Broody Hen Thread!

[microchick]

I think I have my first brood girl. She's been sitting all day. My question is, what do I Do?
She is of course in one of the favorite nest boxes. Do I move her now? I'm going to let her have the eggs shes on but I don't know if I should just let her alone.....
What should I do?

You need to either move her or some how separate her from the rest of the hens to avoid them adding eggs to her nest and risking a staggered hatch. A hen will abandon unhatched eggs in order to tend to the needs of her newly hatched chicks, leaving you with abandoned eggs that will either die if viable or you will have to finish the hatch in an incubator. Moving a first time broody is risky. I tried it with my first time broody who hatched chicks four weeks ago and she flatly refused to have anything to do with the move. I wound up just barricading her in her nesting box, which yes, was the favorite nesting box. Trust me, the other hens will deal with the inconvenience and choose another box to make their own. The way my nesting boxes are set up I can attach a small wire pen to the outside of the nesting box door where I can put her food and water.Only the broody will have access to this pen.

If you do have a broody pen ready for your girl, I would suggest moving her at night, moving her eggs with her so she doesn't freak. Many people use square dish pans as nesting boxes so they can simply pick up the dish pan, hen, eggs and all and move everything at once. Some even use the cheap dollar store totes and cut a entry to them and do the same thing.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you have questions. We love to help!

LadyCluck77, I've never tried to graft chicks unless it was returning late hatchers to mom. It's best if done once again at night. I returned two chicks in the evening simply because I wanted to keep an eye on mom and make sure there was no problems. She immediately shoved one chick under her but the other got scolded, pecked and when it cried, she shoved it under her too. I hope somebody with some experience with this pipes in with some advice. I know there is a window of opportunity for grafting and the closer to the natural hatch date the better but other than that...

 

[jnckids]

My second girl to go broody. Still new to this but I'm still excited. My first broody was a naked neck sizzle she hatched 3 eggs. 2 survived and are just over 5 weeks old now.

 

[WVduckchick]

Whow, determined girl. The good news is that having chicks to fuss over will snap her out of her trance. Til then, unless you want to break her about all you can do is take her off the nest and keep doing what you are doing to urge her to eat. Has she presented you with a broody poo yet? If she has that is a sign that she is eating when your back is turned. Broody hens can be sneaky that way.

PD-Riverman, I'm going through the same thing trying to find somebody within driving distance who has fertile Silver Duckwing OEGB hatching eggs. I'd just rather not deal with shipped hatching eggs right now, not with our rural postal service. The ladies that run the post office are great, it's getting them safely there that I worry about. Funny thing is that I've found every color imaginable EXCEPT Silver Duckwings. I know how frustrating it can be. I've even gone through the state's poultry yearbook with little success. Even people who have them listed as a provided breed don't have eggs to spare or try to sell me Cochin bantam eggs. I don't do feather legged varieties thanks to the mud we get around here in the spring and late winter. This year it was up to my ankles. I can just see feather legged birds wearing dried mud boots and me chasing after them to chip it off several times a day.

I still have SDWs with about 20 in the incubator with 100% fertility! If you decide you want to try shipped again.

Had a hen go broody after they were in the incubator for 10 days, so I gave her 6 of them.

And I had co-broody bantam cochins kill a freshly hatched chick tonight. A first for me. They had been doing so well together sharing the duties, I thought they would be ok. Live and learn.
So I scooted them apart and put a cardboard divider between them. I don't even know how many eggs are under each now, nor which one killed the chick. beautiful little blue bantam cochin :/

 

[mich9510]

You need to either move her or some how separate her from the rest of the hens to avoid them adding eggs to her nest and risking a staggered hatch. A hen will abandon unhatched eggs in order to tend to the needs of her newly hatched chicks, leaving you with abandoned eggs that will either die if viable or you will have to finish the hatch in an incubator. Moving a first time broody is risky. I tried it with my first time broody who hatched chicks four weeks ago and she flatly refused to have anything to do with the move. I wound up just barricading her in her nesting box, which yes, was the favorite nesting box. Trust me, the other hens will deal with the inconvenience and choose another box to make their own. The way my nesting boxes are set up I can attach a small wire pen to the outside of the nesting box door where I can put her food and water.Only the broody will have access to this pen. 

If you do have a broody pen ready for your girl, I would suggest moving her at night, moving her eggs with her so she doesn't freak. Many people use square dish pans as nesting boxes so they can simply pick up the dish pan, hen, eggs and all and move everything at once.  Some even use the cheap dollar store totes and cut a entry to them and do the same thing.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask if you have questions. We love to help!

The nest box shes in is really only big enough for her to stand up and turn around in. So no other chickens could get in there and lay eggs. I keep food and water right outside of the coop that its in. Can i just keep her where she is? And should i move a smaller dish of food and water in the coop closer to her? The nest box is mounted on the wall about 2 feet off the ground. There isnt room in it for food and water.

 

[redranger209]

My bantam hen hatched 7 out of 9. One of my full size hens found her with the chicks and killed one. Here are some pics of the six and their mom.

 

[microchick]

The nest box shes in is really only big enough for her to stand up and turn around in. So no other chickens could get in there and lay eggs. I keep food and water right outside of the coop that its in. Can i just keep her where she is? And should i move a smaller dish of food and water in the coop closer to her? The nest box is mounted on the wall about 2 feet off the ground. There isnt room in it for food and water.

I'll answer that by telling you about my first broody. She got off her nest to eat drink and poo. While she was off the nest, a second and possibly third hen plopped themselves down on her eggs and added one of their own. In the mean time the broody, finding her nest occupied, plopped herself down on an unoccupied nest with 4 eggs in it. When I discovered what had happened her eggs were chilled and as I was new at broodies, I hadn't marked the original eggs so I was left with a mess to deal with. I did my best guess and removed the new (hopefully) eggs from the clutch, put mom back where she belonged and isolated her using my wire pen/kennel. She had a 75% hatch rate. Not great.

My last broody was immediately isolated with the cage attached to her nesting box giving her extra space to walk around in. Still she managed to escape once and I found her on the nest next to her proving that no matter how thorough you think you are being, a stupid hen can still out think you. As I make it a point to check my broodies several times a day, she wasn't off the nest for long but in spite of her oversight and my poor construction, she had a 100% hatch rate.

I wouldn't put food in the nest with her. Make her get out to get to it so she can stretch her legs and poop without soiling the nest. I admit that I Do place a shallow saucer filled with marbles and water along with a small tuna can of food in the nest at lockdown. I've witnessed a hen sitting on late hatchers and teaching her new chicks how to eat and drink without her leaving the nest. Sometimes it can buy you a bit of time and save you scrambling for an incubator if the hen leaves the unhatched eggs to take care of her new babies.

 

[mcclucker]

Yeah she is super determined! She has been trying to go broody since February but I broke her each time. This time she was not taking no for an answer.

So I haven't seen any poops in her pen except the first day she was in there - yesterday I took her outside away from the eggs and gave her some hard boiled egg and scratch and electrolyte water. She ate a ton but didn't drink and wanted right back in. No poop outside so I definitely think she's not really eating much. I'm going to do that a couple times a day until the chicks come. I don't have to worry about eggs cooling - I just want to keep this girl healthy.

Whow, determined girl. The good news is that having chicks to fuss over will snap her out of her trance. Til then, unless you want to break her about all you can do is take her off the nest and keep doing what you are doing to urge her to eat. Has she presented you with a broody poo yet? If she has that is a sign that she is eating when your back is turned. Broody hens can be sneaky that way.

PD-Riverman, I'm going through the same thing trying to find somebody within driving distance who has fertile Silver Duckwing OEGB hatching eggs. I'd just rather not deal with shipped hatching eggs right now, not with our rural postal service. The ladies that run the post office are great, it's getting them safely there that I worry about. Funny thing is that I've found every color imaginable EXCEPT Silver Duckwings. I know how frustrating it can be. I've even gone through the state's poultry yearbook with little success. Even people who have them listed as a provided breed don't have eggs to spare or try to sell me Cochin bantam eggs. I don't do feather legged varieties thanks to the mud we get around here in the spring and late winter. This year it was up to my ankles. I can just see feather legged birds wearing dried mud boots and me chasing after them to chip it off several times a day.

 

[thunderbird]

Mine do get pale when they are broody. I would check her for mites just to be sure though, cause they are more susceptible to getting mites while broody.

I changed the feed I was giving her and now she's starting to look better and is more energetic

 

[microchick]

I still have SDWs with about 20 in the incubator with 100% fertility! If you decide you want to try shipped again.

Had a hen go broody after they were in the incubator for 10 days, so I gave her 6 of them.

And I had co-broody bantam cochins kill a freshly hatched chick tonight. A first for me. They had been doing so well together sharing the duties, I thought they would be ok. Live and learn.
So I scooted them apart and put a cardboard divider between them. I don't even know how many eggs are under each now, nor which one killed the chick. beautiful little blue bantam cochin

I'm seeing the lady who's OEGB silver duck wing rooster died late last fall on Thursday. I know she is vacillating between wanting one and not wanting one. Last time I saw her she asked me if I had hatched out any roosters that looked like her little boy so I know it's in the back of her mind that she would like to have another one even though she last said that she and her husband were talking about not getting any more chickens. I'll pitch the idea at her and see what happens. She would have to be willing to take all that I hatch though and I don't know how that will go over. She isn't the crazy chicken math lady that I am, LOL.

@mcclucker. Don't worry, if she is eating, she will eventually poop for you and then when you get your first whiff of it's delightful

fragrance you will be saying to yourself...why did I want her to do this?!

Good job @thunderbird.

 

[Honora]

I still have SDWs with about 20 in the incubator with 100% fertility! If you decide you want to try shipped again.

Had a hen go broody after they were in the incubator for 10 days, so I gave her 6 of them.

And I had co-broody bantam cochins kill a freshly hatched chick tonight. A first for me. They had been doing so well together sharing the duties, I thought they would be ok. Live and learn.
So I scooted them apart and put a cardboard divider between them. I don't even know how many eggs are under each now, nor which one killed the chick. beautiful little blue bantam cochin

Sorry to hear that. I had two broodies last Fall that started fighting when the chicks hatched. One of them suddenly started attacking the other hen and it got pretty bloody. But I have had other broodies that got along fine together. You never know I guess. Hope the rest of your hatch goes better.