Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

and BTW Lady of McCamley... funny you should mention Buckeyes... I have a Buckeye hen who was hatched with one of my broodies in late August of last year... so she is just now 8 months old and she has been broody for nearly a month. I did try to disuade her numerous times but other than being easily confused about which nest she wanted she has been very determined, so she got 8 eggs to hatch today. I know the breeder told me it was common for his Buckeye hens to go broody I was a bit surprised that she parked herself at 7 months! So if you are hatching out Buckeyes I hope the strain shows the same broody tendancies mine already are!

Time will tell.

I bought the eggs from this line, one because they are NPIP and from lines back to Nettie (too cool!) but especially because the breeder personally has witnessed her flock display the infamous Buckeye trait and mouse effectively (ie "I've personally seen them clear out a mouse nest of babies, shaking the adult like a rag doll"). I am tired of being flooded with varmits...I do the right things, but the hens kick feed everywhere and I simply don't have time to clean it all up every night...so the rats are a constant battle...I'm not expecting (or really wanting) my Buckeyes to eat them or even kill them (a rat is whole lot bigger than a mouse, and ewwww they could catch stuff from it)...but I've learned all you have to do is worry them enough and they go to the neighbors...so I'm hoping to hatch out my own rat patrol.

Broodiness will be another benefit.

Lady of McCamley

 

[DarynA146]

only one of my chicks hatched on the 21 day which was yesterday and in the morning...none others have hatched yet and the eggs have no cracks on them now and its day 22

 

[chickenlover237]

I've only had chickens for two years, Last year I got six chicks, only three of them made it to laying age, two leghorns who lay beautifully and a bantam red cochin hen, Peaches, she layed for about two months, one egg every day before she started to sit on the eggs, me and my dad had been talking about letting one of them sit on a few eggs before, but none of them had shown signs of broody behavior yet, for three days she's been increasingly aggressive over her little nest so I let her have a dog crate with some fake eggs, so far I think she is ready for some real eggs from a friend who has roosters, is it normal for a hen to get off the nest for ten or fifteen minutes? She did once yesterday while my lead hen laid her egg, but then she went right back to it and hasn't moved since, and she's more aggressive this morning, is it normal for them to get off the nest sometimes? *edit* Peaches also laid her own egg yesterday before letting my lead hen take the nest for that short while. She's my only banty, all my others are standard sized hens so I know its her, is that normal?

 

[fisherlady]

I've only had chickens for two years, Last year I got six chicks, only three of them made it to laying age, two leghorns who lay beautifully and a bantam red cochin hen, Peaches, she layed for about two months, one egg every day before she started to sit on the eggs, me and my dad had been talking about letting one of them sit on a few eggs before, but none of them had shown signs of broody behavior yet, for three days she's been increasingly aggressive over her little nest so I let her have a dog crate with some fake eggs, so far I think she is ready for some real eggs from a friend who has roosters, is it normal for a hen to get off the nest for ten or fifteen minutes? She did once yesterday while my lead hen laid her egg, but then she went right back to it and hasn't moved since, and she's more aggressive this morning, is it normal for them to get off the nest sometimes? *edit* Peaches also laid her own egg yesterday before letting my lead hen take the nest for that short while. She's my only banty, all my others are standard sized hens so I know its her, is that normal?

A hen does get up once or twice a day to stretch, eat, drink, poo and maybe dust. That is normal and they may be off of the nest up to 30 minutes (sometimes even longer during warm weather), most of my hens average 10 or 15 minutes.
She may lay a few eggs as her broody hormones get settled, she is gathering her 'clutch' and though hens can (rarely) continue to lay for a period well into their brood most stop after the first week or so when they are content with the number of eggs they have.

You should go back about a month or so on this thread and read your way forward, it will help you see many normal broody behaviors and solutions to some issues. There is another thread called 'old fashioned broody hen hatchalong' or something very similar which also addresses all things broody, so you can get some info over on it also... again, just go back a month or two and skim through.

 

[ChickenLove6]

I have a broody silkie at the moment, sat on two eggs. I would have more but don't want to risk the chance of having too many cockerels. I've got 3 already and are trying to rehomed them..sigh. Anyway I candled them today and they have one week left to hatch.
The photos aren't very clear but you can slightly see the chicks silhouette

 

[sonderah]

I woke up this morning to a dead Silkie in my bantam coop. Day b4 yesterday she was doing the standing around with her head tucked under her wing, but it was cool and rainy and she seemed fine yesterday, so I let it go. Well, apparently it was too late anyway. Now idk what to do.

Can I worm my bantam flock with Wazine when there is a mom with 1 week old chicks? And I found poultry lice, can I treat with DE and organic powder? I think she had vent gleet was the main problem, but none of the silkies I've had for 2 months have started laying is y I'm thinking of worming.

The chicks cannot reach to drink the water I will treat, but will it hurt them with the poo?

 

[abserbean]

Just a couple of quick questions as we near the end! When you are counting days, do you count the day you set as day one, or the first 24 hour period ending as day one? Example, we set on a Wednesday, so should we expect Tuesday or Wednesday to be hatch day? I've read a few sites about this, but I'm still confused. Also, I know if we were using a incubator, we would now be in lockdown. My hen has been really determined to hatch, and doesn't usually leave the nest unless we take her off. Early on she would get off on her own, but after the first week we have been making sure she gets off every other day. Should we continue or just let her stay on the nest? Three to four days on the nest without getting off seems a bit much. I'm trying to not over think it, and let nature do it's thing, but this is her first time hatching and I don't know if she will act appropriately! Thanks for any help!

 

[Tyaloria]

I count the day I set them as day 1 but I'm not sure if this is correct either?

 

[Dianne88]

If you set on a Wednesday you should hatch on a Wednesday. So you count day 1 when the first 24 hrs have past.

 

[abserbean]

Thanks! I thought it was Wednesday, but I have read conflicting things. We are so excited for chicks! I never candled them, so I'm hoping they are developing correctly. I guess I could candle tonight, but I don't want to mess with them too much.