Broody Hen Thread!

[Hooligans7]

My suggestion would be.... move mama and chick to the floor box...if you reach under her (carefully) and get ahold of the chick you can move it to the floor box... mama will follow! Trust me! LOL
... but before the move... set the box in a position that allows you to place a barrier of hardware cloth around the box, including a few square feet of floor space, a corner away from the pop door would work well. With broody and chick in the box you can place food and water within the fencing area for the first few days. This will allow mama and chick to bond and for the young one to learn to respond to her vocal cues. It will also allow the other 2 hens to become familiar with the sight (and sound) of the chick.

After about 2 days, maybe 3... you can take down the wire barrier and allow mama and chick to roam within the coop and run as mama sees fit. The thing you will need to watch for is excessive aggression from another hen (make sure there are multiple food and water sources to help reduce resources being a source of conflict) and you will also need to provide a safe box on the ground in the run if there is a ramp which needs navigated. Chicks are often good going down, but not so much with getting back up the first week. A box in the run will give mama hen somewhere sheltered and dry to rest with the chick if it gets cold, windy or rains when they are outside. Make sure you check each day that the little one made it back up the ramp and assist as needed.

After this first broody experience you will have a much better idea of how your flock responds to little ones and hopefully any future broodies can just have a floor nest after hatch with no barriers needed. Some flocks are very broody friendly, but sometimes folks have a flock member or two which just causes a need for more security...

Thanks for all the great advice. I certainly have some work to do out in the coop!

 

[TiaRC]

Has anyone seen a broody kick eggs out of the nest that aren't fertile or stopped developing?

 

[jajeanpierre]

I--well, two hens actually--hatched my first chicks this month. I have both in separate little pens with a dog-house coop attached in my back yard. One broody is a LF Ameraucana who hatched 7 chicks June 14, so they are two weeks old. The other Silkie hatched a solitary chick five days later, June 19. All chicks are full siblings, LF Ameraucanas.

One of the advantages of feather-legged breeds, especially bantam feather-legged breeds, is that they don't do a lot of damage to a lawn when they scratch. The LF Ameraucana, however, can really do a number on it. I do not have enough shaded lawn to move the pen around enough to avoid damage to the lawn. On top of that, I will be traveling for a week July 8 to 15th The LF broody's chicks will be about 5 weeks old when I return. I worry about the lawn and I also worry that she will "wean" them when I am gone and they could be hurt.

I've decided it is not safe to let her and her chicks free range. I have a mini Dachshund who, although she leaves the adult bantams alone, has been showing an interest in the chicks. It is not possible for me to keep track of all the Dachshunds (I have 4) when they are let out, so have decided to raise the chicks in a grow out pen.

Eventually, the chicks will all be put together in a grow out pen. Should I be moving themover to the Silkie now? It would be easiest for me to raise only one pen of broody and chicks. How would the other broody cope with the loss of her chicks?

I was thinking of taking a single chick away from the broody every day or two and putting it in with the Silkie and her chick. There is a size difference between the 7 older chicks and the solitary younger chick. I'm not happy about doing this at night because I want to immediately intervene if their is any aggression. The broodies' pens are right next to each other. I would like the broody Ameraucana back with her flock in the front. How determined are they to search out their chicks?

Suggestions?

 

[AVintageLife]

You can give them as soon as they hatch and dry out. Remember big hatcheries ship day old chicks to feed stores all the time. The chick has everything it needs to survive if it has warmth (heat lamp), food and water, which your friends can and seem to want to give.

If possible, it would be nice to save one chick for mom, or she may go right back to being broody again and want to start the process all over.

Waiting longer helps the chicks become acclimated to the outdoor weather faster, and they grow faster and stronger as chickens if raised by a broody hen...but that is not your goal as you have raised them for other people who want to hand raise them. For them to imprint with the chick, the sooner the better.

Lady of McCamley

EDITED TO ADD: you might also consider getting a chick or two that you want to keep from the feed store to prevent your banty from starting all over again with immediate loss of her chicks.

Thank you for your wisdom. I am concerned about her health and well being, all that work and then no chicks to raise and certainly I don't want her to go back to being broody. I like your idea of keeping one, I think I'll keep two so at least they can be together and I'm sure I can find someone to take them when they are older.

 

[brummy]

Hi all. An update on my broody Black Rock. Well i purchased 6 buff orprington eggs off Ebay. I didnt really have much hope for them. They arrived by post and we put them straight under the hen.
what do you know? 20 days later all 6 hatched.

Im so pleased i did it as she seams to be a real good mum.

 

[luvmypets]

what precious babies!

 

[sonderah]

Looks like my black Silkie means business this time about raising her 2nd clutch this year. She's been sitting in that corner for 4-5 days! Good timing really! I have 5 of her eggs that r due to hatch Wednesday. I planned to keep them all anyway, so may as well let her hatch & raise them!

 

[luvmypets]

 

[MommaBee]

Maybe this is the thread I should be enquiring on...
We have a broody who hatched two chicks yesterday and then left the nest today to eat with her 2 lil ones and then never returned. I went to check the nest and heard chirping. No pips but 4 eggs were clearly chirping. So internal pip has happened. I went ahead and started the incubator up and placed them in. Then it occurred to me that we have 2 other hens who are trying to go broody but we keep taking their eggs (I only need one broody at a time with our set up). Should I give one of them the eggs to hatch. One has been broody 2-3 days and the other for a little over a week. Will it throw them off to have a chick pop out this soon? Should I separate them from the flock or move her with the other broody and her two chicks?

I am thankful I have options but not really sure what to do.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Momma bee. I just had the same issue about a week ago. Put the pipped eggs under a newly broody hen and 4 of the 5 made it. But every hen is different.

just put on gloves put on hand over her head and tucked them under her. She shuffled them around and then settled. Left her alone and the next day there were 4 fuzzy butts.