Broody question?

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albird101

albird101

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Okay I have a Broodie game hen, she's the broodiest of all my hens literally, she broods around 3-4 times a year and she hatches around12-15 chicks all the time, she lays huge clutches of eggs around 16 or so and hatches almost all of them. I started off with 4 hens and 1rooster And in a year and half It icreased to about 40 chickens? Thanks to her and another hen, I had to sell the rooster over and over again so he Wouldent mate with his own daughters... I'm thinking of buying her some chicks I stead of putting a new line of fertile eggs under her since she's already been broody for 2 weeks and she looks horrible, the problem is the feed store got day old chicks whensday and I Dident find out till today when I checked craigslist. They were closed today so even if I tried I couldent get them but they will be open tomarrow!! Will the hen still accept 6 day old chicks?
 
Really she needs a vacation - do you know to break a broody? She must be absolutely exhausted after going broody so often and raising large broods. Honestly, she needs to sit this one out and recuperate. You said she looks horrible - Broodies can & do die because their hormones tell them to keep doing it and bodies cannot keep up.

If you put "breaking a broody" in the search box, it should bring up a lot of posts on the subject.
 
drumstick diva said:
Really she needs a vacation - do you know to break a broody? She must be absolutely exhausted  after going broody so often and raising  large broods.  Honestly, she needs to sit this one out and recuperate.  You said she looks horrible -  Broodies can & do die because their hormones tell them to keep doing it and bodies cannot keep up.

If you put "breaking a broody" in the search box, it should bring up a lot of posts on the subject.
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I put her in a cage with ventilation on the bottom and all sides the first week she went broody, I had her in there for 4 days and she wouldent break outta it, then I read you can give them a bath and it should break them from being broody, I did that and she Dident go to te nest box the whole day, the next morning I found her back in the box no bedding no anything. I took the nest box out and she sat on the corner with a attitude and she eventually just decided continue laying in the corner, I locked her out of the coop and at night put her back up the roost, in the morning found her again in the corner all puffed up with horrible attitude so I decided just to give her nest box back me buy her 1-2 chicks.. She dosent look that horrible, I might have exaggerated that a bit, she's a pretty healthy weight since I take her out and give her food, it's her feather quality that looks horrible and raggaty I checked for lice she dosent have any, I think it's that she's not eating proper that's makeing her look like this
 
If you need to brake her why not switch out her egg's with fake egg's .....

All you can do is try I have found the hens that are broody all the time just injoy having chicks around all the time and sounds like she just might except the chicks ........
 
gander007 said:
If you need to brake her why not switch out her egg's with fake egg's ..... 

All you can do is try I have found the hens that are broody all the time just injoy having chicks around all the time and sounds like she just might except the chicks ........ 
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he doesn't have any eggs under her, and thanks I'm going to try it tomarrow!
 
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Welcome to BYC!

All you can do is give it a try. Watch her closely however and be prepared to brood them yourself it she doesn't except them.
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with them. Since she is a really experienced broody you have a good chance she will. Just be sure to put them in at night and do it as quietly as you can. If she is taking care of chicks she should not lose condition as long as you have plenty of food and water available for them. A lot of broodys will molt afterwards, since she has been broody so long off and on she may just be in the middle of a molt cycle.
 

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