broody? need help.

[thepluckypony]

hi there. We have a hen who has been sitting in her nest box all day/evening for 3 days going on 4. if you try and touch/move her she will puff up and peck you making angry noises. We have picked her up twice and taken her off the nest and she walks around SCREAMING for a long while and waits for us to go in and then goes back on the nest.
So do you think shes broody? is her health in danger from not eating or drinking? How long before we could try and put day olds under her?

thanks!

 

[Stacyoung13]

Yes she is broody, she will be fine, she will come off the nest to eat, drink, and poo once or twice a day. I have heard of them going all day with no break. She will know when she needs to. I asked the same question earlier about putting babies under a broody, and was told 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. Good luck!!!

 

[BlueEggsAndHam]

Hello! So try to put food in front of her (if you can) and see if she is interested, If she doesn't take it she's probably been eating food while you are gone. If you want to stop her from being broody,
Send Them to Chicken Jail Also known as ‘the cage’ or solitary confinement!
This consists of a wire cage or pet travel box. It will need to be very sturdy to hold the hen. You are going to place her inside the cage with food and water only- no bedding.


Thats what I do for my broody hens, Good Luck!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hey, I'm here near Phoenix. If you need some hatching egg's or chick's to put under her and she isn't a bantam sized hen, I can provide. I have chick's that will be hatching out starting on the 14th of this month. My egg's are from my flock and are fertile by my rooster Charley shown in my avatar. If you are interested, just send me a pm here.

 

[thepluckypony]

thank you both! we dont mind that shes broody we were just worried for her health as its in the 80's during the day. ill put food and water in front of her and make sure shes okay. thanks for the time frame i didnt see your post earlier!

 

[aart]

I would not put food right near nest, they need to get off nest to eat/drink/poop.

If you don't want her to hatch chicks it's best to break her asap.

 

[Ridgerunner]

thank you both! we dont mind that shes broody we were just worried for her health as its in the 80's during the day. ill put food and water in front of her and make sure shes okay. thanks for the time frame i didnt see your post earlier!

Before a hen even starts laying she builds up a reserve of fat. That fat is what she mostly lives on while she is broody so she doesn't need to spend a lot of time off the nest eating and drinking. Broody hens have been doing this for thousands of years without people helping them.

I've seen broody hens come off the nest twice a day for over a hour each time. I've seen broody hens come off the nest once a day for about 15 minutes. How warm it is can have an effect on time off the nest. But I've also had broody hens I never saw come off the nest. But since they are not pooping in the nest I know they are coming off.

You said you wanted to put some baby chicks under her and @BlueBaby was nice enough to volunteer to help. See the benefits of putting your location in your profile! It's a shame more people don't do that. I've had broody hens that have only been broody a couple of days try to take over raising another hen's chicks. I once had a hen that had only been broody a couple of days refuse to accept chicks I put under her. I have had one hen that had been broody for three weeks refuse to accept all the chicks I put under her, though she accepted some. Usually that is not a problem at all but that one time it was.

The point I'm trying to make is that each hen is different. You can try earlier than 3 weeks and it might work. You can wait three weeks and it might not. You don't get a guarantee either way. Personally I'd be willing to try it earlier if chicks are available. But make sure they are really young, your odds of her accepting them is better if they are one to three days old rather than 4 days or more. It's not just that the hen has o accept them, they have to accept her. If you wait too late they may have imprinted on something else.

80 degrees isn't that hot, you will probably soon see some really hot weather before too long though. How well is your nest suited to hot weather? Will it become an oven when it does turn hot? Is it in direct sun or a shady spot like on a south or west wall? Do you have reasonable ventilation up high in the nest so hot air can rise and escape? Heat can be a real health issue for a broody, much more than her not eating or drinking as much as you think she needs to.

 

[thepluckypony]

Before a hen even starts laying she builds up a reserve of fat. That fat is what she mostly lives on while she is broody so she doesn't need to spend a lot of time off the nest eating and drinking. Broody hens have been doing this for thousands of years without people helping them.

I've seen broody hens come off the nest twice a day for over a hour each time. I've seen broody hens come off the nest once a day for about 15 minutes. How warm it is can have an effect on time off the nest. But I've also had broody hens I never saw come off the nest. But since they are not pooping in the nest I know they are coming off.

You said you wanted to put some baby chicks under her and @BlueBaby was nice enough to volunteer to help. See the benefits of putting your location in your profile! It's a shame more people don't do that. I've had broody hens that have only been broody a couple of days try to take over raising another hen's chicks. I once had a hen that had only been broody a couple of days refuse to accept chicks I put under her. I have had one hen that had been broody for three weeks refuse to accept all the chicks I put under her, though she accepted some. Usually that is not a problem at all but that one time it was.

The point I'm trying to make is that each hen is different. You can try earlier than 3 weeks and it might work. You can wait three weeks and it might not. You don't get a guarantee either way. Personally I'd be willing to try it earlier if chicks are available. But make sure they are really young, your odds of her accepting them is better if they are one to three days old rather than 4 days or more. It's not just that the hen has o accept them, they have to accept her. If you wait too late they may have imprinted on something else.

80 degrees isn't that hot, you will probably soon see some really hot weather before too long though. How well is your nest suited to hot weather? Will it become an oven when it does turn hot? Is it in direct sun or a shady spot like on a south or west wall? Do you have reasonable ventilation up high in the nest so hot air can rise and escape? Heat can be a real health issue for a broody, much more than her not eating or drinking as much as you think she needs to.

Thanks for the response. The coop is in constant shade and is well ventilated and has a fan to circulate air. She seems comfortable. it is very possible (and most likely) she gets off when no one is looking as the nest doesn't seem to have any poop in it. I left the food where it normally is. shes pretended to go broody once before, but snapped out of within a couple hours. she seems to be sitting strong for this one. We don't mind her rearing chicks we just want to be sure shes actually gonna stick with it. But like you said...anything can happen.

 

[khind]

I would not put food right near nest, they need to get off nest to eat/drink/poop.
If you don't want her to hatch chicks it's best to break her asap.

I'm jumping in here because I also need some advice, please!!! I have 2 bantam cochins who have gone broody, which I don't want. One began probably 5-7 days ago; the other went pre-broody about that long ago, and today started sitting in the nest. Up til now I'd always been lucky to have had only one broody at a time. I always put a broody in a dog cage at my house, as I'd read that it's best to have them away from the coop and nest to break them quicker; and since I usually catch them early enough, the longest I've ever had to separate them was for 5-6 days, but usually just 3-4. Here's the problem: I let these hens go this long because I have another hen, who is injured, using the cage (at my house)! And even if I didn't have an injured hen, I only have one cage. I do have a carrier, but I read the best housing for a broody is one that allows lots of light and has a wire (ventilating) floor... Is that really the case? And does it really matter if whatever cage a broody is in, is or is not in the coop? I know that lengthy separation can cause re-integration problems, but again, this is hopefully just a few days... Also, is it ok or a bad idea to put two broodies together if necessary?

Since I do have 2 broody now, I need to make an adjustment of some kind...

The cage is a ~ 1 ft 4" wide x 1 ft 11 1/2" long x ~ 1 ft 7 1/2" tall - really best for 1 hen with food and water to use comfortably. I suppose my two bantam cochins could fit in it for a few days, especially since they're so keen on just sitting around all day (for the most part)..., and I could release them to go forage with the others once/day & then put them back in the cage for the night? On the other hand, those broody poops would get messy for 2 hens to have to deal with.

Do I need to buy a 2nd (or 3rd) dog cage?Thank you for any help!

 

[khind]

... I do have another dog crate - "large sized" and much longer, that both could go into. But it won't fit in the coop, only inside the house or garage; and on the back patio - until the weekly rains we've started getting come in a couple days (I'm in Oklahoma). That cage is 49.75" L x 30.25" W x 32.5" Tall