Broody Hen Thread!

[microchick]

Advice please!

I have a Buff O hen who went broody on me back in Dec. I finally had to put her in a broody buster cage to get her over it. Well, guess what? Yep. She's broody again. 11 months old and crazy to become a momma. She's a sweet little girl and at the moment is sitting on an empty nest as I have been taking the eggs out from under her and at night, ejecting her from the nest to roost with the other chickens.

I could put her back in the broody buster but I have a feeling that if I do she is just going to keep doing this till she gets a clutch of eggs and chicks to drool over, which I'm okay with. Is it too early to let her have her way or should I break her again and hope she repeats the behavior in April? Could I just keep taking eggs or maybe should I giver her some fake eggs to sit on until the weather settles down and then give her eggs later in the month.

We live in the north eastern/central part of MO so while the weather is starting to moderate a little, there is still plenty of potential winter weather around. At the moment she is occupying one of the laying boxes in the main coop but I have the option of either leaving her there to brood or moving her to her own coop with brooding boxes.

This girl just has some crazy strong hormones to want babies in February.

 

[Angie16hearts]

Advice please!

I have a Buff O hen who went broody on me back in Dec. I finally had to put her in a broody buster cage to get her over it. Well, guess what? Yep. She's broody again. 11 months old and crazy to become a momma. She's a sweet little girl and at the moment is sitting on an empty nest as I have been taking the eggs out from under her and at night, ejecting her from the nest to roost with the other chickens. 

I could put her back in the broody buster but I have a feeling that if I do she is just going to keep doing this till she gets a clutch of eggs and chicks to drool over, which I'm okay with. Is it too early to let her have her way or should I break her again and hope she repeats the behavior in April? Could I just keep taking eggs or maybe should I giver her some fake eggs to sit on until the weather settles down and then give her eggs later in the month.

We live in the north eastern/central part of MO so while the weather is starting to moderate a little, there is still plenty of potential winter weather around. At the moment she is occupying one of the laying boxes in the main coop but I have the option of either leaving her there to brood or moving her to her own coop with brooding boxes.

This girl just has some crazy strong hormones to want babies in February.

I had a wellsumer who did the same thing! I finally let her have her clutch. She stayed with them for 7 weeks. Good momma plus I had 3 other Brodie's at the same time ugh! However, she laid 4 eggs and went broody again. 3-4 times a year. Lee sadly lost her to a dog who hopped my fence line and took my top 3 hens out. She wanted to go broody 3 days prior and I broke her. Now looking back I wish I let her do her thing. Good luck! If she's this persistent I imagine she will be again !

 

[microchick]

Our weather here has been pretty 'weird' this winter. Lot's of mild spells in the 60s during the day only to be followed by single digit lows the next week. Undoubtedly the mild temps have really messed with their hormones. I figure it I can hold off letting her have some eggs to fuss over for at least a week to 1- days, that would put her hatching around the first week of March. I'd rather she hatch closer to the end of March though when the weather is swinging more towards spring. Guess I'm hoping that if she scratches this motherhood itch she will hopefully stay scratched for awhile!

 

[fisherlady]

Our weather here has been pretty 'weird' this winter. Lot's of mild spells in the 60s during the day only to be followed by single digit lows the next week. Undoubtedly the mild temps have really messed with their hormones. I figure it I can hold off letting her have some eggs to fuss over for at least a week to 1- days, that would put her hatching around the first week of March. I'd rather she hatch closer to the end of March though when the weather is swinging more towards spring. Guess I'm hoping that if she scratches this motherhood itch she will hopefully stay scratched for awhile!

I have large fowl hens who hatch year round, they don't care what the weather is, they are in a draft free coop with the flock and do fine as long as it is assured that they can have easy access to unfrozen water. My coops have sand floors so the hens are happy to stay inside on nasty days and scratch around. Evaluate your particular set up to see if it would be good for cold weather hatching. Draft free, good water source and nowhere the chicks can get separated from mama and chilled....

 

[microchick]

I have large fowl hens who hatch year round, they don't care what the weather is, they are in a draft free coop with the flock and do fine as long as it is assured that they can have easy access to unfrozen water. My coops have sand floors so the hens are happy to stay inside on nasty days and scratch around. Evaluate your particular set up to see if it would be good for cold weather hatching. Draft free, good water source and nowhere the chicks can get separated from mama and chilled....

I have a two story coop. The upper coop houses our flock, roosting areas and nesting boxes. The lower coop is smaller and was made with the intent of it being our 'nursery' when the time came. Looks like I'm going to have to get a wiggle on and finish it up.

Edit: Saturday.
We came home today after an afternoon bike ride with friends to find Little Miss Aggie's fluffy butt parked on 5 eggs. Now keep in mind, when we left, she was sitting on the opposite end of the nesting boxes on an empty nest. Obviously, the little bird brain can count because she knew 5 was better than nothing, or the one egg I found in her deserted nest. So I declared defeat and let her have her 5 eggs. I'm hoping to slide a few more under her as soon as the hens lay in the morning and then leave her alone.

So here is Miss Aguilla mom to be:


I've been healing up frost bite on the roosters. Looks like I'll be dabbing her with bag balm too if she will let me. I thought the worst was over as the roosters were healed. I have plenty of ventilation in the coop. We have just had a very wet, cold winter.

Adding a few more eggs within 24 Hrs won't cause a problem will it? It's been so long since I set a hen on eggs,,,,like almost 50 years

 

[n3kms]

I have a metal six-hole nest box in my main coop. Because of the great advice from folks on here I have put dishpans in all the places in case someone goes broody so that they can be easily moved to a more secure area for sitting, hatching and brooding babies. Had worked great last year but now I have a little silkie who doesn't understand all the work i've gone through to help her out.

 

[Alex1010]

My broody was supposed to hatch 9 chicks today and only one hatched it's pretty cold but I don't think they died Bc of that. She never got up for more than 3 minutes has anybody had this happen

 

[sharol]

My broody was supposed to hatch 9 chicks today and only one hatched it's pretty cold but I don't think they died Bc of that. She never got up for more than 3 minutes has anybody had this happen

My chicks were a couple of days later than I expected.. Has she stayed on the nest? If she has, give her a little longer.

 

[Alex1010]

My chicks were a couple of days later than I expected..  Has she stayed on the nest?  If she has, give her a little longer.

Yes she hasn't got up

 

[sharol]

Quote:
I'd sure give them a little while. If you can get to the eggs to candle, maybe do that before you trash them. You don't want to throw an egg preparing to hatch away. When she leaves the nest with the baby, you can take the remaining eggs, candle them to be sure none are viable. I always do eggtopsies to be sure they aren't just late hatching. There are horror stories about cheeping from thrown away eggs, and I don't want to be responsible for that.