Broody Hen Thread!

[Halloweengirl13]

Sorry - I forgot that what we call a Pekin Bantam in New Zealand is called a Cochin Bantam in America, so no duck eggs, just bantam chicken eggs.  I did have to giggle at the thought of my tiny Old English Game Bantams trying to sit on a bunch of duck eggs!  Six bantam eggs under each of them seems quite a lot, though Sunflower had stolen one of Pixie's yesterday, so I'm sure she'd be game to try sitting on some big duck eggs.

Thanks everyone for all the info and ideas though.  At least I know what to do if I ever want to hatch duck eggs - but I think I'd choose a bigger broody.

They can do it... My tiny little Blacktail buff Japanese bantam Ishtar hatched 7 big Duck eggs for me over the winter.... And took care of all the babies even when they were twice her size....

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Baby slept on a heating pad all night


I made the broody hen come in and watched her all day


The day was a success!!!

 

[fisherlady]

Baby slept on a heating pad all night


I made the broody hen come in and watched her all day


The day was a success!!!

I'm glad it worked out for the little one, great emergency set up!

 

[malkered]

Baby slept on a heating pad all night I made the broody hen come in and watched her all day The day was a success!!!

Fantastic! I'm glad your efforts paid off.

 

[Muscoveyman]

Broody question! I have a Dutch bantam who has just started laying, she laid 6 eggs and I took the first away to see if they were fertile and they were! Therefore my Dutch rooster is doing his job, she decided to sit for a full day on the five eggs and half of the next day, after that she got up laid an egg and left the nest she laid one the next day to! She hasn't say on the nest since and I was wondering when will she go broody again and fully sit and hatch?

 

[fisherlady]

She hasn't gone full out broody yet, but sounds like she may be prone to it. To give her the best chance at a successful hatch you should collect eggs daily and keep some stored, rotate fresh eggs through the storage container and when she goes truly broody you can give her a marked clutch all at the same time once you have her in a preferred brooding area.
There is no way to tell when it may happen, it may be next week or it could be months, there is no way to predict a hen's hormones.

 

[the poppster]

Thanks for sharing the too cute to be legal pics, fisherlady! Got taxes done today so I needed a pick me up. That did the trick.

I was thinking that today would be my first day of lockdown for Aggie but it looks like she was out of the nest sometime later on this afternoon. Maybe the cooler weather has thrown things off a day.  I constructed a 'kennel' cage around her yesterday to keep the other chickens away from her nesting box. I don't think she was too happy with it cause she knocked the feeder over and proceeded to do a mega sized broody hen dump all over it. Yuck. How do they get it to smell So BAD?

In the 'oh say it isn't so' department. I went out to lock up the flock tonight and one of the Buff girls was walking around the run softly clucking to herself. She isn't fluffed up yet (she got fitted with a hen apron yesterday) nor has she laid claim to a nest but she is definitely making that distinctive soft 'tuuk tuuk tuuk tuuk' sound that they make when they are thinking that life would just be perfect if they had some eggs to sit on resulting in chicks to drool over. I came inside and broke the news to my husband who was not thrilled. He demanded that I tell her that wasn't acceptable behavior and I needed to tell her to knock it off.

If only it was that easy.  :/  

If you ever get a chance to watch the "Normal" broody hen behavior, when she leaves the nest, during her rare breaks during a set. They run around like a crazed bird. Almost a "Zombie". They poop a big stinky poop. Grab a bit of food while on the run. A quick few beaks full of water and back to the nest. They will run through the food, through the water. Run into, under and over her flock members in her one minded mission to eat, poop and drink. Before returning to the nest to settle in and look like the most calm, placid bird in the world. It's amazing to know that they are the same birds.

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks for sharing the too cute to be legal pics, fisherlady! Got taxes done today so I needed a pick me up. That did the trick.

I was thinking that today would be my first day of lockdown for Aggie but it looks like she was out of the nest sometime later on this afternoon. Maybe the cooler weather has thrown things off a day. I constructed a 'kennel' cage around her yesterday to keep the other chickens away from her nesting box. I don't think she was too happy with it cause she knocked the feeder over and proceeded to do a mega sized broody hen dump all over it. Yuck. How do they get it to smell So BAD?

In the 'oh say it isn't so' department. I went out to lock up the flock tonight and one of the Buff girls was walking around the run softly clucking to herself. She isn't fluffed up yet (she got fitted with a hen apron yesterday) nor has she laid claim to a nest but she is definitely making that distinctive soft 'tuuk tuuk tuuk tuuk' sound that they make when they are thinking that life would just be perfect if they had some eggs to sit on resulting in chicks to drool over. I came inside and broke the news to my husband who was not thrilled. He demanded that I tell her that wasn't acceptable behavior and I needed to tell her to knock it off.

If only it was that easy.

You are welcome ! I'm glad they were a nice pick up for you, especially after dealing with taxes!

As for broody lock down...we often see our hens briefly off the nest on days 19 and 20... I think the hens truly 'lock down' once they hear cheeping, which indicates that their chicks have internally pipped and will be breaking out soon...this has just been our observations of our broodies, each hen is a little different.

 

[daxigait]

One of the bestest things about having broodies in the coop...getting to see the unexpected 'awww' moments, and even better is when DH happens to have his cell with him and gets some snaps to share.

a photo like that if you get chicks in the Easter hatch along should go in the photo contest. Too cute

 

[fisherlady]

a photo like that if you get chicks in the Easter hatch along should go in the photo contest.
Too cute

Thanks, I'm not in the hatchalong yet, there is no way for me to predict having a broody ready to set at the right time, I have two that just went broody this week, but they will get eggs this weekend, I won't make them wait an extra week for the contest.

Edit to add... I am going to give Gracie and Brownie Easter Egger eggs, in honor of it being Easter season though, if that counts!