Broody Hen Thread!

[jajeanpierre]

Quote: Are they large fowl eggs? Do you have two broodies? Why don't you ask the question on a Silkie thread. You could get a good idea by putting six fake eggs under her for a few days and then make a decision.

 

[fisherlady]

Quote: see below....

That is adorable! Thanks. I am very excited about this (kind of like Christmas morning) I ordered 6+ cochin bantam eggs and I was just reading above the post about how many eggs to place under the broody hen. Do you think 6 is ok?

I agree with jajeanpierre about trying with fake eggs for a short while to test coverage ability.... as an alternative... you can get out an incubator, or make a short term one out of a shoe box with bedding in it and heat lamp. Give the broody the eggs she can easily cover and set 3 or 4 into your incubator. After day 7 to 10, candle all eggs and remove any clears. You can then probably replace any eggs you removed from the broody with eggs from your incubator to keep her at the level you wanted her at... or wait till hatch day and slip the incubator hatched chicks under the broody to raise. I wouldn't overload her with chicks, but it is a good way of maximizing the broody capabilities for you if you have to buy a certain number of eggs. (since some folks only sell them as a half or full dozen)

 

[sonderah]

Well my black Silkie is either going broody again, or playing games with me AGAIN! Lol She's hatched and raised 1 clutch. Then when my white Silkie started brooding, the black one thought about it for a few days, but she was tricking! Now she's thinking about it again! Still laid yesterday, but I took the egg, & she's been sitting on the straw all night and all morning so far without laying another. Make up my mind lady!!! Lol I still have the same 5 eggs she sat on, when she was playing, in the incy now. They r due to go into the hatcher Tuesday. If she chooses to stick it out this time, I'll just give her those back on Tuesday maybe.

 

[Back2Roots]

Quote:
Good Idea - I will ask on the Silkie thread about quantity of eggs. The hatching eggs I bought are LF Ameraucana eggs, so bigger than what she would lay, but about the same size as the ones she keeps stealing from my other hen every time she lays one. I only have 4 chickens in total at the moment, and two are young pullets that won't be laying until August probably. My Silkie is one of two hens that are of laying age. The other hen is definiitely not broody: She's a bantam Appenzeller, and I've read that they are not a breed known for broody hens. I don't have an incubator either - I'm a first time chicken keeper this year, I can only keep a maximum of six chickens, and no roosters, so an incubator is not on my list of things I want or neeD. I plan to sell any chicks that my broody hatches out. Right now she is sitting on the last egg she laid before going brooody at the beginning of last week, and a golf ball. And of course, if my Appy has laid an egg today, she'll be sitting on that too. I want to remove her old egg, but would like to wait for the broody nest switch-out before I do that, because I plan to take her out of the nest box at night and put her in the new nest, complete with the hatching eggs, and leave the golf ball and the other egg behind. She does seem to have plenty of room left for more eggs to cover in her current clutch, so maybe ...

 

[Back2Roots]

Another newbie question: Should the hatching eggs that I plan on putting in the new broody nest be warmed up a bit first?
Thanks.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Quote: Most Ameraucana eggs are not all that big. If you are going to move her, move her with whatever fake eggs she is sitting on before you get the hatching eggs. Can't you leave her where she is? The two times I hatched eggs under a broody, they were hatched in the coop. I moved the first batch the day after they hatched because I had just put 12 juvenile Ameraucanas in the pen and I was worried for their safety. The juveniles were a bit stressed and I worried a chick might fall out and be trampled accidentally by a flighty juvenile. I didn't move the other hatch until a few days after hatch when she brought it out of the nest (or it fell out and she joined it there).

 

[jajeanpierre]

Another newbie question: Should the hatching eggs that I plan on putting in the new broody nest be warmed up a bit first?
Thanks.

No, just put them under her. She's a Silkie--she would probably brood and ice cube.

 

[ChickyChickens]

So my broody hen went into the mother room with her new chicks today and it was soo cute to see her peck at food and pick out the smallest ones to feed her chicks....they are sooo small!!!It was so funny 'cause she was diggin' and then by accident kicked one of the chicks!
I have two other hens in the mother room and there was a little bit of fighting between them, is this normal??? (I just moved the chicks away and then put them back when the fighting was over)
Anyway I got two other new young pullets today and the hens in the mother coop just "put them in place" and then they were all happy!
Oh and what do you call a hen with chicks???( like you call a hen on eggs a broody)

 

[abserbean]

A hen with chicks is still a broody, her hormone levels stay changed for about 4=6 weeks after chicks hatch. After that she will "wean" the chicks, and go back to laying.

So, my broody who is "re-brooding" is very determined. We have attempted to break her for about a week now, no go. She is puffed up and sitting on nothing. I don't mind her sitting again, but I'm worried about how hot it is here. I'm in FL, and the next month will be brutal. She is a very "puffy" hen (barnyard mix), and I don't want her to overheat. Should I just graft her some chicks from the feed store? Has anyone ever had a hen heat stroke trying to brood? Maybe I'm just worrying to much.

 

[TiaRC]

A hen with chicks is still a broody, her hormone levels stay changed for about 4=6 weeks after chicks hatch. After that she will "wean" the chicks, and go back to laying.

So, my broody who is "re-brooding" is very determined. We have attempted to break her for about a week now, no go. She is puffed up and sitting on nothing. I don't mind her sitting again, but I'm worried about how hot it is here. I'm in FL, and the next month will be brutal. She is a very "puffy" hen (barnyard mix), and I don't want her to overheat. Should I just graft her some chicks from the feed store? Has anyone ever had a hen heat stroke trying to brood? Maybe I'm just worrying to much.

if she's trying to brood really early after brooding chicks the first time. Yes I would graft her some chicks. It'll be easier on her and you. And she needs nutrition that she didn't get from last hatch.