Broody Hen Thread!

[jctid]

I have a broody. She is a Blue Copper Marans, and is about 9 months old. She was broody last fall, at the same time my BCM was broody. I gave eggs to the BCM and she was a great momma, but the Blue was off for a day then on a few, etc. (She never got eggs) So now this one is broody, in the middle of winter. I would love to hatch some eggs, but do you think I should wait until it is warmer? Or does that really matter? I live in Idaho- pretty cold at night for a bit longer. Any thoughts? I would buy hatching eggs from a local breeder, and I can get just 6 at a time, so the expense is not a big deal, I just don't want to get them started and then they die if she abandons them. Thanks.

 

[fisherlady]

I have a broody. She is a Blue Copper Marans, and is about 9 months old. She was broody last fall, at the same time my BCM was broody. I gave eggs to the BCM and she was a great momma, but the Blue was off for a day then on a few, etc. (She never got eggs) So now this one is broody, in the middle of winter. I would love to hatch some eggs, but do you think I should wait until it is warmer? Or does that really matter? I live in Idaho- pretty cold at night for a bit longer. Any thoughts? I would buy hatching eggs from a local breeder, and I can get just 6 at a time, so the expense is not a big deal, I just don't want to get them started and then they die if she abandons them. Thanks.

Give her a couple days to be sure... and is she already in a good spot for the duration of the brood? If not, move her to where you want her to be and make sure she stays put a couple of days before you give her eggs. Keep the number of eggs you give her 6 or less so that when she hatches the chicks (possibly mid February) she will still be able to easily cover them for at least 3 or 4 weeks or so since the temps will still be cold. Decide if you have a back up plan in case she quits, either with the eggs or the chicks, because without mama they will need to be brooded indoors for at least a few weeks. You may still need to provide supplemental heat to the broody's area if she has trouble covering all the chicks or if the temps get low enough to freeze their water source.
Do you have a good way to keep them with the broody in the coop? Room to provide a barrier if needed to protect them from aggressive flock members? Room for them to have a scratching area for mama to teach them the basics while they are possibly stuck in the coop for extended periods due to the inclement weather?

It seems like a lot of questions, but they are do-able, with rearranging or planning ahead. Having a broody in the winter is entertaining to say the least, but definitely can present with it's own unique challenges.... trust me, we have a broody who hatched last January, and again the first week of December... and as of today we have 2 additional hens who have parked themselves in boxes and plucked a broody patch, so looks like we will have 2 more hatches within a month, and we are in Central Pa.

 

[kmollyhughes]

I have a broody.  She is a Blue Copper Marans, and is about 9 months old.  She was broody last fall, at the same time my BCM was broody.  I gave eggs to the BCM and she was a great momma, but the Blue was off for a day then on a few, etc.  (She never got eggs)  So now this one is broody, in the middle of winter.  I would love to hatch some eggs, but do you think I should wait until it is warmer?  Or does that really matter?  I live in Idaho- pretty cold at night for a bit longer.  Any thoughts?  I would buy hatching eggs from a local breeder, and I can get just 6 at a time, so the expense is not a big deal, I just don't want to get them started and then they die if she abandons them. Thanks.

I've had 8 broody girls this winter. They've all done fine. The first three were 2 silkies and a black copper Marans. It was COLD when they were sitting and snowing when the babies hatched. The coldest night when they were sitting was -12. Had 8 hatch, and all are outside with the mamas even now when nights are high teens and 20's. they know what to do, just make sure she's going to be a good sitter. If she's not, not worth it. Good luck and if you set eggs, dont worry about them getting cold, I stick my hands under broody girls to warm up in the mornings when I go out at dawn to give them water...nice and toasty.

 

[korlia]

Aaa

Photos! So far 3 vigorous Black Copper Marans (not seeing any blue shade, so pretty sure all of them are black), one is hatching (looks to be a black again), and one egg has no signs of hatch yet...and then of course the splash I lost at hatch due to malformity. Hopefully I'll have a couple of girls out of this for those lovely dark brown eggs. (Parents were 4 to 5 on Marans scale). What I gave up in depth of color I made up for in productivity (darker usually means less productive). Momma and babies are doing fine. Post more when final hatch count is in.

Aaaawwww so sweet!! Congrats!

 

[korlia]

Our sole survivor with momma!
I am a bit concerned about this hen. I don't think she is a very good mother or is it normal for first time mothers to behave like this?
I am struggling with her perpetual broodiness, even after removing unhatched eggs she still sits on the nest? I have redone the nest. Cleaned it out, put in new shavings, etc. If I dont physically remove her off the nest and put her outside when the others free range she will not go out. When she does free range it is as if she doesnt care about her chick? She will fly onto things where the little one cant reach and seem undisturbed by its hysterical cheeps? She does however chase my other two pekin hens when they come near, but I cant let her freerange without supervision, she will definately lose her only chick. Am I just paranoid or is she not that good of a mother? The little one hatched on the 28th of December....

 

[glebreton]

How is this for luck??? Checked on my chicks this morning and found something really odd. One of the chicks was stuck to the hen and being dragged around beneath her. I picked up the hen and the chick fell off. It was dead. There was a tangle of downy feathers around its neck. Apparently, some of the downy feathers on the belly of my hen were matted together in a knot. The chick apparenlty stuck his head through the knotted feathers and when the hen started moving around this morning, the tension tightened the feathers like a noose around the chicks neck. The hen tried to shake him off a couple times, which probably just made the feather noose tighter. Anyway, the chick was dead, so I am down to one lone survivor...

This is my second clutch and I am quickly learning that the success rate is not real high from start to adulthood. Last clutch she hatched 4 and only 1 lived to adulthood. And he died for no apparent reason last week. Now she hatched 2 out of 9 eggs, and within a week, we are down to 1 chick left...Mother Nature has no compassion.

 

[fisherlady]

Sorry to hear about the death of your chick, glebreton... that is understandably distressing and certainly disheartening.... but your poor success rates so far shouldn't get you down too much, sounds like you've had all of the bad in a short span but there is a lot of good to be had in the future.... don't give up, it should turn around for you... better weather is coming and with it should be better chances for you and your birds to enjoy the joys of broody life!

 

[fisherlady]

Our sole survivor with momma!
I am a bit concerned about this hen. I don't think she is a very good mother or is it normal for first time mothers to behave like this?
I am struggling with her perpetual broodiness, even after removing unhatched eggs she still sits on the nest? I have redone the nest. Cleaned it out, put in new shavings, etc. If I dont physically remove her off the nest and put her outside when the others free range she will not go out. When she does free range it is as if she doesnt care about her chick? She will fly onto things where the little one cant reach and seem undisturbed by its hysterical cheeps? She does however chase my other two pekin hens when they come near, but I cant let her freerange without supervision, she will definately lose her only chick. Am I just paranoid or is she not that good of a mother? The little one hatched on the 28th of December....

Sorry to hear the broody is still giving you fits... can you set up a small, fenced area outside (weather permitting) where it encloses mostly grass and preferably has shade... place her and the chick in it with only maybe a small log or two for them to practice jumping up on and food, water and maybe a small pile of leaves or straw for her to dig through. As long as the fencing is chick friendly, no major obstacles in the area and weather isn't extreme then the hen should spend much of the day scratching and hopefully learning to care for the baby. Supervise for problems for a while before leaving them. The fence will keep them in a safe area and will keep out nosey flock mates. Forcing her away from her chosen nest area may finally break her nest attatchment. At least I hope it does. Some folks have reported having hens who are great setters but bad mamas, and vise versa... but I am really hoping that isn't the case for you. Her protection from the other hens is encouraging at least.

 

[fisherlady]

Here are a couple pics of the set up I use. Although I like to let them free range when I am outside to supervise (cats in yard also) I prefer to have them in the pen when I am not on hand until they are about a week or so and are listening when mama calls them. Once they are listening to their mama a bit better I don't worry much. My cats rarely pay much attention to the birds, but I know they will not approach the adult birds, so as long as the chicks don't stray from mama then they are good. I also leave my dog out with them to increase their security when I am not there.






Primary large panels are dog run fencing so they are movable. I lined bottom with 1/2 inch hardware cloth, and divided with a plastic 1/2 inch mesh barrier since I had 2 broody hatches using it at same time. All is moveable and can be changed as needed.

 

[TiaRC]

Here are a couple pics of the set up I use. Although I like to let them free range when I am outside to supervise (cats in yard also) I prefer to have them in the pen when I am not on hand until they are about a week or so and are listening when mama calls them. Once they are listening to their mama a bit better I don't worry much. My cats rarely pay much attention to the birds, but I know they will not approach the adult birds, so as long as the chicks don't stray from mama then they are good. I also leave my dog out with them to increase their security when I am not there.






Primary large panels are dog run fencing so they are movable. I lined bottom with 1/2 inch hardware cloth, and divided with a plastic 1/2 inch mesh barrier since I had 2 broody hatches using it at same time. All is moveable and can be changed as needed.

Nice build!!

very smart