Broody Hen Thread!

[sharol]

We used hardware cloth ziptied all the way around ours and that worked too

.

Love the hardware cloth idea.

This is the one I'm getting: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JP4928/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It has a removable bottom (velcro) that I'll remove and then put it on the floor of the coop. I'll put a few inches of clean shavings inside it along with the nest box. Then when they get big enough, they can go in or out as they wish. I hope this works.

 

[chicksurreal]

Looks good!!

It's like trying to get a drink of water out of a fire hose!!!

Or nail Jello to the wall.... <sigh>

Lol! So true! I can't really complain because we chose it, but it's been a wild ride and I am so happy to be in the saddle!

 

[misspnme]

Hi! I just discovered my first broody hen! Aaaaah!! Help! I'm a first timer when it comes to these mean ladies. I have tons of questions....
1. We don't officially have a rooster but it is possible these eggs are fertilized. We have a lot of wild chickens here (hawaii) and there has been a roo hanging around my girls more often than I'd like. If they are fertilized, how long will it take for them to hatch?
2. She is in a nesting box that is four feet above ground. Should I move her? How? She's so nasty! Puffing up and screaming and growling...
3. I have 3 Plymouth Rock babies I picked up a few weeks ago. I've still got them in our laundry room. I've heard of people switching out the eggs for actual live chicks...would she adopt them? Even tho they're a little older?
I think that's it for now. TIA!!

 

[Henerz101]

Today's the day my chicks "should" be hatching it's been 21 days however nothing's hatched, theirs 11 eggs under her and they're all fertile but nothing's hatching, I've got some
pure auracana
Legbar x auracana
And 1 polish
Polish is due tomorrow but nothing is hatching, she's always getting out twice a day for something to eat and drink. There's no blood or anything not nice
Thank you Henry

 

[Henerz101]

Today's the day my chicks "should" be hatching it's been 21 days however nothing's hatched, theirs 11 eggs under her and they're all fertile but nothing's hatching, I've got some
pure auracana
Legbar x auracana
And 1 polish
Polish is due tomorrow but nothing is hatching, she's always getting out twice a day for somet

hing to eat and drink. There's no blood or anything not nice
Thank you Henry

 

[TNLEGBAR62]

 I have had 2 BSL's go broody, and they can be very determined.

Good luck and keep us posted (and tell her to vary her reading with some good literature too, maybe some Mozart playing in the background, to build those little baby chick brains as they grow)

...and welcome to the Broody Thread, and BYC. 

LofMc

Hi! Thanks for the great welcome!
Alas, my hen broke an egg accidently (unbeknownst to me), raising a helluva stink in the henhouse. She abandoned the next. TSK...
Will try again next year!

 

[Henerz101]

Just checked them again and 4 little black auracana chicks

 

[sharol]

Hi! I just discovered my first broody hen! Aaaaah!! Help! I'm a first timer when it comes to these mean ladies. I have tons of questions....
1. We don't officially have a rooster but it is possible these eggs are fertilized. We have a lot of wild chickens here (hawaii) and there has been a roo hanging around my girls more often than I'd like. If they are fertilized, how long will it take for them to hatch?
2. She is in a nesting box that is four feet above ground. Should I move her? How? She's so nasty! Puffing up and screaming and growling...
3. I have 3 Plymouth Rock babies I picked up a few weeks ago. I've still got them in our laundry room. I've heard of people switching out the eggs for actual live chicks...would she adopt them? Even tho they're a little older?
I think that's it for now. TIA!!

That is so exciting.

You can tell if the eggs are fertile by breaking one and looking at the yolk. There is a little white spot on the yolk. If it has a ring around it (like Saturn) it is fertile. If it is just a dot, it is not. If one egg from a hen is fertile, the likelihood that the others from that hen are fertile.. Eggs take 21 days or so from the time they are set under the broody. I like to collect eggs for a couple of days and save them on the counter in an egg carton, and give them to her all at once so they will all hatch around the same time. If you can determine which eggs come from which hens, you can choose eggs from the hens that are fertile. It is my understanding that a breeding will render her fertile for a couple of weeks. Eggs can hatch at any time after about day 19. I say that, but I had one chick hatch a couple of weeks ago at 17 days. No accounting for that.

I let my broodies stay where they want to be until about day 16 or so. Then I move them to a location on the floor. Yes, they can be pretty protective. Mine get less aggressive as the 3 weeks goes by because I take them treats and water (in a little plastic cup just outside the nest box -- that took a while to figure out). She will stay on the nest most of the time for the 3 weeks. My girls come off the nest late afternoon for 20 minutes to an hour and squawk and run and stretch for a while. They eat and drink and poop and head back to the nest box. She will need a nest on the floor or in a separate place (read this thread for good info on separation ideas) for a little while to hatch them out, and depending on the other hens and the mom, she may integrate them immediately with the others or keep them separate for a while.

It is too late to graft your chicks onto the broody for two reasons. First, they are too old to learn to obey her commands and she would probably kill them. Second, she hasn't been broody long enough. Hens work themselves into motherhood, and as I understand it, you can't really graft chicks until toward the end of the 3 weeks it takes to hatch babies.

Good luck with your hens. Be sure to check for fertility before wasting time on non-fertile eggs.

 

[Blooie]

Agatha (Attilla the Hen) doesn't come off the nest for any reason. Period. Today is her 8th day. She has not budged - I've been looking at her tail, in the same position she assumed when she went in there, for those entire 8 days. I dropped a little of her favorite scratch right at the opening of the nest on day one. It's still there. Her water hasn't been touched either. There are no broody poops in her enclosure. She makes me crazy when she's broody. And since I value my fingers and need all 10 of them, I ain't moving her, either. Goofy chicken!

 

[Doc Roger]

Thank-You so much for your advice. What your telling me is what I am experiencing. She is just a pullet I got this winter and seems to know what she is doing.
I put a nice box out where she is and maybe she will go in with chicks this P/M. It started raining again.I hope when the chicks are ready she will return to the pen/coop. There are 6 but I couldn't get all in pics- some always hiding.