Broody Hen Thread!

[Junibutt]

Hi, I was going to incubate 12 Cream Legbar eggs, but then noticed my Black Orpington hen Bertha was refusing to come out of the nesting box and growling at me if I peaked in, she also has a bald belly. So, I consulted with this forum and a friend who uses broody hens to hatch chicks and learned that I indeed had a broody on my hands. I decided on day 3 that I should give her eggs.

Tonight was the night, I gave her 12 fertile blue eggs. I thought she was asleep so I moved her into a large dog cage with an X Large covered kitty litter box which use to be her favorite nesting box until I built wood ones. I put the dog crate next to the nesting boxes right inside the Hen house. I put her in, but she was awake and was upset and rejected the whole thing.

Next, I removed the nest that she had been sitting in for 3 days and put it in the dog cage with the eggs in it. She immediately checked it out, was pleased, hopped in and rearranged the eggs and promptly sat on them. I peaked in and she growled at me, good sign, so I let her be, is this success?

I'm really glad that I never attached my nesting boxes. I did this so I could rearrange them if necessary, and it came in handy tonight as I was able to move one of them for broody Bertha.

I guess it's time to read more about broody hens hatching eggs. Here's a picture:

You can see her beak and her eyes shining in the opening of the curtain:

I had the same set-up but the only flaw is when you have to access the eggs for candling, its very hard. Unless you can slide the tray out (that means you do not have enough shavings under the eggs), it is very hard to take any eggs, newborn chicks that might need extra care out.

 

[Morrigan]

I've gone au naturale with my second broody hen. She is a feisty little thing, so I left her right in the nest box in the general coop population. The only thing I did was to mark her eggs. Its day 17, and no other chicken has dared broach her box to lay an egg. In fact, for the first 2 weeks, no hen was even going into the nest boxes to either side of her. They made their own nest on the floor on the opposite side of the coop to lay eggs. A couple of brave hens have now moved "next door" to lay their eggs this week, but no new eggs have been added to her clutch.

She started with 11 eggs, and now has 10. I'm really not sure what happened with the 11th egg, except I found a squished and rotten egg when I cleaned up out the coop at day 14. I'm guessing that was #11 and she pushed it out.

This has been a real experiment for me in "letting things be" with the broody hen. I wanted to try it at least. I haven't interfered, but am anxiously watching to see what happens in 4 days.

 

[cynthia1955]

What do you do with a hen that thinks the eggs will hatch, pecks when you try to collect the eggs. Squawks and squawks, staying on the nest even when the others go out. Eventually she will join the others. No rooster, no fertile eggs. Will she get over it? What can we do? She's beginning to freak out the rabbits.

 

[abserbean]

Depends on whether you want chicks or want to break her brood. If you want chicks, give her some dud or fake eggs and let her sit to see if she is committed. If she stays on the nest, than take the duds and give her fertile eggs. If you want to break her brood, there are tons of good threads on here that will tell you how. Most people say to separate in a wire bottom cage, I haven't had much success with my very determined girl.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/broody-breaker-when-hens-mood-to-hatch.html
This site also has good instructions, otherwise just type how to break a broody hen in the search bar. Good luck!

 

[702marine]

So my one slikie in my mixed flock has gone broody in the last few days. She is not aggressive in any way when I have tried to view the eggs under her. She is really guarding them though. I do not have a roo so her eggs are not fertile. I do however have 6 fertile eggs in the incubator that have 5 days left till hatch date. So my question is can I place the eggs I have ready to hatch under her for her to hatch? I really want her to be able to be a mommy and I want my kids to have the experience of seeing a mother hen caring for her babies. Should I just place 2 of them under her? Can I place the newly hatched babies under her? Suggestions please...

 

[TiaRC]

So my one slikie in my mixed flock has gone broody in the last few days. She is not aggressive in any way when I have tried to view the eggs under her. She is really guarding them though. I do not have a roo so her eggs are not fertile. I do however have 6 fertile eggs in the incubator that have 5 days left till hatch date. So my question is can I place the eggs I have ready to hatch under her for her to hatch? I really want her to be able to be a mommy and I want my kids to have the experience of seeing a mother hen caring for her babies. Should I just place 2 of them under her? Can I place the newly hatched babies under her? Suggestions please...

How long has she been broody? More than 15 days? Or less? If less than 15 she will usually not take to the chicks as well as she would if she has sat for awhile. Hatching them under her is better than letting them hatch in the bator and moving them. So if you wanna give her 2 by all means go ahead. When the rest hatch and she's already accepted the 2 she's hatched you can sneak the others under her at night.

 

[abserbean]

It seems as if my broody momma is "weaning" her chicks already. They are only 10 days old, but last night she went up to the roost to sleep, and they are pretty much on their own in the run. She does still call to them when there is food or treats, but she def. eats her fill and doesn't wait on them. I'm guessing this is b/c it is so hot here? Last clutch, she kept them a full six weeks and didn't roost until 3.5 weeks. She never has to set and warm them, b/c it is super hot and humid here, so they are very independent. Has anyone else noticed early "weaning" when it's very hot? The chicks seem to be healthy and acclimating to flock life well, so I'm just letting them do their thing. Thanks!

 

[pegm]

I have a different problem that I need an answer to before I give away one of my hens. I have no rooster, and not nearly enough room for a hen to raise chicks. So I of course have a hen that has gone broody every month for the last several months. So for at least 2 weeks of the month she does not lay. Is broodyness a spring summer thing, or will she go broody all year around?

 

[TiaRC]

I have a different problem that I need an answer to before I give away one of my hens. I have no rooster, and not nearly enough room for a hen to raise chicks. So I of course have a hen that has gone broody every month for the last several months. So for at least 2 weeks of the month she does not lay. Is broodyness a spring summer thing, or will she go broody all year around?  

Mine go year round. But of course I have crazy broody silkies

 

[fisherlady]

So my one slikie in my mixed flock has gone broody in the last few days. She is not aggressive in any way when I have tried to view the eggs under her. She is really guarding them though. I do not have a roo so her eggs are not fertile. I do however have 6 fertile eggs in the incubator that have 5 days left till hatch date. So my question is can I place the eggs I have ready to hatch under her for her to hatch? I really want her to be able to be a mommy and I want my kids to have the experience of seeing a mother hen caring for her babies. Should I just place 2 of them under her? Can I place the newly hatched babies under her? Suggestions please...

I agree with TiaRC... many hens are touchy about babies if they haven't been broody for at least 10 days or so... but there are exceptions, and silkies often are wonderful broodies so it is worth trying with a couple of the eggs. I would watch her very, very closely though at hatch time. Some hens don't transition well from setting to hatching mode if they are too new with the broody mood thing. This can cause suffocated chicks (if the broody still sets tight down as if on eggs instead of lifting to give the chicks more room) and also can cause the broody to sort of freak and peck at the little ones. If she seems to be dealing well with the first 2 chicks then you can graft the other 3 from the incubator to her after they fluff, but again it needs to be done when you can spend a lot of time supervising them so you can intervene if problems. Good luck!
If you don't want to take any chances you can always provide her with a few new eggs and let her set for the whole broody period...

I have a different problem that I need an answer to before I give away one of my hens. I have no rooster, and not nearly enough room for a hen to raise chicks. So I of course have a hen that has gone broody every month for the last several months. So for at least 2 weeks of the month she does not lay. Is broodyness a spring summer thing, or will she go broody all year around?

broody tendencies vary hen to hen.... some hens are strictly seasonal. We have one who will brood every April/May but that is it... then there are hens who are chronic broodies and will raise a clutch and then go back to laying eggs for a few weeks and go back to broody mode again. I have a hen who faithfully raises 4 clutches a year.
Spring and summer are definitely the more likely time for broodiness but some hens don't read the book! LOL