Broody or egg bound??

[ChickenCanoe]

If she's not broody by the time the eggs arrive just eat them.
How old is the rooster? They don't have to be her eggs. Once they're laid any hen that hatches them is now the mother. If he's been friendly with any of the hens they MIGHT be fertile. Sometimes roosters take a while before fully fertile.

 

[Tracydr]

You don't have to give her eggs. Just take her off the nest and dunk her in water or put her somewhere else everyday when you see her and she'll eventually stop being broody.
That is, if you don't want more chicks right now. Raising chicks in dead of winter might be a hassle.

 

[presley]

I haven't seen my rooster "friendly" with any of the hens! He's about 5 months old. But if I do get eggs, and if I do have chicks, what would I do next? It does get cold at night in southern Alabama, I mean does the mama hen take care of everything, or do I fix separate quarters? Would I need to provide a heat source?

 

[elmo]

Quote:
Great description! I can tell now just by looking whether one of our hens has gone broody, just by the way she's sitting in the nestbox. A broody sort of flattens herself out in a way that a laying hen doesn't.

We have a very determined little hen, Billina, broody right now, even though she has no eggs to sit on.

 

[presley]

And to make matters worse, not so sure one of my other hens is not doing the same thing!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Sometimes mine go broody in pairs. Normally you can leave everything up to them except that I recommend marking and dating the eggs that go under her/them so you can pull all the volunteers because you want all the eggs to start incubating within a day or so of each other.
If you have acceptable quarters elsewhere you could separate her and the eggs.
Sometimes a first timer makes a mistake or two, especially if two are broody and start stealing each others eggs.

No extra heat is needed. That's how domestic chickens have survived for 6000 years before Thomas Edison.

No offense but southern Alabama never gets what most of us call cold.

 

[Happy Chooks]

No heat needed - as long as she doesn't have too many chicks, she can keep them all warm. Mark the eggs (not with pencil - it will rub off) when you set them under her. Other hens will sneak their eggs in then you'll have a mess of hatch dates.

 

[presley]

ok thank you all so much, as of this morning she is still sitting tight on that nest!! I am assuming she is getting out at some point and drinking and eating?? and pooping?? Also, yesterday there was another hens egg under her, so I am going to start looking today and see if can order some hatching eggs asap, at least a few and see what happens!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes, she will sneak her food/water when nobody is around. And you'll know (via the horrid smell) when she poops. It will be large and the most horrible smell you've ever encountered.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Wow no kidding! Broody poo is the biggest, smelliest thing ever. Imagine a tennis ball sized gift of joy. The joy of getting off the nest after 24 hours,that is.