Broody Hen Thread!

[fiddlebanshee]

I am thinking I may do the following. When she is off the nest, i will put eggs and straw in a cutout low box, so low that she won't really notice it but high enough to keep her and the straw and eggs in. Then at night, I will lift this contraption, chicken/eggs/straw and all out of the nestbox and onto the floor of the coop. I think I won't bother with the dog carrier anymore, although I could take the top off and put the cardboard box into it, and then just let her sit on the floor outside of the nestboxes. We can see how that goes.

If that won't work, then I'll just let her sit where she wants and hope for the best. Today is day 2 that she is on the eggs fulltime.

 

[fisherlady]

If she doesn't move well and you have to move her back to her original box you can fashion a chicken wire door to cover the front of her box during the day. You can put the 'door' on her box during the normal hours your other hens would lay, this will force them to start using other boxes. In the late afternoon you can 'open' her box up to allow her to get out for a bite and some water. Most times you should be fine by mid afternoon, though you can gauge the busiest 'egging' time after a day or two of observation.

 

[philipchickymad]

i have a broody brahma sitting on 8 light sussex eggs and her brest has lost its feathers where she has been sitting on the eggs is that ok

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Quote: This is normal, it is their method to get the eggs both to the correct temperature and humidity. They will grow back after she quits being broody.

 

[philipchickymad]

This is normal, it is their method to get the eggs both to the correct temperature and humidity.  They will grow back after she quits being broody.

thank you

 

[Manningjw]

Has anyone tried integrating incubator hatched chicks into a clutch of chicks under a broody hen that hatched several days earlier? Will the mother hen adopt them into the chicks that are a few days older?

I haven't heard back on whether or not my hatching eggs are going to be shipped but i need to start incubating the eggs I already have.

 

[kkormos]

I'm have a broody hen right now too and I am soo thankful she is one of my nicest hens so she is being sweet about me checking her eggs ect. She was initially sitting on her clutch in a coop with laying boxes closely connected and kept stealing eggs from others sweet mama would adopt them all! We moved her because of this and also the nesting box is 2 feet off the ground so babies would have fallen out I set up a 10 ft by 10ft dog kennel with a wooden 4x4ft coop with fresh hay in it and molded a nest in the corner, stole her eggs while she was eating and then put her in with her eggs. I literally had to show her the eggs were there then she agreed to stay. But thankfully I put chicken wire all across the top of the kennel previous to moving her cuz in the morning she tried to fly out to return to her other coop. She was upset for 10 minutes or so, I went out there and showed her the eggs again and she sat back on them she's been out there for 10 days and is due any day now. If other hens are laying on her, she will break more eggs and it causes her stress. She will appreciate her privacy and relax a little without the others around. You will want to keep her in a place that the babies can live too. Hope that helps.

 

[fisherlady]

Has anyone tried integrating incubator hatched chicks into a clutch of chicks under a broody hen that hatched several days earlier? Will the mother hen adopt them into the chicks that are a few days older?

I haven't heard back on whether or not my hatching eggs are going to be shipped but i need to start incubating the eggs I already have.

I had a hen who hatched on a Saturday morning adopt chicks I gave her on Monday lunchtime... that is my only experience with it and she was still setting on her nest with her first 2 chicks when I gave her the 3 adoptees...

I haven't had any other experiences with adopting though, so can't advise of longest time you can go between the natural hatchers and the adoptees, though I can tell you that once the broody leaves the nest with her chicks to start scratching she expects them to keep up. Our hens are usually out on day 2 or 3, and once out they are pretty busy. If you try to give a busy hen some day old adoptees they may not be able to keep up as well. So if you try grafting after day 2 then you will need to spend a good bit of time in the coop with them the first day making sure everyone is able to keep up and that the new ones are understanding how to get under mama to warm up and also that they are listening to her vocalizations and that she is waiting for them to catch up.
A good broody tries to keep everyone close that first week, but they often won't stop or go back for just one... and they can't count, so if they have 5 chicks and one gets left behind they won't even realize it unless it is vocal enough to catch her attention.

 

[macg4ira]

We had two hens just hatch... fun to watch them. One momma is not the best, she will jump up in the roost and leave the chicks at night if we don't have her in the brooder pen.

 

[pogmobum]

Hi everyone!! Quick question

My broody was sitting on five eggs (all set on the same day) its her first time hatching, one egg hatched day 20 it is now day 24 and nobody else has hatched. I am moving the broody and chick tomorro and will candle the remaning eggs.

Is there any hope? anyone else have this happen?