Broody Hen Thread!

[16 paws]

If I need power out to the coop I just run a long outdoor type extension cord from the house.
You will have to provide the chicks and mama with food and water that they can access. Make sure the chicks cant drown in the water bowl. Are they going to be sectioned off from the rest of the flock?

 

[wannahomestead]

If I need power out to the coop I just run a long outdoor type extension cord from the house.
You will have to provide the chicks and mama with food and water that they can access. Make sure the chicks cant drown in the water bowl. Are they going to be sectioned off from the rest of the flock?

Sorry, I should have clarified. She's on eggs right now, no chicks yet. My bad.

 

[microchick]

Hi, wannahomestead. My nest boxes where my Buff O is Brooding are external also. Like 16 pays suggested, I have a small fan inside that is facing away from her, I also have the coops main door open and secured with a hardware cloth covered screen. What I also have done on the warmer days that we have had so far is I've propped the nesting box lid open about an inch or so and secured the latches so nothing can open it further from the inside or the outside. When I did that, with the open screened in door and the fan, I'm feeling a breeze passing over her if I hold my hand by the open nesting box. That and plenty of cool water for her and hopefully she will do fine.

It's supposed to be over 90 here the day her chicks are due to hatch.. On the bright side, she won't have to generate much heat to keep the chicks warm like she did back in February during her first brooding.

 

[16 paws]

Hi Microchick,
Well were getting close to hatch date.

I bet you are really excited, I know I am. I keep telling myself not to be disappointed if none hatch.
But you know I will

The story on my hatch is this....
I just started being interested in Serama chickens after I observed a couple in our local feed store. There were two pairs of Seramas in separate cages. Something caught my eye right away and I took a long time to study them. The first thing that stood out to me was that they looked so happy and content to be just with one another. The first couple was so cute when I saw the hen dust bathing. The rooster was standing guard and watching her with this look of total adoration that I have never seen before in chickens! I couldn't believe it, she would turn from one side to the other and she would look back at him with this playful little attitude. I thought this has to be staged, it was to cute to be real.
So then I went over to observe the other couple. SAME thing! But they had one tiny chick in with them. It was like the perfect little family...they had the same vibes going on, perfect contentment just to be with one another.
I was blown away.
I had to get a couple and see if this was real.
So I did.
I found a lady that had some breeder quality birds and I picked out a hen and a cock. They had not been in the same cage together but I liked their colors so home they came.
I put them into their own coop and watched.
Guess what???
They loved each other right away, and they started being one of those loving pairs that I observed in the feed store. I am not kidding. They acted like little love birds.
This is where the story turns sad...
After having them for about 3 weeks I went to lock them up for the night and I found Nacho the roo laying at the coop floor. He had not been attacked but he could not walk or move his wings. I will not go into detail but I tried everything I could do to save him. I made him a sling, I tried to give him physical therapy everyday, all kinds of supplements and did research everyday to try and find out what was wrong with him.
I still don't know what happened to cause him to be like this, maybe poisoning? But yesterday he passed away. After about a week and a half after I found him like that.The whole time I cared for him Dolly, (the hen) would not leave his side. She even laid her eggs right next to him. As if she was giving him a gift. When I first had to syringe feed him she would put her wing over him to protect him as she thought I was going to hurt him. It was the most amazing thing to see. I am crying as I write this because he was so special. Rest in peace Nacho baby boy..I love you

So the eggs that might hatch this weekend are from Dolly the hen. I don't even know if these eggs are fertile but I sure hope they might be.
Thanks for letting me tell Nacho and Dollys beautiful story.

Marie

 

[microchick]

16 paws, that is such a cool story. So sad that Dolly, and you, lost your Nacho. You make me want to go out and find myself a pair of Seramas for myself.

My Aggie is just a sweet little Buff O with a big heart and a masochistic urge to hatch herself some babies every few months. When she was a baby, she had the habit of sitting on top of their water bottle as if surveying her territory. My husband named her Aguila The Eagle. I call her Aggie. She loves to fly up and sit on my arm when I show her a slice of bread like a falcon.

Right now she is sitting on 12 eggs from our flock of Buff O's ,Welsummers and one lone Speckled Sussex. ETA for the chicks is anywhere from Friday night to Sunday. depending on Aggie and the weather. This is her second brood and I'll be happy with how every many chicks we are lucky to see hatch. She hatched 8 out of 11 eggs with her first clutch.

I sure hope your Dolly's eggs produce a little Nacho Jr for you.

 

[16 paws]

16 paws, that is such a cool story. So sad that Dolly, and you, lost your Nacho. You make me want to go out and find myself a pair of Seramas for myself.

My Aggie is just a sweet little Buff O with a big heart and a masochistic urge to hatch herself some babies every few months. When she was a baby, she had the habit of sitting on top of their water bottle as if surveying her territory. My husband named her Aguila The Eagle. I call her Aggie. She loves to fly up and sit on my arm when I show her a slice of bread like a falcon.

Right now she is sitting on 12 eggs from our flock of Buff O's ,Welsummers and one lone Speckled Sussex. ETA for the chicks is anywhere from Friday night to Sunday. depending on Aggie and the weather. This is her second brood and I'll be happy with how every many chicks we are lucky to see hatch. She hatched 8 out of 11 eggs with her first clutch.

I sure hope your Dolly's eggs produce a little Nacho Jr for you.

Thanks Microchick,

Good luck to Aggie, I can just picture her sitting on her water bottle checking out the scene when she was a little one. I hope everything goes smooth as silk. Get ready to take a lot of pictures.
Marie

 

[JayJo]

A lot of corn and a lot of feed because I had a lot of chickens for a back yard flock----over 1200 for a good while. I am down to about 250(sold 125 the weekend) now---I feel Lost---LOL.

@PD-Riverman it warms my heart that someone like you is raising chickens on such a large scale. If only more chickens could have owners like you! (And here I am with my measly five... the expected babies will more than double my flock!)

 

[fisherlady]

Thanks. 

My coop is small, and has no power. I have a 5 gallon bucket waterer out in the run. Do you think I need to make special accommodations, or just leave it as business as usual?my concern is that the nest boxes are external, and face the south. There isn't much ventilation within the nest box area. 

I agree with the previous suggestions, and if I can add... if it is feasible you can lean a piece of plywood or something similar against the wall of the coop the nesting box is on to create a shaded area to aid in cooling. Just be sure it is secured with temporary screws or something to prevent it from blowing over if any winds in the forecast.

 

[RubyNala97]

Anyone ever have a chick with a broody hen that cried all the time? I have 4 chicks with a broody and 1 of them is a screamer! I just went out there now and it's crying its head off. All the chicks are with the mom and the others are fine. I checked it's butt for pasty butt and it was clear. Any ideas?

 

[the poppster]

If the hen is serama, ten eggs may be too many. With my serama hens I have found that 7 eggs is a good number. A few of my smallest have a hard time covering five. I'm quite happy when my serama hatch three or four; ecstatic when it is five or more.  Also, many serama hens go back to laying when their brood is three weeks old-weaning the chicks in time to brood the next setting of eggs. Serama chicks are small, but small does not mean frail. I have lost just one serama chick in the past year.

The hen is a mutt Easter Egger/SilKie cross, she is probably about 2 pounds? She hatched out three of the eggs...one black with white and tan markings on its face and two yellow with gray wings and tail feathers. The seem to have short legs. They are now about a week and a half old and as the feathers emerge they are taking on the Serama stance! Today they were taking dust baths with mom towering over them keeping watch! Cute as cute can be! These may end up as house chickens....winter is quite brutal up here...although I had some Japanese bantam that used to tuck themselves into the feathers of the other chickens and stay warm and toasty....nah! I'm planning on house chickens.