Broody Hen Thread!

[Lady of McCamley]

Double post for my friends on both broody threads.

While not exactly chicken related, I cannot think of my chicken chores without thinking of my little Sheltie, Scottie.

I sadly lost my devoted little farm companion of 11 years today. He had been a little off for some time, which I had blamed on his hypothroidism, which he was treated for, but had become sick this week and after xray's was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer.

My little friend had faithfully followed me through all my chicken chores, loved riding in the truck to the feed store (always got a treat there), and even herded up a chicken or two a few times for me.

He will be greatly missed. He is buried in my backyard, under his favorite tree, by the chicken coop. Rest in peace my little friend.

Lady of McCamley (and Scottie)

 

[fisherlady]

I did reply on the other thread, but you can never get too many hugs after such a huge loss!

Scottie was a beautiful boy, and so sorry you lost him way too young!

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Double post for my friends on both broody threads.

While not exactly chicken related, I cannot think of my chicken chores without thinking of my little Sheltie, Scottie.

I sadly lost my devoted little farm companion of 11 years today. He had been a little off for some time, which I had blamed on his hypothroidism, which he was treated for, but had become sick this week and after xray's was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer.

My little friend had faithfully followed me through all my chicken chores, loved riding in the truck to the feed store (always got a treat there), and even herded up a chicken or two a few times for me.

He will be greatly missed. He is buried in my backyard, under his favorite tree, by the chicken coop. Rest in peace my little friend.

Lady of McCamley (and Scottie)

So very sorry for your loss. What a wonderful buy he was!

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Sorry for your loss, good dogs always hold a special place in our hearts *hugs*

 

[fisherlady]

We have 12 Buff Orpington chickens that are just over a year old and 1 BO rooster who is around 2 yrs. old.  We have had this group for around three months.  Recently one of the hens refused to get out of her nest for days & days.  We thought she was sick so have been "babying" her with food, special attention etc.  She has been like this for about two weeks and has lost a lot of weight.  We have recently been told she may be broody so we have decided to give her some eggs and see what happens.  We are concerned that she has lost so much weight so we will continue to provide her with her "favorite" foods.  Are we on the right track?  Should we keep her with the rest of the flock or separate her to a "private" area so she can brood in peace without other hens climbing in the nest with her?  Should we take her out of the nest to feed her?   In other words....HELP!

I'm on my phone so can't do a long reply, others with similar questions have been on here and the old fashioned broody hens thread recently. Go back two or three weeks on each thread to see if it helps and I will try to offer more assistance later when back on my laptop.

 

[Dekachick]

Thanks.....Your advice was helpful. We have decided to move her to a private area and will watch her to see that see adjusts. I have had some luck giving her a pellet mash with warm water, which she loves and she will eat her favorite fruits & veggies from a small salmon tin right from her nest. We have put other food and water just outside her new nest so will be able to monitor if she is using that as she will be the only chicken in that area.

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

Does anyone else have broodies down on eggs in this insanely cold weather? I have one indoors who has been warm and toasty and is expecting her new arrivals any day now, but I just had one of my geese sneak a nest into the run in shed. She's well protected from the elements in there, but it is still quite cold. I would much rather she hatch her own eggs, but I am concerned that we have another night forecast with temperatures well below zero followed by a day in the single digits. I have two incubators fired up, empty, and ready to go, but would really like to let her do the incubation. Thoughts?

 

[fisherlady]

I am just south of you a bit and am on broody #7 for the year already..... all have sat and hatched in the shed except one banty, and she was moved inside due to lack of quiet corners to put her when we had so many hens go broody during the hard January freeze. These hens have all of their babies out in the coop, exposed to the same cold everyone else is with just mama to protect them and they are running around like it is 60* outside. The only thing about our set up which probably makes this much more do-able for us is the free floor space they have to use and the sand floor which means they can spend their days inside the main coop happily scratching around and exploring.

On average our coop is 10-14 degrees warmer inside than the outside air temp (yes, we have remote sensors so we can keep track of coop conditions from in the house).... that may not sound like much but combined with the lack of wind chill it makes it seem quite comfy in the coop even on the days it has been in sub zero temps here. It still amazes us though to see peeps which are under a week old running around on the sand floor to swarm the food dish or pick up treats/seeds. The (almost) 4week olds snuggle with their mama in the evening, but spend most of the day running around getting under all of the other chicken's feet...

 

[LadyHawkeAvry]

I am just south of you a bit and am on broody #7 for the year already..... all have sat and hatched in the shed except one banty, and she was moved inside due to lack of quiet corners to put her when we had so many hens go broody during the hard January freeze. These hens have all of their babies out in the coop, exposed to the same cold everyone else is with just mama to protect them and they are running around like it is 60* outside. The only thing about our set up which probably makes this much more do-able for us is the free floor space they have to use and the sand floor which means they can spend their days inside the main coop happily scratching around and exploring.

On average our coop is 10-14 degrees warmer inside than the outside air temp (yes, we have remote sensors so we can keep track of coop conditions from in the house).... that may not sound like much but combined with the lack of wind chill it makes it seem quite comfy in the coop even on the days it has been in sub zero temps here. It still amazes us though to see peeps which are under a week old running around on the sand floor to swarm the food dish or pick up treats/seeds. The (almost) 4week olds snuggle with their mama in the evening, but spend most of the day running around getting under all of the other chicken's feet...

She's out of the wind and the weather, and has just a tiny hole to get in and out of the shed from right now, so it's quite cozy in there for her. She spends only brief times off the nest, covers her eggs in hay when she gets up, and has the protection of her gander just outside the door. My khaki campbell eggs freeze and crack pretty quickly out there, but all the goose eggs looked flawless last time I checked them, so I know she is keeping them nice and warm. I didn't want to deter her by monkeying with her nest, so I have left her to do her job and just watch from a distance. I'll give her some feed a bit closer to the shed tomorrow so she doesn't have to head that far when she goes outside to eat and drink while the weather is in the single digits for the next few days.... She is only off a couple of times a day, and never for more than 5 or 10 minutes at this point. I'll let her do her thing and see what happens!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

She's out of the wind and the weather, and has just a tiny hole to get in and out of the shed from right now, so it's quite cozy in there for her. She spends only brief times off the nest, covers her eggs in hay when she gets up, and has the protection of her gander just outside the door. My khaki campbell eggs freeze and crack pretty quickly out there, but all the goose eggs looked flawless last time I checked them, so I know she is keeping them nice and warm. I didn't want to deter her by monkeying with her nest, so I have left her to do her job and just watch from a distance. I'll give her some feed a bit closer to the shed tomorrow so she doesn't have to head that far when she goes outside to eat and drink while the weather is in the single digits for the next few days.... She is only off a couple of times a day, and never for more than 5 or 10 minutes at this point. I'll let her do her thing and see what happens!

Sounds like a good plan, and that you have a good broody.

Fisherlady gave spot on advice. I too have hatched in very cold weather...you can see my Marans hatch below which occurred in teens and twenties with severe wind chill factors and 6 inches of snow on the ground then freezing rain on top of that....momma hatched 3 just fine who ran around in my covered hutch until the snow melted enough to let them out into the run. They feathered in and grew fast and laid by 16 to 18 weeks, very early per Marans and their breeder. (all my winter broody hatches grow fast and lay early...I think it is because they are maturing in the lengthening daylight days).