Broody Hen Thread!

[microchick]

Mine have pretty well been by the book so far, @nchls school. The only variation is that for the most part they have glued themselves to the nest at 19 days not gotten off till day 22 or 23 depending on the hatch rate. I can usually tell when day 16-18 rolls around because she will be cocking her head towards the eggs when she is turning them and starting to talk back to the chicks.

 

[leoChickens]

This is soo cool.

 

[the poppster]

As was mentioned earlier in one of the posts...I have slipped almost ready to hatch eggs on a Very broody hen....and it has worked. But I usually give the hen a good week or so of brooding over fake eggs before I exchange them for the close to hatching eggs...then I keep a close eye on her to be sure she is going to accept the chicks when they start to hatch...she should start to make Momma Bird noises in response to the chicks cheeping within the shells...and as they start to hatch watch to be sure the hen doesn't attack the hatchlings...usually she might peck at a lone chick at first....but I stuff it back under...and watch....sometimes it helps to put her and her eggs in the dark well the chicks hatch and leave them for a while...she gets used to the little intruders by sound...many times I've heard the hen "purring" to the chicks...then I know she has accepted them.

 

[langfordcr]

It seems I have a broody hen. She's been on the nest since Christmas Eve. Typically, I collect eggs all day as they are laid. But on Christmas Eve we were gone the entire day so I didn't collect until after dark when we got home. That's when I noticed she was in the nesting box when she normally would have been on the roost. She's been there since then and when I go to collect eggs under her she squawks and pecks me. I had to put gloves on to protect my hands just to get eggs! When she was still there today I thought, what the heck, let's give her all of today's eggs. So here we go! Here's to hoping for some chicks! I had planned to incubate next month but maybe it won't be necessary. I haven't read up on caring for a broody hen sitting on eggs. Should I put food right in front of her? Or will she go out on her own? We have a raised coop with 3 boxes connected to a run. Food and water are in the run. I don't have the set up to segregate her.

 

[langfordcr]

It seems I have a broody hen. She's been on the nest since Christmas Eve. Typically, I collect eggs all day as they are laid. But on Christmas Eve we were gone the entire day so I didn't collect until after dark when we got home. That's when I noticed she was in the nesting box when she normally would have been on the roost. She's been there since then and when I go to collect eggs under her she squawks and pecks me. I had to put gloves on to protect my hands just to get eggs! When she was still there today I thought, what the heck, let's give her all of today's eggs. So here we go! Here's to hoping for some chicks! I had planned to incubate next month but maybe it won't be necessary. I haven't read up on caring for a broody hen sitting on eggs. Should I put food right in front of her? Or will she go out on her own? We have a raised coop with 3 boxes connected to a run. Food and water are in the run. I don't have the set up to segregate her.

 

[langfordcr]

Moderator, my post duplicated. Please remove this post. Thank you!

 

[microchick]

Hi langfordcr and a belated Welcome to the forum!

Congratulations on your first broody! You need to mark her eggs if you cannot isolate her in her own nesting brooding area. Simply use a pencil or magic marker and put an X on the eggs she currently is brooding. You do not want to let the other hens donate to her cause after the initial brooding has begun. If you do you are looking at a staggered hatch. Problematic if you do not have an incubator as a back up hatching system.

At least once a day you will have to check her eggs for additions and remove them from under her. Broodies do need to get off the nest at least once a day. Set food and water within easy reach for her but do not put them near her. Place them so she has to get off the nest and walk a short distance to get them. She will also need to poop and you will know it when she does because the poo will be huge and very smelly. Some hens are reluctant to get off the nest at first. I've had one like that. If you don't think she is getting off the eggs you can take her off, set her down in front of her food, watch her and make sure after she eats that she gets back to her eggs. You want to avoid her relieving herself in the nest and soiling the eggs.

There is a lot of information for you to refer to here on the forum. Simply type 'Dealing with a broody hen' in the search window, sit back and enjoy a day of informative reading.

 

[itspebbl]

She will go out around once a day to eat, drink and poop, and maybe take a little dust bath. If you put food next to her, she may poop in the nest box.

 

[langfordcr]

She did go out today to do all of those things. At first I was afraid she had abandoned ship. While she was out I added a couple of eggs from yesterday's collection to her nest. Then another one of my hens sat on the nest for a couple of hours and made her contribution. She sat in the box next to her during that time and eventually made it back to the eggs. She still there tonight sitting on a dozen. We have Day 1 in the books!

 

[rebrascora]

@langfordcr

Hi

It is really important not to add anymore eggs regardless of when they were laid. The eggs all need to hatch within a day or two at most of each other to be successful, that means they need to start the incubation process at the same time. That is why it is important to mark the ones you set her on and remove any others. A staggered hatch will almost certainly lead to heartache. Also if she is a first time broody, a dozen eggs is a lot. If you are in winter....you profile doesn't show your location???.... she may have difficulty keeping them all warm enough. That jeopardises all the eggs as the ones on the outside can die of the cold and then get rotated into the middle and others moved to the edge and chill.
I know how easy it is to get carried away with broody hens and setting eggs under them but please listen to those of us who have made these mistakes and don't repeat them.

Best wishes

Barbara