Broody Hen Thread!

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ShanandGem said:
My broody is such a good mom! The four bigger chicks in the coop stress her out a bit(coop is big, 10 x 10 but they always seem to be in her face) but she's too gentle to give them the pecking they deserve so I am shipping them out the door into a brooder box on the grass first thing in the morning and they don't get to go in until right before lights out.
The babies are eating and drinking and both seem pretty healthy. One is definitely bigger than the other. I cut up some clover for her last night and she was pecking it into tiny pieces and giving it to them. Maybe it's just because I'm a woman and I know how it feels to be broody, but it has been such a joy watching her with her chicks; a totally different experience than hatching babies in a bator.
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Any advice for how to get this last unhatched egg away from Mama? I sincerely don't think it's going to hatch but every time she moves her nest around in her crate she tucks it underneath her again.
 
More good news, moved Mama outside today, to get fresh air, and put the three siblings together. All are doing well, playing nicely together, Stormy is not being picked on. Brought Mama in a few hours later, and waited to see her reaction to the 3rd chick. Either Mama did not care there was an extra chick, or because she has heard her peeps for the last 4 days, she knows it is her chick. Either way, Mama has accepted Stormy into the fold!
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Gave everyone some hard boiled egg yolk, and Mama clucked for the babies to come over. Because Stormy is so small, I worried about Mama stepping on her, so we took her out.
Went to pick oldest up from her end of Summer choir activity, and hubby calls, "I tucked Stormy under Mama's wing, she was cheeping so loud, and seemed lonely." The whole drive home I feared I was going to have a squished chick. Got home, and Starlight is peeking out Mama's left wing, Stormy is behind her, peeking out, and Midnight is peeking out of the right wing. Would have loved to have gotten a picture, but my phone was saying, "plug me in, I am dying"

Will try to get pic of the 3 with Mama tomorrow.

Now the wait begins, how many are hens??????
 
ShanandGem said:
I might end up with a chick instead! I suppose I could try.....
I really had hoped she would just give up and kick it out. That's what she did with the empty shells. I'll give her until the weekend and then take it.
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If it were me and I absolutely had to get it out, I'd probably carefully pick her up, set her aside, grab the offending egg, then allow her to return to the nest in a haste and a grump :p
 
ShanandGem said:
She's been isolated since day one when I discovered she was broody. She is in the coop with a dozen 8 week old Ameraucana chicks, but separated from them by a fence.  I hate integrating birds so whoever she hatches will get their own little tractor to live in, and she can stay with them forever if she wants to. I know chickens are social animals and I just wondered if she would miss being around other adult birds if she's confined to the nursery.
This is my first broody and she is one of my favorite hens, so I want her to be happy and healthy.  She has been very determined so far;  I have only seen evidence of her getting off her eggs once!  I make her a little plate of fresh food and put it right in front of her twice a day.
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Ok, this is what I do. It works well. The Broody and her eggs are isolated from the flock. Within view and/or hearing of the flock. Ideally into a broody tractor. I've built a few of them. When she hatches the chicks I keep her and Chicks in the tractor till the chicks are fully feathered. In the mean time I free range the flock every day for a few hours, they wander around the tractors and become acquainted with the chicks, while keeping them safe from the big birds. After a couple of weeks I will open the door on the tractor and allow mom and Chicks to mix with the flock...she will usually return to the tractor....until she decides to return to the flock...so you have to be there when you let the mom mix with the flock. When she decides to rejoin the flock...the chicks might need a bit of direction from you to understand where they need to go....if they lose track of mom...also the run and coop may be a bit frightening to the chicks. Usually all goes well, and after a few chicks having to be physically returned to mom....they figure it out. This is how I do it. Right or wrong it has worked for me. There is usually little to no aggressive behavior shown to the newcomers. Other than the usual normal peck her or there. I've never had any serious damage to any of the chicks or mom.
 
the poppster said:
Ok, this is what I do. It works well. The Broody and her eggs are isolated from the flock. Within view and/or hearing of the flock. Ideally into a broody tractor. I've built a few of them. When she hatches the chicks I keep her and Chicks in the tractor till the chicks are fully feathered. In the mean time I free range the flock every day for a few hours, they wander around the tractors and become acquainted with the chicks, while keeping them safe from the big birds. After a couple of weeks I will open the door on the tractor and allow mom and Chicks to mix with the flock...she will usually return to the tractor....until she decides to return to the flock...so you have to be there when you let the mom mix with the flock. When she decides to rejoin the flock...the chicks might need a bit of direction from you to understand where they need to go....if they lose track of mom...also the run and coop may be a bit frightening to the chicks. Usually all goes well, and after a few chicks having to be physically returned to mom....they figure it out. This is how I do it. Right or wrong it has worked for me. There is usually little to no aggressive behavior shown to the newcomers. Other than the usual normal peck her or there. I've never had any serious damage to any of the chicks or mom.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that. I can't free range because of predators but so far it's going well and Mama puts up with four older chicks returning to her coop at night. She is surprisingly patient with them; I actually think she is trying to get them to climb underneath her as she bok boks at them and hovers over her nest the way she does when she wants her babies under her.
There's a busted egg shell in her crate this morning that I didn't notice yesterday so I am hoping maybe her last egg hatched.
 
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