Broody Hen

[DearChicken]

I have a young broody hen (barred rock). Hatched her from the incubator, and now after laying a couple weeks, she is broody. I read that young hens are inexperienced and will sometimes stop incubating in the middle or peck the chicks to death, but I still wanna give her a chance... (mother instinct, right?) I mean if there is not a first time how do they get experienced? Does anyone have experience with successful young broodies?

I have had a few broodies before, but I either broke them because we had no roo or because they just kept on incubating different nest boxes.

Also, we have only 4 nest boxes for lots of chickens, and the one she takes is kinda crucial... should I separate her or something? I don’t really want to get another nest box for the flock...
Thanks so much in advance!

 

[M-H-Fielding]

I separated mine when she was broody.
I've only had one of my broody chickens hatch eggs, my turkeys are much more dedicated for some reason.

 

[Floofer]

It sounds like you have an incubator. If you want her to just stay broody, maybe just let her and keep a close watch on her and her eggs. If something goes wrong, like she abandons the eggs, you can always just put them in your incubator. I think when someone says inexperienced they just mean that younger chickens may be less capable of taking care of their young. I'm pretty sure it's fine if you separate her. Hope this helps

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I have had dozens of hens go broody as early as 6, 7 & 8 months of age. All were good mothers.

I do think it will be best to separate her from the flock, since she has claimed a prized nest box. That will likely lead to fighting for nest box space, broken eggs, developing chicks of different ages due to eggs being laid on different days, & possible harm to hatching chicks.

 

[DearChicken]

I have had dozens of hens go broody as early as 6, 7 & 8 months of age. All were good mothers.

I do think it will be best to separate her from the flock, since she has claimed a prized nest box. That will likely lead to fighting for nest box space, broken eggs, developing chicks of different ages due to eggs being laid on different days, & possible harm to hatching chicks.

I will try that.

 

[aart]

Might set up a separate space for her...if your coop is big enough.



When I have a broody and want her to hatch I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

I remove barrier about one week after hatch. The chicks are usually safe it's the broody who has to 'fight' her way back into the pecking order...which can be quick or take a few days.
Lots of space helps for re-integration.

 

[DearChicken]

Thanks everybody! My broody seems to have...ATE some eggs?! Anybody had this before?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Anything is possible, but much more likely something else ate the eggs. What is temperature where you live? If warm enough for snakes to be out, a snake is most likely your culprit. If not yet warm enough for snakes, please give more info as to your broody's housing.

 

[DearChicken]

Anything is possible, but much more likely something else ate the eggs. What is temperature where you live? If warm enough for snakes to be out, a snake is most likely your culprit. If not yet warm enough for snakes, please give more info as to your broody's housing.

Housing is chicken coop. Snakes could get in, but it was definitely not snake eating it. It was the chicken. Egg had a hole and some cracks, nest box bedding had some yolk on it. The other eggs were dirty too.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Is your broody separated from the other hens yet? If so, then it is likely she accidently broke an egg, then tried to clean it up. Not knowing how to move on and off the eggs without breaking them sometimes IS an issue with first-time broodys.

When egg breakage happened with my broodys, ive found it best to remove all the eggs that got soiled with egg material. Especially if breakage happens early in the incubation process. Bacteria will often get inside the soiled eggs and kill the developing chicks anyway. If more than 1-2 eggs are soiled, & If early in incubation, i sometimes remove ALL the eggs, and have that broody start again.

If you have a game camera, it wouldnt hurt to use it to see what is going on with your broody and the eggs she is setting on. I really dont think she intentionally ate the eggs, unless you know her to be an egg-eater in the regular nesting boxes.