Broody Hen Thread!

[AmericanMom]

Co-brooding is awesome when they can work out the details. Some hens love it, some not so much...

The black one is a bit more unsure and gets aggravated at the other hen because she can and does call the chicks out and tries to steal them.. Its comical to watch, all 9 of the chicks go back and forth between the two. When the first broody's chicks hatched we took 7 of them as it was chaos in the coop ( Thunder storm) the whole flock ran in and chicks scattered.. we left her with two. We haven't removed any of the newest ones but will probably take two that are extra cool looking.

 

[TheBanditQueen]

Wishing you a happy hatch.

Keep us posted

LofMc

Thank you!!

 

[dlove]

Why my hen ant walking

 

[blkjak]

So I have a smart hen and a stupid one. As i said earlier 1 hen moved some of her eggs to a new nest and abandoned 5. The dumb hen sat on hers until 1 exploded under her. I have read that the smell is bad but was not prepared for how bad it was. Even now I smell it 2 hours later. Even worse 1 exploded as we removed them from the cage and another as we left the coop in the bag. The worst thing I have ever smelled.

 

[dlove]

One of my hens won't walk why

 

[fisherlady]

One of my hens won't walk why

You need to post your question on the emergency board, if you read the top of the board there are a list of questions for you to answer in your first post to help provide the best amount of information so folks can help you out.

 

[suelon99]

HI; thanks for getting back to me on this. I HAD a broody hen in Jan and Feb in our coldest weather-go figure! I did not want chicks at that time so cooled her off and was hoping she would get in the mood again but no one so far is interested and I have 13 chicks coming in 2 wks so was hoping I would not have to raise them myself like I did last yrs flock. I understand there is no way to make them broody, right?

 

[JJSS89]

HI; thanks for getting back to me on this. I HAD a broody hen in Jan and Feb in our coldest weather-go figure! I did not want chicks at that time so cooled her off and was hoping she would get in the mood again but no one so far is interested and I have 13 chicks coming in 2 wks so was hoping I would not have to raise them myself like I did last yrs flock. I understand there is no way to make them broody, right?

If she was genuinely broody then it is likely she will try again eventually. However, just like you couldn't stop her from wanting to brood you are unable to make her want to.

 

[Puddin Fluff]

So I have had no luck separating my broody. She is just too flighty and ridiculous! So I decided to separate out everyone else. I ended up shutting my pop door and moving the ramp to my brooding area. So the girls are laying eggs in the brooder. And the broody is taking up the whole coop. It's not ideal, but I'm glad I did it. I found these today

Co-brooding is awesome when they can work out the details. Some hens love it, some not so much...

Here are my co-broodies with chicks!

 

[JJSS89]

I have a broody Royal Palm Hen on 11 eggs. She chose an unprotected area so I was building her a shelter of boards and pine boughs. She gave me three hard pecks and some hissing for my efforts. I am excited for poults.