Broody Hen...Update pg2

[Barnyard]

OK! So broody has hatched her baby. Now THe problem I am having is this.......

I never moved her out of the nesting box. The nesting boxes are probley 4 feet off the ground. I have tried 2 times to move her lower to the ground and she is not having it. I even put her in a dog crate (big one) and she just stepped all over the little one like she didn't even see it. I can move the nesting boxes closer to the ground, but I still worry about the little one being able to get in and out. Any advice will help alote. Thanks! I forgot to mention that she is in the pen with 5 other hens and a roo.

 

[kevinkeb4]

Hi,
As some of you may know,I have 5 silkies.3 hens with 1 roo,and the other roo in a seperate cage.My splash silkie started brooding and she has 9 eggs under her as of today.She started out with two on 2-27-08 and is now up to 9.
My 1st question is : Should I take the roo out of the same house while she sits on the eggs?
2nd : Should I take some of the eggs out from under her?
3rd : How long from the time she layed till the time they hatch?
4th:Will the other two hens do anything to the chicks when they hatch?

I know some hens do attack the chicks,but I really dont know about the silkies,or even if the eggs are fertile.Some she hasn't been off of since she layed,so they are probably not fertile,is that correct?

Please help,I love my Chickens,their names are Fred,Ed,Zsa-Zsa,Eva,and Delila.

 

[raindrop]

Quote:
Does she still have unhatched eggs in the nesting box with her? She won't want to leave them if she does. When did the chick hatch? In my experience with broodies, they do NOT want to move for the first day or two, but no big deal since the chicks don't need to eat anyway. After a couple days they want to go find food for the babies, and are more adventuresome. Maybe she would let you move her to the floor. We have made a little nursery area in the chicken coop with chicken wire, put in chick scratch and water for mom and babies, then remove the wire once the hen is happy in her new home. Then they are still in a familiar place. If the chick just hatched today, leave her alone today and try to move her tomorrow. Candle eggs and take out all that are not going to hatch.
I would watch her around the other hens, some are better mothers than others. The other hens will peck the chick.

 

[raindrop]

Quote:
1: yes, I would, and the other 2 hens too (see #4)
2: candle them and take out non-fertile ones
3: 21 days from when she started to incubate them. If she has been incubating them since the 27th then you will have eggs hatching at all different times and she may not hang out on the nest long enough to hatch them all.
4: the other two hens will peck at the chicks if they get too close, I would take them out when the chicks hatch.

I am not an expert as some are on the board, but hope this helps.

 

[airmom1c05]

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

I don't know if this will answer ALL the questions, but it's the best source for broody hens I've run across. Best wishes!

 

[kevinkeb4]

Thank you Raindrop.I will do as suggested and keep you'all informed on what happens.....

 

[Barnyard]

Thanks Raindrop for the advice. She does not have any more eggs under her. She started with 3 but 2 cracked and I had to throw them out. I am asuming that the chick hatched during the night because it was there this morning when I opened the coop. I will try again tomm. to move her.


Thanks Airmom for the link!

 

[valmom]

Airmom- great link. Now I just have to convince one of my girls to become broody. My SO swears our dark red girl is, but I'm not so sure. If we leave eggs out will she get the idea as they accumulate?

 

[Kaneke]

if she's going to go broody, she will go broody regardless of the number of eggs in the nest -- or whether they are "real" eggs or wooden or ceramic or golf balls ... or other egg shaped objects

three of mine went broody after having laid 20-some eggs (19, 21, and 23) -- for the two whose nests I didn't find in time, about a third to half the eggs actually hatched ... nine chicks from one batch, eight from another

I found the third nest shortly after eggs started appearing there, so I took one out each day, leaving one in the nest .. then swapped that egg for an unhatched (unhatchable?) egg out of another abandoned nest ... and that hen went broody the day after she laid the 21st ... (all of those eggs went into the house to be eaten)

a "rural legend" says that hens will go broody after laying a dozen eggs, but that wasn't true of mine (one silver-laced banty of unknown origin, one wheaten EE mix, and one black standard mixed-breed )

I think it may be a very individual thing, and probably hormonal, likely nothing that we humans do will influence that

Candy

(newbie with just enough experience to be dangerous)

 

[airmom1c05]

I think God tells them when to go broody! I hope they're listening! Penny did something she had never done since I got her. She laid two eggs in a row. She always skipped a day until today, so I have THREE fertile (most probably) eggs ready if she gets a message from above to go broody! Lord knows I'm praying, but the eggs will be eaten or refrigerated on the 10th day from the date I gathered each one until she does. There should always be at least 5 eggs ready for her to set if she takes a while to go broody and lays every other day. I'm very pleased she laid two days in a row! Yay, Penny!!!!