Broody pullet: day 2

Is the weather okay to hatch chicks in Autumn in Florida? And do you have a good coop with windows to let the sun in?
If not , I wouldnā€™t let my hen stay on the nest and break her broodiness.

But if you have a great setup and good weather in winter I suppose itā€™s okay. šŸ€
 
Is the weather okay to hatch chicks in Autumn in Florida? And do you have a good coop with windows to let the sun in?
If not , I wouldnā€™t let my hen stay on the nest and break her broodiness.

But if you have a great setup and good weather in winter I suppose itā€™s okay. šŸ€
Yes, it's very hot here! Its 86Ā°F outside and even warmer in the coop.
 
Pencil will rub off. Use sharpie and mark where quickly identified. Other chickens will lay in with her.
My broody will peck, but never draws blood. Long sleeves are handy.
Donā€™t be convinced by her pleading eyes to move food and water closer to her. Itā€™s important she gets off eggs once a day to poo. Itā€™ll be enormous and smelly. If that enormous and smelly pop lets loose in the nest, that will raise a whole different set of issues. If she is forced off to eat and drink, she will place this land mine right in the path of your left shoe. After strategic placement, she will eat, drink and have a good dust bath. Takes 20 minutes to 1.5 hours. Try to keep the nests empty of eggs. Mine will come back to an occupied nest and find the nearest available egg to set on.
Decide now if you are going to separate her from the flock, or let her coexist throughout setting/hatching/raising the eggs. My preference is leaving them all together. So far I have had nothing but awesome experiences this way.
Ground level nest is good. She will bring fresh hatched chicks back to this nest (if itā€™s clean) each night after terrorizing the world. Look closely and imagine a 2ā€ tall chicken going for a drink, food, dust bath then bed. A 6ā€ vertical ledge becomes a big obstacle. Give them a way around it. Ramps??? Itā€™ll take them some time. I stack pieces of firewood so they can parkour their way back to momma

Take a close look at your space requirements. If they are free range, you wonā€™t have many issues that broody mamma cannot handle. If they are penned into a run, you will need about 5-6ā€™ in all directions from wherever the broody decides to be at the moment. They are seriously a territory sucking vacuum of terror in a run. Seriously though, Iā€™d guess broody and chicks will need 25 or so sqft to themselves. Plus 10 sqft per additional flock member MINIMUM.

Other than that, set back and enjoy them. I have my broody tamed finally. She brings the mob to me for treats. If I have to handle them, they are shy for a few days after. I wouldnā€™t grab them to handle them at all if I could help it. Three weeks into my last batch I can cradle them on the keel bone withlegs sticking between fingers and set them on my arm or hand. They hang out, get a few scratches, then jump down to terrorize the dog some more. So far, I think they will be easily handled as adults.
Her last batch, pre taming momma, still doesnā€™t let me within 20 feet. They are 17 weeks old.
 
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And once you see where momma takes the youngsters, you will never coddle a brooder of chicks. 55-60 degrees with showers.... momma is the umbrella and chicks terrorize the world until they get wet and cold. Then dive under momma so they can do it all again in ten minutes.
 
My experience isnā€™t up to par for an article.

Maybe next time she goes broody I just document my follies.
 

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