Broody Hen Thread!

[holm25]

If you are planning to move a hen setting on eggs you are risking a problem and this close to hatch may cause more problem than it prevents. My preference is to either move hens early or move them after they have hatched. Hopefully the move works for you but you should have a plan B in place in case the broody objects.

X2. I have never had a problem moving hens. But it is common for them to reject. If you do decide to move her put her in a very dark place so she cant tell shenismin a different spot.

 

[Sonya9]

X2. I have never had a problem moving hens. But it is common for them to reject. If you do decide to move her put her in a very dark place so she cant tell shenismin a different spot.

Mine have never rejected the eggs BUT historically they keep going back to the old nest spot for a couple of days. Making sure they can't wander away from the new nest is important.

 

[holm25]

Mine have never rejected the eggs BUT historically they keep going back to the old nest spot for a couple of days. Making sure they can't wander away from the new nest is important.

I meant reject the new nest

 

[Angie16hearts]

Th

If you are planning to move a hen setting on eggs you are risking a problem and this close to hatch may cause more problem than it prevents.  My preference is to either move hens early or move them after they have hatched.  Hopefully the move works for you but you should have a plan B in place in case the broody objects.

e broody I'm moving my head hen who is always broody. She is fine with her broody coop never has a problem and we get along very well. She trusts me. I had to move her once before and she stood strong. Last chicks she was laying eggs and still raising them. I'm not worried about her. It would be my cochin but she's very tame and I want my mille to hatch her clutch comfortably. If I have a problem I'll put my Cochins eggs in incubator and graft. The two went broody at the same time. That is why I fired up my incubator . Mille is looking sick so I will not move her!I'm ready to have her heathy again ! She's a mean broody that will not leave nest unless I remove her.
Thank you, I was worried first few rounds not to worried now. Just excited to see all the colors and cuties!!!

I could let her hatch in box as she is head hen and no one dates to walk her way. It's subdivided as well.
My cochin as most know like small spaces. I may subdivide her broody coop. So she is comfortable. I'm worried more that my two bantams will fight over chicks if I leave them together.

 

[Angie16hearts]

I meant reject the new nest

Pepper just sits where ever I move her. Thank goodness but I did have a broody flip out one time and broke eggs. It was early into her broodiness and she lost interest. I ended up letting her hatch in coop last week before I moved her. She had all 9 out and ready to go too the bottom if coop with hens. She's still young and i caught her just in time. The stairs had happened to fall that day. Divine intervention ! The 3 broody coops we have are covered. We covered laying box and about two feet with 3 feet of chicken wire and a window in front of each one. I'll play it by ear. It's my first hatch with bantams. I've read bad stories about fighting over babies. I'm worried about them. If anyone has advice with bantams being broody at the same time i would love to hear! I don't want mille to hatch first and curly think they are hers.

 

[roseyred]

So my broody is only sitting on one fertile egg, all the other eggs were in fertile and I toss them today. Can I put a couple more under her to set another clutch? If she only has one chick to take care of from this clutch? She's been eating and drinking and she seems very healthy. This is her first time being broody ever. I also have two other chicks under a heat lamp inside that I could put the chick that she hatches out in with. Then she could continue to sit on eggs?

 

[16 paws]

Pepper just sits where ever I move her. Thank goodness but I did have a broody flip out one time and broke eggs. It was early into her broodiness and she lost interest. I ended up letting her hatch in coop last week before I moved her. She had all 9 out and ready to go too the bottom if coop with hens. She's still young and i caught her just in time. The stairs had happened to fall that day. Divine intervention ! The 3 broody coops we have are covered. We covered laying box and about two feet with 3 feet of chicken wire and a window in front of each one. I'll play it by ear. It's my first hatch with bantams. I've read bad stories about fighting over babies. I'm worried about them. If anyone has advice with bantams being broody at the same time i would love to hear! I don't want mille to hatch first and curly think they are hers.

I did have a bad experience with two broodies once. The two bantam cochins were fine for the first 20 days together. Then when the eggs started to hatch they started fighting over the chicks. One baby got hurt pretty bad and I had to remove it to recover under a heat lamp in my garage. After that I will not let them hatch together. It is not worth taking the chance for me after that. Good luck.....
Marie

 

[fisherlady]

So my broody is only sitting on one fertile egg, all the other eggs were in fertile and I toss them today. Can I put a couple more under her to set another clutch? If she only has one chick to take care of from this clutch? She's been eating and drinking and she seems very healthy. This is her first time being broody ever. I also have two other chicks under a heat lamp inside that I could put the chick that she hatches out in with. Then she could continue to sit on eggs?

No! You can not place new eggs under her when she already has hatched chicks. The hen will need to get off of the nest with the new babies on day 2 or 3 to start showing them how to scratch, eat and drink. Giving her more eggs to worry about now will only cause her stress and probably result in both the chicks and the eggs suffering because the hen will have to try to choose between caring for her live chicks or caring for the eggs. Intentionally causing staggered hatching is asking for problems at best.

If you place new eggs under her she will most likely abandon them in a short while because her instinct to care for her live chicks will most likely win out, so no sense in wasting the eggs and possibly causing harm to the new babies in the process.

 

[fisherlady]

So my broody is only sitting on one fertile egg, all the other eggs were in fertile and I toss them today. Can I put a couple more under her to set another clutch? If she only has one chick to take care of from this clutch? She's been eating and drinking and she seems very healthy. This is her first time being broody ever. I also have two other chicks under a heat lamp inside that I could put the chick that she hatches out in with. Then she could continue to sit on eggs?

I prefer that the hens hatch in separate nests... if they chose to join nests later and co-brood then I have no problem with that (my hens often do this) but private hatching makes it easier for everyone with our set up. I am so lucky since our hens seem pretty great about sharing chick duties and all hens willingly take care of any chicks even close to the same age as their own.... Some folks have had success with co-hatching broodies, I just like to keep them in separate nests until hatch so I can track what is going on a little easier.

 

[PheobeLover21]

Is it possible for a hen to leave her eggs for 12 hours and go back and they still hatch