Broody Hen Thread!

[Dawson Davidson]

I have 6 Broodys and they are just great! They do all the incubating and raising but I can see were some of you all are coming form just because when 1 goes it seems like all of them do!!

 

[emmimini1212]

No, usually, after the first set hatch the broody gets up, specifically so that she can feed and water the new babies.  She does usually continue to sit tightly for a day or two after the first one hatches....but not for a week.

I would try to take out the first set as they hatch, brood them in the house, and try to reintroduce them when the second set hatches.

But, I don't know if there is any way to know what is 'best' as each broody is so very different.

Oh.... Ok I'll see what happens in the first day after she hatches te firsts! Fingers crossed that I don't have to brood..

 

[Woobsie]

I have a Columbian Rock hen (the only one out of 13 that hate me) that went broody suddenly about 3 days ago. I have never had a broody hen...my hens and roos were raised from day olds last year. Anyway she is sitting in her box and she stayed there overnight, so I knew something was up. She stayed now 2 nights in her nesting box and all day. Yesterday after work I notice she switched nest boxes, the one right next to it! Did she get confused about which box she was originally in? I have a few golf balls in most of the boxes and that particular box she chose didn't have an egg, so maybe she moved because she decided to sit on a real egg.

Today I came home from lunch and she was out of the coop with the others (sad me) but then after about 5 minutes where they all followed me in she ate and drank and went back into her box and has resumed. I was able to see there was 2 real eggs and a couple golf balls in the new box. I was thinking "Should I pop in a few more eggs while shes out?" and as I was contemplating, she went back into her box. I want to put a bunch more eggs under her and remove the golf balls, but since she hates me, I am really worried about distressing her and breaking her brood!!!! I had decided up until 3 days ago I would never be a chick grandma, but instead have to be pretend chick mom (ugggh..the poops, the mess! the mess! the attention!). I really want her to hatch out more than 2 chicks. I unfortunatley have 2 roos for 13 hens (I had more hens last year but lost 4) so they mate ALL the time..so I feel like the eggs are mostly all fertile.

 

[Woobsie]

oh, my question is, should I wait? or should I pop in the eggs? how and when should I do this??

 

[griggy]

OMG. I decided to pull one egg to candle it since there are still no chicks (on Day 22) and it doesn't look like any of them have started to break through the egg. So I grabbed an egg, kept it warm with my gloves and ran inside. I sat it on the blanket, picked up the flashlight....AND THE EGG STARTED CHIRPING.

 

[jessicaroo]

You

oh, my question is, should I wait? or should I pop in the eggs? how and when should I do this??

you can put more eggs in, better to do it at night. But I would mark the eggs she's on, so that you don't get confused if she's switching nests or stealing eggs.

 

[LisaLouHoo]

OMG. I decided to pull one egg to candle it since there are still no chicks (on Day 22) and it doesn't look like any of them have started to break through the egg. So I grabbed an egg, kept it warm with my gloves and ran inside. I sat it on the blanket, picked up the flashlight....AND THE EGG STARTED CHIRPING.

That is freaking eggsiting!!!! So cool.

 

[luvmypets]

So took some pics of my experiment that had/having a happy ending! So out of three ducks eggs, all hatched on our staggered silkie/phoenix cross one hatched and another internally pipped!

 

[RudyElpollo]

Well, I'm new in having chickens and I've had hens now for about 8 months. I've been hoping that one of my hens would become broody, but no, not a one. I even purchased a Silkie in hopes that, that one would become broody, and again nothing. I have 6 hens, a Silkie, a black star, wyandotte, welsummer, Blue Orpington, and a Road Island Red. I think I'm losing my hope it all this Broody stuff. Do you guys think I'm doing something wrong?

Thanks for your help.

RudyElpollo

 

[luvmypets]

Broodyness is a hormonal change in which she stops and decides she wants to be a mommy. I encourage our hens to go broody by putting them in a box and let them gather there eggs in a clutch then their brains go dingdingding mama time!