Broody only at night

[ThiefPouter06]

I had 3 hatchery wyandottes go broody within about a week of of each other. After the first hen's eggs hatch the other two stopped brooding consistantly during the day. In fact one hen is now helping the first hen with her brood. I moved the most recent hen to an empty building and she only broods tight at night and sometimes for a little bit during the day. Neither are laying. Should I put a few chicks under her? It's like they are half way broke. I have to collect eggs constantly because when they randomly go broody they are ruining my eggs.

 

[bobbieschicks]

I had 3 hatchery wyandottes go broody within about a week of of each other. After the first hen's eggs hatch the other two stopped brooding consistantly during the day. In fact one hen is now helping the first hen with her brood. I moved the most recent hen to an empty building and she only broods tight at night and sometimes for a little bit during the day. Neither are laying. Should I put a few chicks under her? It's like they are half way broke. I have to collect eggs constantly because when they randomly go broody they are ruining my eggs.

You can try to put chicks under the broody, do so at night and watch her reaction. she may reject them so you need to watch her closely for a day or two. She may have just been thinking about going broody, but not ready to commit to it fully, especially if she's a young pullet. In that case she will likely not accept the chicks. Did she stop laying when she started sleeping in the nest at night? That is when I consider them broody. Hope it works out for you.

 

[ThiefPouter06]

I did find an extra egg today. So its possible she just hasnt "committed" to broody yet?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Yes if she's still laying then she's not broody yet - but she's probably close. You can mark the eggs with a marker to keep track of which ones are new. She's probably getting ready if she's hanging out in the nest box all day and at night. My Topsy and Smokey both laid for about 4 days after starting to hang out in the nest box during the day & night. Then they stopped laying and stayed on the nest. Smokey already had her brood and they're 8 weeks old now. Today Topsy is still sitting - she started 5 days ago.