Broody Hen Thread!

[aart]

Quote: Oh wow, that's along time!!...I hope she's eating well.
Have you tried to actively break her....or maybe you don't want to?

 

[holm25]

Oh wow, that's along time!!...I hope she's eating well.
Have you tried to actively break her....or maybe you don't want to?

I have tried to break her once in a wire cage and she sat there for a long time so I said heck and gave her another batch of eggs to see if she would have better luck. But nope so we r going to get her some chicks maybe turkeys or ducklings. She doeseat reallywell but is super skinny.

 

[Jaybeetee]

Ok so I just got my new chicks from my feed store!
A black samatra card Lola and she's super loud and cute
A silver laced wynadotte who is really quiet and sweet her name is Luna
A BR who is the only breed I've had before and she is called Rocko and she's super curious and likes to peck everything
And lastly a buff polish who's name is Nomo and she's super adventurous and sweet and she's my favorite
We have them to our BA who accepted them and now they are all happy together

 

[n3kms]

Ok so I just got my new chicks from my feed store!
A black samatra card Lola and she's super loud and cute
A silver laced wynadotte who is really quiet and sweet her name is Luna
A BR who is the only breed I've had before and she is called Rocko and she's super curious and likes to peck everything
And lastly a buff polish who's name is Nomo and she's super adventurous and sweet and she's my favorite
We have them to our BA who accepted them and now they are all happy together

Yay for broodies!!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I am planning on getting her eggs because she is still stuck to the nest after 3 months and a tumble in the wind. This hen is impossible to break!!!

Tell her we are rooting for her...go momma!

After 3 months of brooding, I would really be tempted to set her with some fosters to give her body a break. Brooding is hard work.

LofMc

 

[A6chickenhome]

Yes, frequently with my large fowl breeds, especially the commercial types that surprise you that they went broody.

I have raised a couple of clutches with several of them, the others were more sulky than truly committed, giving up at week 2 or hopping on and off the nest too much after a week of sitting.

I don't count on any of my large fowl girls for brooding yet...none of them have proven themselves more than one timers. But that is just my flock. Many have regular large fowl broodies.

Now my banties, they are almost like clock work...gotta love a Silkie for that. I hope my Cochins are just as good.

LofMc

Thanks LoMc. My hen went broody over and over until I finally gave her some hatching eggs. She did well with that hatch and hasn't gone broody for 4 months. Prior to the brood she hatched, she would be broody for 6 weeks then come out of it for about 4 weeks then go broody again. She went through that cycle 3 times before I finally gave her the eggs. She had actually been sitting on an empty nest for a month when I finally got her the hatching eggs. I will add that it was happening through the warmer months. Can these nutty birds (decide) that they don't want to do it again? Or, is it controlled solely by their hormones? I am very puzzled.
The frustrating thing is that I now have a rooster successfully fertilizing the eggs and am ready for it this time!

 

[christine9]

Today is day 18 for my broody. I built a wire enclosure around the nest box for her. Added chick starter and water. I hope she will adjust well to this lockdown situation. I haven't been able to candle a single egg because this girl is very flighty and now mean. Hoping for the best!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Thanks LoMc. My hen went broody over and over until I finally gave her some hatching eggs. She did well with that hatch and hasn't gone broody for 4 months. Prior to the brood she hatched, she would be broody for 6 weeks then come out of it for about 4 weeks then go broody again. She went through that cycle 3 times before I finally gave her the eggs. She had actually been sitting on an empty nest for a month when I finally got her the hatching eggs. I will add that it was happening through the warmer months. Can these nutty birds (decide) that they don't want to do it again? Or, is it controlled solely by their hormones? I am very puzzled.
The frustrating thing is that I now have a rooster successfully fertilizing the eggs and am ready for it this time!

Of course now that you are ready, they aren't!

I have noticed that with broodies that I hold off, it takes longer for them to recover. I think it is simply a matter of how much energy and nutritional stores they use up in the process as a hen's body has to be at a certain level for the hormones to kick in again. It could also be genetically hormonal, and as the hen ages, her hormones never get high enough to brood again. But let's not assume she is a one timer gal yet.

I read somewhere awhile back that there has to be a certain amount of calcium in their body levels to brood, and supplementing with calcium can encourage them to brood again. I tried that with my Silkie after she had been having a string of broods, then a big lag, and it worked. May have just been coincidence, or there may have been some science behind it.

So supplement her, if you aren't already, with some calcium grit. Put her on a good higher protein level layer feed. You might worm her and check her for body parasites as brooding can definitely encourage overgrowth in those areas. I like to use Rooster Booster Triple Action Multi-Wormer (mouth full, but it works). It is a wormer with FDA approved meds for laying hens as well as vitamins/minerals and probiotics. It comes in pellet form that you add to the feed. All the chickens can eat it. I get the best price at http://www.abetterchicken.com/product/50101.

Give her a good dusting with Poultry Dust. Set out BOSS, ACV in the water...in short give her a little spa treatment. If she is laying again, breeding, and glossy feathered, plump, happy, warm and has a cozy nest, you may have a good brood as reward, espeically as the spring time warmer weather is approaching.

Good luck!
LofMc

 

[lazy gardener]

Holm, so sorry for your loss. That's the pits. So very close, to have it all dashed. Hope she does well with her foster chicks.

 

[AmericanMom]

Broody # 1 hatched out 9/11 eggs, one egg was infertile and the other I think got crushed yesterday when another hen tried to go up and lay an egg, it looks like it might have started to zip.. But she did hatch out 9 healthy chicks. We took away 7 of them as two are EE's that I want and I have an order for 6 chicks, broody #2 should be hatching her batch Sunday or Monday, Again I will leave her with a couple, keep the ones I want and sell the rest.

Broody #3 is on her third day