Broody Hen Thread!

[slordaz]

appreciate this thread and it will take me some time to read all the information, it's an area i need more clarification and understanding in (so worth it) Short version was a broody Guinea Hen , then the hens started ot also add to the clutch with nest sitting rotation between two hens and the original Guinea hen and even sharing sitting duty with the Guinea hen and a hen or the two hens . it was a huge egg nest seemed like some first time over achievers... it is past the original hatch date but the eggs were still being added and I have noticed that the 3 females are cleaning the nest of eggs past that are not worthy (i guess) ???? not sure but the nest is clean and fresh..

Did have one hatch-ling baby was on time as expected. lol mamma took her baby and ran for all that work and the other hen and guinea hen continue to do their best not to give up to have a baby of their own ( i guess) ???

Good mamma teaching her baby everything and protecting it. ... here's my warning that I have gotten enough pictures. lol ...

So happy for her....

I've noticed mine will try to community brood and it never turns out good for them someone gets mad or impatient and breaks the eggs, our BR girl we lost was the only one that wasn't having none of it and hatched out 10 babies in the spring, right now they are molting and got another BR that should hatch out any day and the leghorn we didn't want brooding, at least she learned her lesson apparently she sits on them pretty good and should hatch out next week, we kept kicking her off the nest and gathering the eggs cause she didn't have the patience she'd sit for 2-3 days then break the eggs didn't think it should take more than that to have her babies

 

[PatriciafromCO]

Thank you Chicken Obsessed for sharing. I've always let them do their own thing. My BR's use to be really good at hatching eggs, like clock work always successful. Then that group grew old and they passes away. I was spoiled for 6 years with my group who just were naturals. The BRs that I purchased after them were never interested in going broody so it has been years and many new sets of chicks and no one wanting to go broody. Was happy to see these two BRs and even the Guinea Hen at least try. They are being really good at staying with the nest. Between the two of them now since the one BR has left with the one baby.

Is it a bad thing for them to let them keep trying?

I'm hesitant to interfere because of an experience with a goose nest. The goose had a huge clutch and she finally abandoned the nest on her own she had been on the nest well past the time something should of hatched and when the goose abandoned it , I was thinking I should clear it out, as the eggs were not going to hatch.. But before I could do it a single goose not attached to a gander she settled in on it. I didn't have the heart to mess with her. She was an outcast goose belong to anyone in the flock, she was so happy to have that nest . i let her be.. Over a week later she ended up with 22 hatched goslings.. Always haunts me, that I almost cleaned out those eggs as bad.

I have seen pictures of how to tell at the beginning if an egg if fertile with the veins using the candler, but am not sure what the egg is suppose to look like when it's at the final stages and is still good or if it has really gone bad and should be discarded. I can candle the eggs but don't trust myself to know what I am seeing

 

[Blulaced Damsel]

I have eggs hatching today under my broody Marans and two have hatched but she seems to be smothering them and they die! One was just halfway out of it s shell and both chick and egg were smashed, the second was all the way out but I found it also smashed under her this morning... What to do!??
I have started up my incubator but it seems very risky to move them at this point. Any advice??

 

[microchick]

I think it is too risky NOT to move the eggs. You could let the eggs hatch in the incubator and then return them to mom. I would really supervise her though. Is she a first time broody?

 

[slordaz]

I think it is too risky NOT to move the eggs. You could let the eggs hatch in the incubator and then return them to mom. I would really supervise her though. Is she a first time broody?

I agree with micro, some hens just freak out especially if they are first timers, mine killed the first one to hatch but them was more careful with the others but we were also there until she finished hatching to make sure she didn't harm the others

I got a 2 hens that gotta watch 1 this week 1 next week that are first time brooders.

at least they aren't ducks, our first time broodies there lost 3 to drowning cause the little rebels were impatient for the water and momms were still hatching, buggers got in a big kiddie pool that was about a ft taller than they were with nothing to get on to get in , but then they couldn't get back out

 

[nchls school]

I have eggs hatching today under my broody Marans and two have hatched but she seems to be smothering them and they die! One was just halfway out of it s shell and both chick and egg were smashed, the second was all the way out but I found it also smashed under her this morning... What to do!??
I have started up my incubator but it seems very risky to move them at this point. Any advice??

Is the hen large or small? How many eggs does she have? In addition to what other posters have said, large, heavy hens have a tendency to crush hatching eggs and newly hatched chicks. By putting large dummy eggs under the hen her weight will be kept off the eggs that are hatching and any new hatched chicks; this problem especially happens when there is only a few eggs being brooded. I also recommend keeping human interference to a minimum if the hen is skittish. Upset hens frequently break their eggs/crush chicks accidentally in their efforts to protect their nest. Good luck.

 

[Blulaced Damsel]

There were about 10 eggs. I never thought her to be extraordinarily heavy, definitely didn't think she'd crush them since she's been such a diligent mama throughout the sitting period. She is a first timer though...
I did move the eggs to the Bator in a hot moist dish cloth. Two were already pipped. One hatched after a few hours and as of bedtime last night the other had made a ful breathing hole. Looked like I had 5 (including the breathing hole one) when I went to bed.
I thought about putting something big in the nest like the fake eggs, just wasn't SURE it would work

Anyway, so far so good, I guess. So bummed I lost the two....
Thanks so much for the advice

 

[microchick]

There were about 10 eggs. I never thought her to be extraordinarily heavy, definitely didn't think she'd crush them since she's been such a diligent mama throughout the sitting period. She is a first timer though...
I did move the eggs to the Bator in a hot moist dish cloth. Two were already pipped. One hatched after a few hours and as of bedtime last night the other had made a ful breathing hole. Looked like I had 5 (including the breathing hole one) when I went to bed.
I thought about putting something big in the nest like the fake eggs, just wasn't SURE it would work

Anyway, so far so good, I guess. So bummed I lost the two....
Thanks so much for the advice.

It's always sad when you lose chicks but sometimes it is just going to happen no matter your best intentions. Try not to blame yourself or momma hen and celebrate the ones you have been able to save. I lost a chick due to being trampled during my last broody's hatching. On the bright side, I got 8 healthy, beautiful babies when all was said and done.

You are doing a great job!

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

funny that you would toss out 8 cold eggs that were around her, i assume you collect them everyday?
we sat our hen on 7 cold eggs out the kitchen which had been laid over 3 days since we wanted our araucana eggs hatched,
and she hatched them all,

she went into the flock with the chicks at 7days old by her decision, she was always in the coop, now at 3 1/2 weeks she sat in the nest boxes last night for the 1st time with the chicks, but yesterday she was up there and all the chicks were playing on the perches. the nursery is under the 3 nest boxes with 80% enclosure, im assuming shes starting to distance herself a bit, as the chicks in the garden are no longer being bunched up and are spread about more. we can often see some at one end of the garden and others at the other end. they also seem to be watching what the other hens are doing and as expected getting the "move along/thats mine" odd peck. they have also started fighting each other a bit, looking at the chicks and then at the hens, i would say our hens are quite lazy, the chicks are always climbing in and out the pile of branches and scratching about when all the other hens as lazing about, as for mum, she hasnt let the cocks mount her yet, she was chased by the bantam but jumped up on the fence round our rear patio, more often then not shes sitting on the end of a branch on top of the pile stopping the cocks getting near her.

We had not collected eggs in a couple of days, and they were a bit on the messy side, so I figured she kicked them out for a reason. She would not have had any room for them anyway, she just barely covers the 12. Ramin is sitting on 12 Easter Egger eggs, none of her own. As I gathered them, I was checking to make sure none were bullet eggs, they are all nice oval/round eggs, easy for chicks to turn around in.
Our other hen has gone back to the flock, she stayed with her chicks for almost 2 months, this was her first real hatch. And the other hens did not pick on her after her return, but our head rooster Hank is very happy she is back. As soon as I let them out in the morning, Hank is right out there, loving on her.

 

[microchick]

Well the last few days have been rough for me. One of my young cockerels from Aggie's Feb brood turned up with some sort of neck injury. Don't know what happened but over the course of 3 days he declined no matter what we did until tonight he began to suffer convulsions every time we picked him up to try to feed him or give him water. We don't know what happened or how. Just a continued neurological deficit that seemed to worsen until the last thing we could do for our little Tweek boy was release him from his suffering. He is buried next to his dad who died a little over a month ago.

Don't tell me angels don't watch over our feathered friends because after we buried Tweek, I went into the coop to gather eggs and discovered that I have a new broody. Life renewing itself. Yesterday I had a red letter day with the hens. 13 hens, 13 eggs. First time that happened. I don't think those girls could stand the sight of all those eggs and resist the urge to flop their fluffy butts on them.

To make things more interesting, I witnessed Aggie gobbling down oyster shell tonight. She usually does that before she goes broody. Time will tell.