I found them.

Also, 2 eggs broke. They were duds cause they smell bad with no chick growth unless it got eaten. Not sure if they "popped" (I read comments about bad eggs exploding, thought that was a joke but I am not so sure now!) or if the larger hens laying in her clutch broke them.

Either way, I have 7 remaining eggs that are due in about 1 week. With the 2 instances of short term exposure, I am getting less hopeful for success. She is a pretty tolerant gal, so next broody spell, I will find a way to move and isolate her.

I know its late, but the holiday was hectic...Merry Christmas to my friends at BYC!

 

[WillowRunRanch]

Thank you! Very helpful

If you would like to see the mama and her chicks to be as well as the rest of my crazy clan of chicks my husband lovingly installed cameras in my coop so I can keep an eye on my little loves.

www.cams.betsinger.com

This works with Firefox and Google as your browser.

I am already planning on adding more to the outside run and their favorite spots to free range.

Happy Holidays!

BB

 

[glebreton]

Went out to feed the flock this morning and my broody bantam hopped off to get some feed. Her box is smelling bad because of the two duds that broke in there. I rolled the dice and moved her clutch to another box. She hopped right on them without missing a beat. Now I can clean out that smelly box and we can see how the remaining eggs turn out.

Now that I know she is not easily rattled, next time she is broody, I will move her into a seperate box from the rest of the flockto give her a better chance. Happy Holidays BYC!

 

[Nicky-the-witch]

Great news! All the best for your hatch

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Went out to feed the flock this morning and my broody bantam hopped off to get some feed. Her box is smelling bad because of the two duds that broke in there. I rolled the dice and moved her clutch to another box. She hopped right on them without missing a beat. Now I can clean out that smelly box and we can see how the remaining eggs turn out.

Now that I know she is not easily rattled, next time she is broody, I will move her into a seperate box from the rest of the flockto give her a better chance. Happy Holidays BYC!

I'm glad she took to it like it was nothing....she will be happier and the eggs will too....and so will those baby chicks when they hatch.

How much longer does she have? (I've lost track of the time)....

Here's hoping for a good hatch with the remaining eggs.

Oh, btw, yes I personally know those rotten eggs explode on their own...I usually have that happen in summer heat, but getting kicked about will do it...I've opened up unhatched ones after the designated days "just to be sure" they weren't going to do anything (they of course weren't) and could see the green putrid muck swelling the membrane...the slightest nick and...pooooof...the yucky stuff goes everywhere. I now know the meaning of "rotten egg."

Merry Christmas from my flock to yours...and to my fellow chicken friends on BYC...happy brooding.
Lady of McCamley

EDITED TO ADD: 1 week down, 2 to go til hatch with the 6 Marans eggs under my best broody...my little Silkie momma....Oma-San

 

[RTFchickens]

Hi Broody thread!
This is my first post here. I've been on BYC for a while, but I have a new BO broody, and have a question: what do I do if she gets off her eggs to eat/drink/poop, and returns to wrong nest? I think there is another hen that sits on her eggs while she is off of them, so she sets on fresh laid eggs. The other hen who isn't broody gets off broodys eggs, and eggs get cold/die.
Any ideas?
Thank you!

 

[kmollyhughes]

Hi Broody thread!
This is my first post here. I've been on BYC for a while, but I have a new BO broody, and have a question: what do I do if she gets off her eggs to eat/drink/poop, and returns to wrong nest? I think there is another hen that sits on her eggs while she is off of them, so she sets on fresh laid eggs. The other hen who isn't broody gets off broodys eggs, and eggs get cold/die.
Any ideas?
Thank you!

I had that problem with one of my broody girls (a BCM) this winter. She always laid in the two bottom nest boxes so I think she'd get confused when she would return to the coop. Caught her twice. So I moved her to her own broody pen where it was just room for her nest and about 4 feet to walk around/eat/poop. No problems after that. Returned her and babies to the big coop and run when the babies were a couple weeks old. I've only had that happen one other time. That hen was also a black copper Marans. But the other 5 broodies haven't had any issues finding their nest. So...after all that... Lol! Broody pen by herself and only her nest. Less stress on you, and mama.

 

[livingwaterfarm]

I am real new at chickens but not that new. I am going to raise broilers in the spring. I am thinking about using a broody hen to hatch eggs instead of ordering chicks. I work at a farm and look after 145+ layers. I would need to use more than one hen as these are sex-link layers. Can you put several hens in the same brood box or do they need their own space? I really like that I can put the chicks out with mama and not have to keep them in a brooder with a heat lamp. Is their any good books out their that will help me or anyone on this forum? Need lots of info.
Thanks!

 

[fisherlady]

I am real new at chickens but not that new. I am going to raise broilers in the spring. I am thinking about using a broody hen to hatch eggs instead of ordering chicks. I work at a farm and look after 145+ layers. I would need to use more than one hen as these are sex-link layers. Can you put several hens in the same brood box or do they need their own space? I really like that I can put the chicks out with mama and not have to keep them in a brooder with a heat lamp. Is their any good books out their that will help me or anyone on this forum? Need lots of info.
Thanks!

Welcome to BYC!

Hard to plan for broilers with broody hens... first, there is no way to force an hen to go broody on your schedule, so you would have to wait for them to get in the mood for it.
Second, if you do get one to set a hatch for you it is a toss up if you will get chicks or how many so unless the eggs are cheap or free you may loose money on the cost of the meat.
Third, although heat needs are reduced with a broody you need to remember that she can only keep chicks warm as long as they fit under her. Most broilers grow very quickly and the broody will likely need help keeping them warm after only a couple of weeks if the weather is cold. To minimize this you would need to keep the hatch numbers lower than you would for standard breeds. Fourth issue... space... although you can sometimes luck in to hens willing to share space it is more often a recipe for squabbling and broken or cold eggs when the dominant hen pushes out others. So you would need to set up at least a few other areas as 'back ups'.

These issues are all dependent on the number of broilers you are wanting to hatch, how the weather is when you want to raise them, and what breed you want to raise (Cornish cross broilers will outgrow most hens by week 3 or so, freedom rangers may be 5 or 6 weeks, so not as much trouble). It would be a great solution if you only want a few at a time for family needs, but not near as viable an answer if you want to process 25 or 30 birds at a time.

 

[glebreton]

My eggs are due next Friday. I am at day 14 now, one week to go. Hope yours are successful too!