Broody Hen Thread!

[ShanandGem]

Hello, I have a hen who has been sitting on 4 eggs. She was "due" Sunday but two came early. Unfortuntely, both passed. Looks like the first was pecked, not sjre if by mom or other hen as I did not seperate her from the flock.

The other, I pulled away from mom, still wet, incase it was Mom who pecked the first one. I put her under a lignt for about 15 minutes but she remained lathargic. I have since put her back under Mom realizing she needed considerably more warmth. I feel terrible that i was not prepared. I was literally going to research today!! I am new at this and would love some advice as I have two more eggs that have yet to hatch.

Thank you!

I would separate mom and hope for the best if you don't have any equipment to keep a chick warm. Although all it really takes is a heating pad. Do a search on this site for Mama Heating Pad.

 

[BullChick]

Sorry you are having such a hard time.... Hope things get better...

Thanks. I was consoled by a fertile egg dealer. She enabled me with a bunch of eggs for the girls and my incubator.

 

[ruralchick3]

Thanks for all the advice!!! I may have to move mom, the two chicks and one unhatched egg inorder to protect them from the flock. Is this a bad idea? Should I put my energies into blocking them off instead?

 

[235chickens]

my 1 egg I let my silkie hatch hatched

 

[BullChick]

my 1 egg I let my silkie hatch hatched e

 

[Morrigan]

I'm back here for some more advice. Sorry about the long post.

After yearning for more broody hens, I got my wish. Now I have my hands full! I'm on my 4th broody this year. The first one I expected -- she has gone broody every spring. As a result of her brood, I already have a dozen, 8 week old chicks and am near capacity.

I think all those chicks stimulated something in my other hens. A year old EE from last year's hatch was the next to go broody. A couple days later, my 4 year old "daytime" broody, when broody for real. I kept expecting her to quit after a day, like she always has, but she is totally down with it this time. The two of them have been swapping nest boxes and riding it out together and are now on day 18. Because my normal brooder box is filled with over-flow chicks, I decide to let them sit on golf balls in the nest boxes, and just put a few eggs in the incubator, assuming (hoping) they adopt the day old chicks. I have 5 eggs in the incubator on day 18. Candling looks good. Yesterday, hen #4 went broody. So questions:

1. Have any of you had a broody hen, sitting for a full 3 weeks NOT adopt a 1-day old chick? I could still sneak the eggs under the hens now and let them hatch out under them, but I don't have many eggs and I fear breakage or abandoned eggs due to nest box swapping.

2. If I go the chick adoption route, should I just give the hens the chicks at the same time? Does it matter they are in adjacent nest boxes? I could pry one off a nest and put her in a dog crate, but I'm worried it's going to freak her out now. They are both first time mothers. They are also normally, very easy-going chickens who have not had any issues being around chicks. My rooster also runs a pretty tight ship, which I think helps.

3. For my newly broody hen -- assuming she is still sitting tight and assuming I get at least 3 chicks from my incubator, should I try to see if she would adopt one. She will have been brooding for only 6 days at that point. Otherwise, it's scrounging up more eggs and going thru another cycle.

4. This is a general curiosity question. Do hens get increasingly broody as they get older? My recently broody hen is 3 1/2 years old and has never shown even the slightest sign of broodiness until now. I actually thought she was sick when I saw she spent the night on the nest box, but when I pulled her off, she started up with the tell-tale clucking. Or was it the presence of my first broody proudly parading a big clutch of chicks around the yard that did it? My rooster is pleased as punch, let me tell you.

 

[ruralchick3]

2 of the 4 eggs I gave to my broody hen hatched!! I was able to set up a sweet space for mom and babies to grow! I am sad to see that two did not make it, but thrilled to see that two did! Many lessons learned for the next time! Love this forum...thanks for the advice!!

 

[BullChick]

2 of the 4 eggs I gave to my broody hen hatched!! I was able to set up a sweet space for mom and babies to grow! I am sad to see that two did not make it, but thrilled to see that two did! Many lessons learned for the next time! Love this forum...thanks for the advice!!

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I'm back here for some more advice. Sorry about the long post.

After yearning for more broody hens, I got my wish. Now I have my hands full! I'm on my 4th broody this year. The first one I expected -- she has gone broody every spring. As a result of her brood, I already have a dozen, 8 week old chicks and am near capacity.

I think all those chicks stimulated something in my other hens. A year old EE from last year's hatch was the next to go broody. A couple days later, my 4 year old "daytime" broody, when broody for real. I kept expecting her to quit after a day, like she always has, but she is totally down with it this time. The two of them have been swapping nest boxes and riding it out together and are now on day 18. Because my normal brooder box is filled with over-flow chicks, I decide to let them sit on golf balls in the nest boxes, and just put a few eggs in the incubator, assuming (hoping) they adopt the day old chicks. I have 5 eggs in the incubator on day 18. Candling looks good. Yesterday, hen #4 went broody. So questions:

1. Have any of you had a broody hen, sitting for a full 3 weeks NOT adopt a 1-day old chick? I could still sneak the eggs under the hens now and let them hatch out under them, but I don't have many eggs and I fear breakage or abandoned eggs due to nest box swapping.

2. If I go the chick adoption route, should I just give the hens the chicks at the same time? Does it matter they are in adjacent nest boxes? I could pry one off a nest and put her in a dog crate, but I'm worried it's going to freak her out now. They are both first time mothers. They are also normally, very easy-going chickens who have not had any issues being around chicks. My rooster also runs a pretty tight ship, which I think helps.

3. For my newly broody hen -- assuming she is still sitting tight and assuming I get at least 3 chicks from my incubator, should I try to see if she would adopt one. She will have been brooding for only 6 days at that point. Otherwise, it's scrounging up more eggs and going thru another cycle.

4. This is a general curiosity question. Do hens get increasingly broody as they get older? My recently broody hen is 3 1/2 years old and has never shown even the slightest sign of broodiness until now. I actually thought she was sick when I saw she spent the night on the nest box, but when I pulled her off, she started up with the tell-tale clucking. Or was it the presence of my first broody proudly parading a big clutch of chicks around the yard that did it? My rooster is pleased as punch, let me tell you.

Well, I don't have answers to all the questions but I will give you my "2 cents" on a couple of them. Broodiness spawns broodiness. It is not uncommon for it to be "catching" in a flock. Something to do with instinct I think.

I have never tried to adopt out chicks so I will skip answering that.

When my broodies are close to hatch, I barricaide them in so that other birds don't get to the nest with the hatching chicks and potentially cause them to be crushed, otherwise, I let the others lay eggs or move around or whatever in the nest with the broody, just not at hatch time. The eggs are amazingly durable and the only time I have had one broken doing this is when they were in the pip and zip process. That's why I block them out now.

I would not give the new broody chicks. I have read that they are not likely to accept them unless they have been brooding closer to a normal hatch time. I am sure there are exceptions, however, I wouldn't push it.

I don't know that age has anything to do with it, more likely it is the broody fever has hit your older hen.

Good luck. Things are bout to be crazy in your coop! Hope you have some nice fluffy butts.

 

[randiferina]

Got my first little one!! So excited! She's got 5 more eggs under her... Waiting so impatiently lol

FYI: mom is a silkie, and she's sitting on a clutch of BR hen x with silkies roo (none of the eggs are actually hers) lol these should be interesting! Anyone have a similar cross?