Broody Hen Thread!

[RachaelR32]

If you just put the eggs under your hen this morning----just remove what you feel is to much and put the eggs with the rest of your collected eggs for the day--they are not developing yet. As far as giving your others hens eggs----You lost me on that----Always give your broody hens fresh layed eggs all at the same time----not some today and some tomorrow, etc.

I mean, take half of the ones I put unde this girl and put under the othet broody one. Since I gave the eggs to this one and gave dummy eggs to the second hen, the one on the dummy eggs had not moved at all but the one with the eggs I want hatched has got up twice.

 

[Halloweengirl13]

LOL, your chicken has you wrapped around their "wing". All my Broodies set on the amount of eggs "I" choose----not the amount they choose----LOL.

She's just that good a broody.... I know she can handle it, she will also adopt any chicks I give her, and I can switch out babies as they get older and give her new little ones.she has adopted 4 different sets of chicks after hatching and is broody every couple months even through the winter. I have high hopes that her daughter will be the same...

 

[nchls school]

LOL, your chicken has you wrapped around their "wing". All my Broodies set on the amount of eggs "I" choose----not the amount they choose----LOL.

X 2. Very often a hen will lay more eggs than she can cover. Example-the frizzle hen below lays 10-12 eggs before going broody. Her body is so small that she can cover 5-6. If I left the 10-12 I'd probably get 0 chicks.



She has brooded four times in the same nest-a cereal bowl.

 

[16 paws]

I have a question for y'all. My Aggie's chicks are 9 weeks old now and I am trying to get them used to being with the main flock. I was hoping Aggie was going to help with this butshe had enough of them at 4 1/2 weeks and went back to the flock leaving the chicks under a brood light to finish growing. Now I need to get them out of the nursery and with the main flock. I tried to set up their coop as a 'safe room' for them using a piece of cattle panel over the door so they could go in but the big hens and roosters couldn't. That worked until one of the juveniles got pecked by what I suspect was one of my Welsummer hens. Now I'm dealing with a frightened youngster with a scalp wound on its neck along with a flap wound that I'm having to debride daily and 7 more youngsters who don't want to have anything to do with the adults at this point. The roosters are great with the youngsters but the hens are being real biddies about the who situation

I'm building a new coop for them (the whole flock) and really was hoping that by the time that I get it finished I'd have two flocks merged into one. Any suggestions about how to get this done?

Can you make something like this? The chicks can get in and out but the big bad bullies cant get in.

I copied the picture from another thread and I have been using it with my chicks and it has worked so far.
I like the rooster idea also.

 

[Halloweengirl13]

X 2. Very often a hen will lay more eggs than she can cover. Example-the frizzle hen below lays 10-12 eggs before going broody. Her body is so small that she can cover 5-6. If I left the 10-12 I'd probably get 0 chicks. She has brooded four times in the same nest-a cereal bowl.

Ishtar has successfully hatched 12/14 eggs( 2 were not fertile) at one time and another time she hatched 7/8 duck eggs... She regularly hatches large broods she is very good at what she does....that's why I have her

 

[PD-Riverman]

A lot of you allow your hens to lay in the nest and do not collect the eggs daily I am Reading. I collect the eggs daily from every nest and every pen. If I want the eggs for hatching I mark on the egg and properly store it till I get a broody or I incubate before the eggs get to old.

 

[microchick]

My setup is different but kinda the same, 16paws. My nursery coop has a door that is made from a window. The occupants can see out and all I have to do is swing the door open to let the occupants into their little run. When the door is open, I can set the cattle panel in front of the open door and the juveniles can either join the main flock in the main run or escape back into the nursery coop if the need arises. It seemed to be working until I noted that Aggie's kids were spending more time inside and only coming out when they heard me. I also noticed that the younger birds were really spooking at any movement from the main flock. The Buff Os were giving them pecks on occasions but otherwise ignoring them. The Roos were ignoring them 100%. One of the junior Welsummer roos, BOHICA, Bo for short liked to hang out with them. He probably noticed that there are at least 4 or 5 new potential mates in the group and I can't blame him. He's my favorite of the Welsummer roosters. I really worry that the Welsummer hens are really going after the youngsters even though they have been in plain view for weeks. And with 5 Welsummer girls my alternative plans are quickly dwindling. I was out this afternoon treating the little pullet's injured neck and realized I can't have another injury like this one if my suspicions are correct. The funny thing is that the Welsummer hens and the Buff O hens from my original flock are fine with one another.

It makes me sad to see that little neck scabbed and sore, and I flinch every time I have to cut more dead skin off the flap. I don't want another injury to deal with.

 

[16 paws]

My setup is different but kinda the same, 16paws. My nursery coop has a door that is made from a window. The occupants can see out and all I have to do is swing the door open to let the occupants into their little run. When the door is open, I can set the cattle panel in front of the open door and the juveniles can either join the main flock in the main run or escape back into the nursery coop if the need arises. It seemed to be working until I noted that Aggie's kids were spending more time inside and only coming out when they heard me. I also noticed that the younger birds were really spooking at any movement from the main flock. The Buff Os were giving them pecks on occasions but otherwise ignoring them. The Roos were ignoring them 100%. One of the junior Welsummer roos, BOHICA, Bo for short liked to hang out with them. He probably noticed that there are at least 4 or 5 new potential mates in the group and I can't blame him. He's my favorite of the Welsummer roosters. I really worry that the Welsummer hens are really going after the youngsters even though they have been in plain view for weeks. And with 5 Welsummer girls my alternative plans are quickly dwindling. I was out this afternoon treating the little pullet's injured neck and realized I can't have another injury like this one if my suspicions are correct. The funny thing is that the Welsummer hens and the Buff O hens from my original flock are fine with one another.

It makes me sad to see that little neck scabbed and sore, and I flinch every time I have to cut more dead skin off the flap. I don't want another injury to deal with.

Do you think that you could put them together and watch and see who may be doing it? Once you identify the offender/s I would put them in a timeout pen real quick. Leave them in there for a few days and they will most likely have an attitude adjustment when they come back to the main flock.

 

[gpeters3]

LOL, your chicken has you wrapped around their "wing". All my Broodies set on the amount of eggs "I" choose----not the amount they choose----LOL.

The solution is to harvest the eggs and only leave a few marked ones for her to incubate. Keep the nests harvested except for the clutch size she can handle "well". They were created with good instincts and can do this with no help if you let them. Problem is they have to eat and drink and when they get up others want to lay where the eggs are. Let them lay in there and collect the extra eggs and the brood eggs will always have a warm butt sitting on them. Brood mom cant stay on them 24/7, she has to eat.

 

[microchick]

Do you think that you could put them together and watch and see who may be doing it? Once you identify the offender/s I would put them in a timeout pen real quick. Leave them in there for a few days and they will most likely have an attitude adjustment when they come back to the main flock.

I'm thinking about locking up the Welsummers in their coop and letting the youngsters out with the Buff Orpingtons and my lone Speckled Sussex hen and see what happens. If all goes well then I know who was rocking the boat.