Broody Hen

[Sandra Verbreyt]

One of my chickens is insisting on staying in the coop. I have lifted her out several times but she heads back. She usually lays one small egg a day and I am afraid in case I disturb her from laying . However it is obvious that she is a broody hen. Any advice anybody? Also do I need to give my chickens extra vitamins etc. They are very fussy eaters and so far will only eat their own chicken food although I have tried with other things but they do not seem interested. They have a free run of our garden during the day so have ample chance to eat grubs etc. Do I need to feed them anything else besides their chicken food and do they need injections etc.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

Chicken feed is GREAT! And should be their main source of feed. It is meant to meet the needs of chickens in captivity by 100%. Too many people are dumbing down their nutrition by giving treats. That's when problems start.

My birds get nothing extra as far as vitamins and such. As long as you aren't feeding a bunch of lettuce or other things that truly don't have much nutritional value, there should be NO need for injections or supplements of ANY kind.

If I want to I might give a little extra vitamins or electrolytes if a bird is under the weather (very rare, and usually only shipped chicks). But fresh water and the age appropriate chicken feed are the BEST things you can do for your birds!

As far as your broody goes... if you don't have eggs to hatch or chicks to raise, I use a wire bottom dog cage with NO bedding day and night until their broody clucking stops. which usually requires a few days. The longer they have been broody the harder to break. But they don't care if the eggs are fertile or not and my girls will even stay broody for more than a month on AIR! It's important to break them asap because they lose condition and become shaky while sitting, plus aren't really great flock members or pets during that time.

 

[pennyJo1960]

One of my chickens is insisting on staying in the coop. I have lifted her out several times but she heads back. She usually lays one small egg a day and I am afraid in case I disturb her from laying . However it is obvious that she is a broody hen. Any advice anybody? Also do I need to give my chickens extra vitamins etc. They are very fussy eaters and so far will only eat their own chicken food although I have tried with other things but they do not seem interested. They have a free run of our garden during the day so have ample chance to eat grubs etc. Do I need to feed them anything else besides their chicken food and do they need injections etc.

so glad you decided to join us here, could you please say how old they are what breed and if they free range or stay in their coop all day and a small run please

 

[SRC87]

My cuckoo maran went broody a week ago. I tried for 3 days to break her with no advances. I gave up and let her keep someone else’s egg under her. I have 1 roo so I’m sure it could be fertile. I’ll give her 3 weeks to try and be a mom and stop acting like a crazy teenager. She’s my best layer as well and hasn’t given me any eggs in a week. Worth a try! It’s good to know I have one hen that’s Mom material at least...

 

[EggSighted4Life]

My cuckoo maran went broody a week ago. I tried for 3 days to break her with no advances. I gave up and let her keep someone else’s egg under her. I have 1 roo so I’m sure it could be fertile. I’ll give her 3 weeks to try and be a mom and stop acting like a crazy teenager. She’s my best layer as well and hasn’t given me any eggs in a week. Worth a try! It’s good to know I have one hen that’s Mom material at least...

Very few of my girls break in 3 days or less! Some take 2 weeks or more! And then it's another 1-2 weeks before they begin to lay again. If I gave in that easy... I might never see an egg again.

Hope your girl has a good hatch. Mark your eggs well so you can remove any extras that get deposited to her nest each day, as late hatchers are a terrible idea.

 

[SRC87]

Very few of my girls break in 3 days or less! Some take 2 weeks or more! And then it's another 1-2 weeks before they begin to lay again. If I gave in that easy... I might never see an egg again.

Hope your girl has a good hatch. Mark your eggs well so you can remove any extras that get deposited to her nest each day, as late hatchers are a terrible idea.

Ouhhhh gosh 1-2 weeks?! Nope I wasn’t that patient at all!!!! I am only allowing her 1 egg and have it marked so I can pull out any others—even though she is vicious to the other chickens and they will not even go into the nest boxes right now! Finding eggs all over the coop but here she is on an egg that isn’t even hers!!!