Broody Hen Thread!

[svfarm]

I'm very glad these two are doing this. They both had eggs still under them that aren't due to hatch for another week. And my white hen was having a hard time balancing raising chicks and incubating the eggs she had left. So now the white one is raising the chicks and the brown one is sitting on the eggs. The brown one started brooding a week after her buddy anyway.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I'm very glad these two are doing this. They both had eggs still under them that aren't due to hatch for another week. And my white hen was having a hard time balancing raising chicks and incubating the eggs she had left. So now the white one is raising the chicks and the brown one is sitting on the eggs. The brown one started brooding a week after her buddy anyway.

Perfect!

 

[Torch404]

AAAAHHHHHH she quit or something and it's day 18!!!!!!

My broody is in a big enclosed pen with a cat carrier nest inside. Most days I come out and she screeches at me and I let her out. She does her broody thing then gets back on the nest. I let her out this morning and went to work. I came back and she's gone. I was in rush so I could barely look for her, i hope she's ok.

It's day 18 my eggs have been unincubated for at least 4 hours. I flipped on my incubator and tossed them in they were cold to the touch. I hope my incubator doesn't cook them or something crazy since it wasn't all warmed up and stabilized.

Guess I'll know how it goes in a few days.

 

[16 paws]

To start with if you got Any chicken thats bleeding----you should separate it ASAP or it can,be pecked to death. The mother hen is not usually going to "DO" anything. In Nature----before Man penned the chickens up-----the weaker, hurt chicken could run off and Hide---to get away from more hurt. In your pen----you will have to control this or loose a chicken or two. I would separate each one till they heal-----then "I" would get rid of the ones I was not planning to keep like the "trouble" maker..

 

[CrescentFlyer]

I have a broody hen who half crushed an egg that is 25 days old. The chick is still alive, and chirps every so often, but it is not hatching. I moved it from where it was under my brooding hen, where it was too cold after letting it stay under the mother for the day, and I have put it under a heat lamp and am trying to keep it warm and moist. Should I try to help it hatch?

 

[PD-Riverman]

I have a broody hen who half crushed an egg that is 25 days old. The chick is still alive, and chirps every so often, but it is not hatching. I moved it from where it was under my brooding hen, where it was too cold after letting it stay under the mother for the day, and I have put it under a heat lamp and am trying to keep it warm and moist. Should I try to help it hatch?

If its a crushed egg----sure I would slowly help it hatch-----it being this late as well as being cruched---It might not make it but you never know.

 

[SilkieNation]

The hen will sit for app. 21 says to hatch her fertile eggs, if she has no fertile eggs to hatch-----some hens will sit for weeks and weeks before giving up and this can cause them to get unhealthy. ""I"" break All MY Broodies if I am not going to "set" Them. I do this as soon as I see she is acting broody. Let me add this----I usually Set most ALL my broodies 49 in the last year, but have Broke some because I did not want to hatch any more at the time.

Well, I may try to do something. She is eating a bit, but it can't go on for a month and a half. However, I don't want this to be chicken torture (the lights for three days kind of make me wonder - don't they use light to torture people? I think they do.) I'm freaking anyway because besides the broody hen, my tiny flock is not well, they won't eat anything but a few treats, they are losing weight, two have modest bumble foot - and I take great care of them. I'm spending a fortune at the vet to try to figure out what's wrong (yes I wormed). I've run out of ideas for what I can feed them that they will eat. My horse's chronic thrush has eaten her frog to the bone in her front feet. She lost her eyes to Uveitis and now the freaking thrush is going to take her out. And, my four, 100 foot Norway Spruce that I love so much are dying fast and I can't do a darn thing about it. Bad day after hitting the bone in my horse's foot. I'm beat. But, thank you for responding.

 

[svfarm]

Do you have any water problems? My parents had to get rid of all our dairy cows because of our water problems. I had to get rid if my registered dairy goat herd that I worked very hard on for ten years because our water was lowering their immune system so much that they were getting uncommon diseases and were losing weight.

 

[SilkieNation]

Do you have any water problems? My parents had to get rid of all our dairy cows because of our water problems. I had to get rid if my registered dairy goat herd that I worked very hard on for ten years because our water was lowering their immune system so much that they were getting uncommon diseases and were losing weight.

Like - what kind of water problems?

 

[svfarm]

Well we have messed up water due to a mistake made a number of years ago when a gas well was drilled. And we have high levels of certain minerals.