Broody Hen Thread!

[aart]

I agree with Nchls school, I would use 7 dust, put it in a mustard or ketchup picnic squirter,

Or permethrin dust.
Great idea for an applicator!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We dust the birds after we bathe them. The bath is more to drown the adults and loosen* egg clumps.

I ended up just dusting the broody hen since I don't want to break her brooding again.


Anyone know if there are ways to encourage broodiness?

 

[HappyClucker7]

You can put some golf balls in the nest box. Maybe you could also hand a curtain over the entrance to make it more secluded.

 

[Colleen556]

Awesome, that's what I'm hoping for. The light one was on the nest 2 or 3 days longer than the dark one but there are never any squabbles when one gets in and out of the nest.

I just put 5 shipped silver phoenix eggs under a broody gold Phoenix and have seven in the bater if all goes well I'll give her all the chicks if not brooder box for the lot of them but I would really rather she raised them. Advise? First time trying with a broody hen.

 

[Perris]

I'm a fan of broodies (but have no incubator experience, so nothing to compare it with), and would just say that 12 chicks is a lot for any hen, never mind a novice, so I'd leave her with just the five.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I just put 5 shipped silver phoenix eggs under a broody gold Phoenix and have seven in the bater if all goes well I'll give her all the chicks if not brooder box for the lot of them but I would really rather she raised them. Advise? First time trying with a broody hen.

Honestly my hen ended up with 8 chicks to raise, we lost one a few weeks in (we think it was a freak accident and someone stepped on her and killed her) and then she raised the other 7 to weaning. If you have her seperated and it's warm enough, you could try and give her all that hatch. I would personally recommend though that you give her all the eggs at least at lockdown so you don't have to try and foster chicks she didn't hatch. I've had pheonixes hatch out big batches before with no problems at all.

 

[Colleen556]

I like the idea of giving them all to her at lockdown but don't I need to worry about them getting moved around? They are shipped eggs and may have had a rough trip half have a wobbly air pocket.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

When they're in lock down, the hen doesn't turn them either. By lock down they should be stable enough

 

[Cheeki]

I started out with three Light Brahmas. One roo and two hens, it turned out. One of the hens has since died, but that’s not even the main thing. The remaining hen will not go broody. Instead she lays her daily egg in the nest if a broody hen. This spring I had 5 broodies all at once and had to mark their eggs because Doris would lay her eggs in the nest with them.
Yup, she just hops into the nest with the closest broody hen and deposits her egg with them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Three eggs have hatched so far, 2 normal and one far lighter. One was cracked but smothered and dried out and one was bad and eaten. Had an accident with the light chick, hoping it makes it and can be given back to at least a mama, if not the Shining Twins themselves.