Broody hen will not leave the nest

[Anon112]

Probably what caused the loose poop.


If you don't give her anything else she will eat it, not much and maybe not often.

Fair.

I'll reign in offering treats and just make sure she has her regular food. My reason for offering the fruit and my main concern was dehydration.

Maybe soak some of her regular feed in water to offer her a mash?

 

[Anon112]

Keep an eye on the poop amount. You may not be able to see how much she eats/drinks, but she should be pooping each day. Sometimes it is runny (like someone else said-maybe the berries) but you should also see some "monster poop" where she has saved it up all day and let it all out at once.

The day I moved her into the barn she did one of the monster poops. (It was . . . truly epic). But then nothing until this morning when I made her get off of the nest for a few minutes, and the quantity was like a third of that original poop.

I know that my downfall as a pet owner in general can be that urge to throw the kitchen sink when an animal seems to be not doing well, and I frequently have to check those instincts. Being new to supporting a broody hen is making it hard to tell how much to back off and when to try to intervene.

Thank you for the reply!

 

[Australorpfamily]

I have a thread where I followed our broody journey. She'd get off the nest first thing or a couple hours into the day, but we never saw her but a handful of times. There were a few times she got off for over four hours and went back. Her eggs were good to go because another girl was laying in her nest.

Because your coop is elevated, maybe she feels safer staying put. As suggested a safer area for her would be recommended. Our nests were about 18inches off ground and once babies hatched the next day she took them to ground and nested under them ((it was also Dec and cold and we had her all set up))

It's still instinct that calls them to brood and take care of the eggs-turning, and knowing when to cool them or bake them all . As well as the chicks. Second time our Mama stayed in the chicks for three days before she moved them, first time it was day after.

Good luck

 

[Mrs. K]

Really stop pulling her off the nest and don’t leave food by her. Chickens know more than us, just let her do it. When they hatch, keep an eye out but do not interfere, she will leave the nest and create a new clean one on the floor. She will get them down too with no injury. They are just fluffballs. I have seen one get the out of a hayloft.

Good luck

 

[Mrs. K]

If the eggs don’t hatch, slip some chicks under het

 

[Mrs. K]

I prefer to hatch with a broody hen, never had one die. Mrs feathers is my oldest bird and has raised a lot of chicks for me. Set her last night, longest 21 days ever.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Lots of good info...remember after 21 days of this she WILL look a bit tattered. Weight loss isn't uncommon. Read up on egg candling, it is a REAL challenge for those of us who are new to it, I had a heck of a time trying to see inside the brown eggs!! My cellphone light wasn't quite bright enough, but I found a very bright LED penlight that worked, if the coop was dark enough. The first time I let my Orpington go broody, I didn't candle the eggs, and after a week she kicked out a non-viable egg onto the coop floor. Yucky cleanup!

 

[Anon112]

A big thank you again to the people in this thread giving advice. I set out just regular layer feed and water. As of today there is a more normal looking broody poop, so clearly she was eating more than just the treats I was offering.

Though (and I feel TERRIBLE about this) when I candled her eggs I somehow managed to drop one. I feel just sick about it. The first one I candled seemed to not be developing. The next one was a dark brown egg and I couldn't see well enough inside it. The third was the one I broke. I did one more just to be sure at least one egg was viable. It was, so I stopped there.

This has definitely been a roller-coaster, albeit mostly from me making mistakes. I read several articles and thought I was ready, but it's like the stress just made me do dumb stuff.

Do any of you do electrolytes or probiotics in the water for a broody hen, or just make sure it's fresh and clean?

 

[Mrs. K]

Fresh and clean and leave her be. I never candle, can't see anything when I have tried. If I move an egg and it sloshes - toss those. I just wait and see what happens. If nothing happens, I get some fresh chicks, easy to come by this time of year.

 

[Henora]

Any issues with a broken egg getting some yolk on the other eggs? It's not too much but it concerns me they got messy. I'm not sure how that happened.

this happened to me recently with my first broody, and I think it contaminated the eggs or they already were and broke easily bc they went rotten in only a few days.