Broody Hen Thread!

[suelon99]

Hi; relatively new to thread. I am seeing initials all over these threads-figured out BR and RIR but some of them, incl your OEG have no idea what those mean. is there a thread that tells what all the initials for the breeds are? Thanks for any help-Sue

 

[3 Marias]

I have two Brodie's and they keep switching boxes

 

[aart]

Hi; relatively new to thread. I am seeing initials all over these threads-figured out BR and RIR but some of them, incl your OEG have no idea what those mean. is there a thread that tells what all the initials for the breeds are? Thanks for any help-Sue

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/byc-index-of-abbreviations

 

[suelon99]

Thank you so much aart ! I KNEW there had to be something-this site has EVERYTHING a person needs to learn/so much experience for us newbies to glean from.

Sue L

 

[lazy gardener]

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!!

Would it be possible to put a lot of padding under the opening of that box when it's close to the time for the eggs to hatch? They'll be able to get down, but not back up. You'll have to keep an eye on them when she brings them down, and then be sure they settle in a safe spot. If you move her and her eggs now, she may, or may not continue to incubate them. That's your call.

Thank you so much!! Awesome info. She did get off of them this morning to eat so I got a chance to see what's going on under there. She's sitting on 14 eggs! But I know some arent from her. So I took two and cracked them open. The one I knew wasn't from her was not fertilized. The second however....was very bloody and had a little ball of....tissue? With a big black dot on it. I'm assuming that they're fertilized! I am so excited!!! And also in a mourning a bit for that little guy I busted into. Thanks again for all of your help. Eeeeek! This is going to be so much fun!

The next time you want to check an egg for fertility, you might want to take one that is destined for the frying pan. Every time I crack an egg open, I check the fertility. that tells me if my roo is getting his job done. also, an egg can be candled very early on in incubation: if the egg is not very dark, you can tell around day 4.

OK question...

I went to check on my broody yesterday-- and what I found makes me nervous.

I numbered her 12 eggs on Sunday, because the other hens keep trying to lay in the box and I want to pull out any new additions.

anyway, yesterday I found egg on the outside of many of her eggs--and an egg next to her that was cold. I was panicking, thinking she'd broken one of her eggs. Well, I pulled everything out to check, and found her still sitting on 11 of the 12 numbered eggs (plus two others) and the one she'd kicked out was also one of the numbered eggs (and one I REALLY want to hatch, it's from my BCM). So clearly an egg was broken in the nest, but it wasn't one of her original 12.

I took out all of the extra eggs and put the BCM egg back under her. So now she's on her original 12.

BUT-- Questions:
1. Are the other eggs less likely to hatch because they're dirty-- covered with egg from another crushed egg?
2. I didn't wash the dirty eggs, should I? I thought that was bad.
3. The one she kicked out, it couldn't have been out for more than a day (last I checked on her it was safely tucked away, but that was the day before), is there a chance it could still hatch?

I don't really want to have to separate her, because I don't have any place to do that really. But the other hens keep trying to lay in the same box! Even though I built them brand new nesting boxes on Monday. If I have to move her, when is the best time? She's only on day 4 right now, and she's only 9 months old, and it's her first (and my first ever) broody spell!

HELP!

If you don't separate her, you're likely to have a repeat performance of the egg fight. I wish you the best!

Sure. Just worried the outside chick might give the incubator born chicks something. I feed them organic feed. If I do this, should I switch to medicated?

No need to switch your feed. Just give them a plug of sod in the first week or two. That will encourage them to develop natural immunity and also give them a good dose of natural flora in their guts.

 

[chickensfinally]

I am in the process of reading this thread, but am only to 3600 out of 8600+, so I am just going to ask my question for sage advice now and keep reading to catch up!! I have a broody Ameracauna locked up on day 10 in what we call the "guest coop", two days ago a SLW just went broody on that days' eggs (3 probably) in the main coop. My problem/quandry is I only have 4 nest boxes total between the two coops but I have 5 hens if they all choose to go broody (1 more Ameracauna and 2 other Wyandottes). Also, my chicken co-owner said there were no eggs yesterday so I am assuming the new eggs were laid but they are now under said broody so a day off hatch time and today's will probably be there too. Should I try to move her to the guest coop and mark her eggs to tell them from the first broody's in case they would get into an egg stealing war? Or should I just mark what she has under her now and just leave her be, but have to bug her every night to get that day's eggs? The nest she chose I'm sure is the favorite one (I don't get it, they are exactly the same ). Help! TIA, Carrie ps I have a roo, so expecting eggs r fertile.

Sorry, just bumping this post as there were quite a few posts after mine and I didn't want it to get lost as I desperately need advice. Please and thank you, Carrie

 

[wahnsdlr]

When my silkie went broody, she of course was sitting on the favorite nest. What I found was some of the chickens just stood over her to lay their eggs, or squished in side by side. The more dominant hen, kicked her off the nest and this was the time that my silkie would take to go stretch her legs and eat and drink. It worked fine, till that dominant hen decided to go broody (half heartedly) and kept stealing the nest. So, around 14 days, I moved the eggs and silkie to a dog crate in the garage. She didn't mind the move at all.
Oh and I just marked the eggs that she was sitting on, and when she got off the nest, I'd go collect the other eggs.

 

[aart]

Quote: @chickensfinally I've never had multiple broodies, so no real experience here but from what I've read....
Moving the SLW to the 'guest coop' might work...only time will tell if the 2 broodies will co-exist in harmony, sometimes it works and sometimes it's a clustertangle.

Usually best when moving a broody and put her on fake eggs until you're sure she'll settle in the new place, then give her a fresh batch of fertile eggs.

I put my one broody I wanted to hatch in a portable floor nest in a wired off part of the coop so she had no choice but to set that nest, it took most the day to settle into the nest with fake eggs, after another day I gave her fresh fertile eggs.

There's always the option of 'breaking the broody' if you'd rather have eating eggs than more chicks.

 

[sharol]

About the moving broodies thing. I have limited experience, but this has been my experience. I have 5 nest boxes and 12 hens (most of the time). I let my broodies stay in their nest boxes until the last week and then move them to somewhere more protected.

We got a hoop coop when I first got into chickens 5 years ago -- it was a huge mistake because it was not only expensive but too small for my 7 hens. In defense of the HenHoop though it is really well built and VERY secure. However, it makes a great hatching coop/home for babies. Until this year I had only one hen and her chicks at a time in there, but this year my two sister hens (2 years old) went broody at the same time. They brooded in adjoining nest boxes in the coop, and I had minimal problems with their being bothered by the other hens. I got home from graduation 2 weeks ago to find a baby chick all hatched out under one of them (4 days early). I had the hoop ready, so I moved them and their eggs immediately to adjoining nest boxes I had prepared in there. They hatched out 9 chicks between them and they are co-parenting the babies..

Now for the hard part. 2 weeks ago a third hen went broody. Her chicks are due on Friday or so (I got eggs for all of them from a quality breeder in the area). Since I didn't have anywhere for her to move I was worried that she would be bullied by the older chicks and their mothers. I bought a dog/puppy pen (picture below) and set it up in the corner of my 6x8 coop. It really takes up a lot of space, but when I moved her yesterday to the pen, she moved right in. This morning I opened her door (zippered mesh) and a little later she came out to eat and poop. When she went back in the coop, she went to the original nest box, but when she saw the eggs weren't there, she moved back into her safe dog pen. I closed the door after her to keep her coop mates (and my dog) out.


My hope is that as the chicks develop (assuming they hatch -- there are Breda Fowl eggs and true Araucana eggs and the breeder says some of the Araucana chicks may carry the lethal tufted gene, so I don't really know how good the hatch will be) she will be able to integrate them into the coop as they grow up. Fingers crossed on that. If it works, it will be lots easier than maintaining a separate space for babies. The only thing is, the puppy enclosure is lots bigger than I thought it would be and it is really crowding the adults.

Of course chicken math is getting to me. The 9 chicks that are in the hoop are varying colors of English Orpington, and I'm not going to want sell any of the hens. I really want some blue and white layers, so I NEED to keep some of them (if they hatch), too. With a 6x8 coop, this may be a challenge. Right now we are at 11 hens and a rooster. I figure I can house maybe 18 maximum, so some choices are going to have to be made. They have a nice big run and free range in the yard most days when I'm home, but in winter, it may be a little crowded in there. I just hate to waste a broody on mutt eggs when I have access to such beautiful birds so close to home.

 

[LiveInBliss]

HI All,

So I too have a brooding buff HOWEVER I do not have a rooster. I decided to use my human intervention skills to purchase brand new pullets and sneak them under the Buff in the middle of the night so she was to find her "babies" when she woke up. She did but doesn't seem too interested. I left them be from about 3am-6am then went out to check on them. All babies were happy but she was still her brooding mode and didn't really care too much that they were there. Then I moved her around a bit to make sure babies were ok..

Did I totally mess up bringing them in? About 7am I figured everyone needed food/water so I got out the portable play pen and put babies and buff in there with heat lamp (outside)...Buff stayed for about 10 minutes but then jumped out, took a mud bath and went straight back to her nesting box to brood.

Will babies be warm enough out there under the lamp without her? Should I put them back in the nesting box with her until she likes them?

So lost. HELP!

Thank you!