Broody Hen Thread!

[fisherlady]

A few pictures from the latest hatch...Lacey has been cooperative about pictures but still have not gotten any of Rosie's 8.

 

[chixinrox]

That is sad...poor girl wanted to be a mom's hen. Will she sense what is happening any give up? Next year or next time we may buy some fertilized eggs. I am new to all of this so not sure. Seems they should have the chance to do what is so natural.

 

[chixinrox]

So cute! I would love to give it a chance sometime.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

That is sad...poor girl wanted to be a mom's hen. Will she sense what is happening any give up? Next year or next time we may buy some fertilized eggs. I am new to all of this so not sure. Seems they should have the chance to do what is so natural.

I'm not sure what you mean by "sense what is happening and give up"...is she still trying to sit? You said in another post she had gotten up after 3 weeks.

If she is still sulking and wants to set, you can get some feed store chicks and see if she will foster those, but only if she is still very broody and sitting in the nest all day long.

There is a risk that she might not want to foster the chicks, or the chicks, having bonded to the feed store heat lamp, may not graft well to her...but if you can separate her into a dog crate and giver her a couple of chicks, it will bring her out of her brood.

BUT, if she is up and running around only sulking a little, she will get over that soon. You can put fertile eggs under her the next time she goes broody, if she does. I've had some brood once and never again...but I think you said she was a Wyandotte, and some lines are quite broody.

Sorry for her disappointment (and yours) this time.

Lady of McCamley

 

[JadedPhoenix]

My broody hen stopped sitting today. I candled her eggs and nothing was happening! It was so sad, she had been on there for 3 weeks!

Same thing with my broody last weekend.

I think I'll have to put some in the bator next time she goes broody so I can slip a few under her that I KNOW are good.

 

[fisherlady]

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

 

[MisfitMiniFarm]

So our Rhode Island Red seemed to always be in the nest box, maybe three days in a row, chasing off any other hen who dare come back into the coop for feed. There was so much fighting going on I thought maybe I should separate her (keep my other hens safe, as well as eggs safe from threats and rooster)...
First I moved her over to the "bachelor pad" which was our first coop we built, where we housed the rooster before he moved into the hen house. She was nervous that I took her eggs, but didn't fight me any. Then she let me take her over and seemed relieved to see the eggs again and proceeded to roll them back into proper place because I did it all wrong!
Then I took a good look around and this environment was not.. the best for a new mama and babies (mainly being no ramp from the 3 ft drop out the door (just a crate to hop up and down).
So.... the next day i set up a lovely (large) dog crate and brought her inside thinking it'll be nice and warm - not lonely - calm environment...
NOW... she doesn't seem to care about eggs at all! She hardly sits on them, we constantly find her laying next to them and sometimes walks on one or two... it's been two days of this and now we are concerned that the eggs aren't good to hatch anymore. I read a few hours is fine for her to leave eggs but it's most of the day. Are they ok because they are inside and it's slightly warmer? I mean, it's February and been getting cold at night (despite the crazy warm weather we've had this winter- Western Washington) so maybe she knows the eggs don't need much more attention...? or did we just mess this up? this is our first year having the roo with the hens and thought we'd give it a shot.

Do we need to start over with another batch?
Should I try a different hen? - though I feel like that's to up to me (or is it?)
We've got 3 barred rock hens (one older, almost 3 and two younger girls), got another rhode island red (also 3) our ameraucana (also 3 years old) and one.... large white chicken - lady we got her from said she was a long leg..???? (i thought maybe leghorn?) she's also younger a year or so.
Would a younger hen or older be better? or is this purely up to them - to show their "true colors" as to who's the best mama..?
Thoughts...? Suggestions? Opinions? At this point any info helps

 

[JadedPhoenix]

Sounds like the second move broke her broodiness. I'd put her back with the rest and toss the eggs since they likely will never hatch at this point. The good news is that this gave you the experience of what you need to know the next time. You learned that your set up needed tweaking. If she appears to be broody again, move her FIRST. Only give her eggs to hatch if she stays on some fake eggs for a few days.

As for trying with another hen, you can't make any of your hens go broody. They do it on their own. Better luck next time.

 

[PD-Riverman]

So our Rhode Island Red seemed to always be in the nest box, maybe three days in a row, chasing off any other hen who dare come back into the coop for feed. There was so much fighting going on I thought maybe I should separate her (keep my other hens safe, as well as eggs safe from threats and rooster)...
First I moved her over to the "bachelor pad" which was our first coop we built, where we housed the rooster before he moved into the hen house. She was nervous that I took her eggs, but didn't fight me any. Then she let me take her over and seemed relieved to see the eggs again and proceeded to roll them back into proper place because I did it all wrong!
Then I took a good look around and this environment was not.. the best for a new mama and babies (mainly being no ramp from the 3 ft drop out the door (just a crate to hop up and down).
So.... the next day i set up a lovely (large) dog crate and brought her inside thinking it'll be nice and warm - not lonely - calm environment...
NOW... she doesn't seem to care about eggs at all! She hardly sits on them, we constantly find her laying next to them and sometimes walks on one or two... it's been two days of this and now we are concerned that the eggs aren't good to hatch anymore. I read a few hours is fine for her to leave eggs but it's most of the day. Are they ok because they are inside and it's slightly warmer? I mean, it's February and been getting cold at night (despite the crazy warm weather we've had this winter- Western Washington) so maybe she knows the eggs don't need much more attention...? or did we just mess this up? this is our first year having the roo with the hens and thought we'd give it a shot.

Do we need to start over with another batch?
Should I try a different hen? - though I feel like that's to up to me (or is it?)
We've got 3 barred rock hens (one older, almost 3 and two younger girls), got another rhode island red (also 3) our ameraucana (also 3 years old) and one.... large white chicken - lady we got her from said she was a long leg..???? (i thought maybe leghorn?) she's also younger a year or so.
Would a younger hen or older be better? or is this purely up to them - to show their "true colors" as to who's the best mama..?
Thoughts...? Suggestions? Opinions? At this point any info helps

First-----always collect the eggs from under every hen---every day---don't skip a nest just because she is on the nest---if I have time or its going to be freezing---I go back to nest at the end of the day that had a hen---in the nest---when I collected the eggs earlier---to get any new eggs. If you got a hen acting crazy and is staying on the nest almost all the time----she is broody. If you want to set her----If you got some fake eggs---place them in her nest for a couple days while you are collecting fresh layed eggs till you get enough to set her---"I" then move her at night to the new private nest where no other chickens can get to her. If she stays on the nest a day or so---I will remove the fake eggs and place the regular eggs under her-------for years I did not have fake eggs so I just used the regular eggs-----I would just mark them before I put them under her----so if another hen layed a egg in her nest before I moved her---I just look under her each day and remove the fresh layed eggs till I got her moved. ALWAYS Set your hen with fresh Eggs----and remove any that gets layed in her nest daily so when its time for them to hatch----all that are going to hatch will hatch around the same time----If you allow her to just collect her own eggs----you create a mess with chicks trying to hatch for days---then she will leave the nest with the hatched chicks or she will ignore the new chicks to keep trying to hatch the rest-----A MESS!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

So our Rhode Island Red seemed to always be in the nest box, maybe three days in a row, chasing off any other hen who dare come back into the coop for feed. There was so much fighting going on I thought maybe I should separate her (keep my other hens safe, as well as eggs safe from threats and rooster)...
First I moved her over to the "bachelor pad" which was our first coop we built, where we housed the rooster before he moved into the hen house. She was nervous that I took her eggs, but didn't fight me any. Then she let me take her over and seemed relieved to see the eggs again and proceeded to roll them back into proper place because I did it all wrong!
Then I took a good look around and this environment was not.. the best for a new mama and babies (mainly being no ramp from the 3 ft drop out the door (just a crate to hop up and down).
So.... the next day i set up a lovely (large) dog crate and brought her inside thinking it'll be nice and warm - not lonely - calm environment...
NOW... she doesn't seem to care about eggs at all! She hardly sits on them, we constantly find her laying next to them and sometimes walks on one or two... it's been two days of this and now we are concerned that the eggs aren't good to hatch anymore. I read a few hours is fine for her to leave eggs but it's most of the day. Are they ok because they are inside and it's slightly warmer? I mean, it's February and been getting cold at night (despite the crazy warm weather we've had this winter- Western Washington) so maybe she knows the eggs don't need much more attention...? or did we just mess this up? this is our first year having the roo with the hens and thought we'd give it a shot.

Do we need to start over with another batch?
Should I try a different hen? - though I feel like that's to up to me (or is it?)
We've got 3 barred rock hens (one older, almost 3 and two younger girls), got another rhode island red (also 3) our ameraucana (also 3 years old) and one.... large white chicken - lady we got her from said she was a long leg..???? (i thought maybe leghorn?) she's also younger a year or so.
Would a younger hen or older be better? or is this purely up to them - to show their "true colors" as to who's the best mama..?
Thoughts...? Suggestions? Opinions? At this point any info helps

I agree with JadedPhoenix that you likely broke her brood with the second move, most likely because of the temperature change.

It is very counter-intuitive but hens do a great job of hatching eggs in cold weather, and broody hatched chicks do fine in cold weather...they have their down jackets and momma for a warming hutch. (See my BCM brood below...hatched in teens and low 20's with 6 inches of snow on the ground, freezing rain....I didn't let them into the run for 2 weeks, but they ran around in the enclosed unheated hutch just fine, from day 2!!!).

Moving momma, a second time, and then from the outdoors to the indoors likely threw her body clock completely off.

Moving a broody is always a risky business, and I don't like messing with my broodies a lot, as you can interfere and interrupt things so much the hen "throws in the towel." (I eventually built a designated broody hutch just so I wouldn't have to move or mess with them). A few exceedingly broody breeds will tolerate almost a nuclear bomb going off, (I've heard of Silkies being sold and transported with clutch in tow and never missed a beat and hatched the clutch)....but overall it is best to mess as little as possible. And for me, that means egg removal as well.

I completely agree with PDRiverman it is best to watch your hens, and if you see one acting broody, move her over to a broody spot at night with her toss away or fake eggs and let her settle for a couple of days. THEN place fresh eggs, all at the same time, to hatch.

I personally have better luck, if I know I have to move them, to let them sit in the main coop on whatever they've collected knowing I will toss those eggs and reset fresh in the brooding hutch....however, it is important for a hen to develop a secure clutch. That is part of the brooding physiology. The size of the clutch literally presses on a spot on their breastbone that releases the hormones to brood. I don't want to mess with that by removing eggs, and build up of the clutch is important for constant release of hormones.

Some birds it doesn't matter so much, but RIR's are not known for generally being broody, especially if she is a hatchery bird and not a breeder quality heritage RIR. You are fighting against a lot of hatchery selection for non-broodiness, so those hormones may not be that strong to begin with. Any disruption can interrupt that cycle and lift the brood.

You can't just pick a hen to brood and work with. They have to be genetically geared to brood, and their hormones have to be ready (Yes, we are dealing with a female's hormones). Unfortunately, while not impossible, you are not working with ideally broody types in your flock...not if they are hatchery birds...due to the reason hatcheries select for laying and brooding is not laying.

Put her back in the coop and see if she gets in the mood again. Let her collect eggs again. Then in a couple of days, move her and those eggs to your spot at night...move her once...don't mess with her for several days. Keep your fingers crossed as some hens simply do not move, they insist on their chosen spot (they connect the brooding process to that spot).

If you want to have a reliable broody, I can recommend Silkies. I purposely bought a proven Silkie so I could hatch chicks naturally. I then use the volunteers as I get them, with the techniques stated above.

Anyway, my 2 cents.

Lady of McCamley