Broody sex link tips please.

[NikolasGuy1234]

I have had a red sex link (isa brown i think) go broody and she has been on the eggs for a few days but she should have her chicks around the 25th and im pretty excited. When they are born, should i just let the mom take care of them in the coop or separate the hen and chicks from the other chickens? The reason i ask is because i cant move her and her eggs as of now, as her box is not removable. Also, will she be a good mother? seeing as she is a breed that typically does not sit im just curious.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

One of m y local chicken friends had his sex link hatch out and raise a wonderful batch of chicks. She *can* totally do it and be a good mum... regardless of what stats say.

All situations will be unique though of course.

I don't move my broody's. They raise their chicks among the flock. Sometimes I have to be vigilant against bully teenage pullets or cockerels. But my mature flock has never been an issue for chicks WITH a broody... especially NOT the rooster as many fear. He will usually call the chicks to treats and protect them, they may after all be his offspring! I DO block the chicks into the box for the first couple days just to make sure nobody falls out and chills to death.

Some people will suggest move them... they *may* be right. It's a personal choice.

Did you happen to mark you eggs and make sure she didn't have other ladies depositing fresh eggs that would cause a staggered hatch? They can be sneaky sometimes!

Good luck and happy hatching!

 

[NikolasGuy1234]

One of m y local chicken friends had his sex link hatch out and raise a wonderful batch of chicks. She *can* totally do it and be a good mum... regardless of what stats say.

All situations will be unique though of course.

I don't move my broody's. They raise their chicks among the flock. Sometimes I have to be vigilant against bully teenage pullets or cockerels. But my mature flock has never been an issue for chicks WITH a broody... especially NOT the rooster as many fear. He will usually call the chicks to treats and protect them, they may after all be his offspring! I DO block the chicks into the box for the first couple days just to make sure nobody falls out and chills to death.

Some people will suggest move them... they *may* be right. It's a personal choice.

Did you happen to mark you eggs and make sure she didn't have other ladies depositing fresh eggs that would cause a staggered hatch? They can be sneaky sometimes!

Good luck and happy hatching!

i did mark them, yes. and my thought was that maybe i could get some netting and take out the wall of the box beside her to combine them into one, then block it with the netting and put her food and water in it so the other hens cant bother her. would that be a bad idea?

 

[lazy gardener]

i did mark them, yes. and my thought was that maybe i could get some netting and take out the wall of the box beside her to combine them into one, then block it with the netting and put her food and water in it so the other hens cant bother her. would that be a bad idea?

That would be a wonderful idea. Just be sure that what ever you use to block off that broody area is not likely to be a tangling hazard for the chicks. I have lower tier nest boxes that could easily be turned into a wonderful broody nest/pen, and could even open the outside access door to allow the broody into her own little private run area. There are 3 options to do so within my coop. Hoping I'll have to do so this summer. Based on your coop design, you might even be able to create that broody area with some strategically placed hay bales.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

i did mark them, yes. and my thought was that maybe i could get some netting and take out the wall of the box beside her to combine them into one, then block it with the netting and put her food and water in it so the other hens cant bother her. would that be a bad idea?

It's a fine idea if you can give up the other nest space.

I don't leave my food and water past sundown... rats are chick predators and I try not to attract them EXTRA. They are here. And they have been known on this forum to have eaten hens alive!

I personally unblock the nest when she is ready to take them off. She usually works her way towards my pop door that has about a 6 inch lip on both sides, slightly more than some of the boxes height. Sometimes it takes the ladies a few days to get all the kids out the door here and make it into the covered run and usually pasture the following day, depending on weather. Ones hen wrangled 9 chicks and never left one behind. While others may struggle with 4. 1 is the worst to me though. It's pretty amazing to see them pulling feed out of the feeder they can't reach and dropping for the babes! Other flock mates will take advantage and try to push her off treats she finds and calls the babies to. It really frustrates me. But as long as it's just standard flock dynamics then everything is fine they are learning pecking order and how to avoid the higher ups... though I wish they would give hard working mom a break.

This year I have suffered heavy predation for the first time in 8 years of chickens, on my broody babies. After losing 3 babes on separate occasions from 2 separate broody's to a hawk, I confiscated the rest and put them under cover. They were adopted and supposed to be next years breeding stock. Funds invest including how much they had grown so far was about an $8 a day snack for a raptor in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with plenty of other natural food resources available. I couldn't afford to take any larger hit. Even my own eggs don't hatch for free. And as a lover of wildlife, I like to try and let them stay wild... which does NOT include opening a buffet at my place for ANY species other than the ones I raise. I won't eradicate rodents since I don't use poison. I collect my feed, try to be waste free with feed (almost impossible with chicks), and I trap/dispatch what I can.

Can't wait to see her bring her chicks out! Have you candled at all? How many are waiting on? Guess it get's me excited.

 

[NikolasGuy1234]

It's a fine idea if you can give up the other nest space.

I don't leave my food and water past sundown... rats are chick predators and I try not to attract them EXTRA. They are here. And they have been known on this forum to have eaten hens alive!

I personally unblock the nest when she is ready to take them off. She usually works her way towards my pop door that has about a 6 inch lip on both sides, slightly more than some of the boxes height. Sometimes it takes the ladies a few days to get all the kids out the door here and make it into the covered run and usually pasture the following day, depending on weather. Ones hen wrangled 9 chicks and never left one behind. While others may struggle with 4. 1 is the worst to me though. It's pretty amazing to see them pulling feed out of the feeder they can't reach and dropping for the babes! Other flock mates will take advantage and try to push her off treats she finds and calls the babies to. It really frustrates me. But as long as it's just standard flock dynamics then everything is fine they are learning pecking order and how to avoid the higher ups... though I wish they would give hard working mom a break.

This year I have suffered heavy predation for the first time in 8 years of chickens, on my broody babies. After losing 3 babes on separate occasions from 2 separate broody's to a hawk, I confiscated the rest and put them under cover. They were adopted and supposed to be next years breeding stock. Funds invest including how much they had grown so far was about an $8 a day snack for a raptor in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with plenty of other natural food resources available. I couldn't afford to take any larger hit. Even my own eggs don't hatch for free. And as a lover of wildlife, I like to try and let them stay wild... which does NOT include opening a buffet at my place for ANY species other than the ones I raise. I won't eradicate rodents since I don't use poison. I collect my feed, try to be waste free with feed (almost impossible with chicks), and I trap/dispatch what I can.

Can't wait to see her bring her chicks out! Have you candled at all? How many are waiting on? Guess it get's me excited.

I have not candled yet seeing as i dont figure anything has formed yet. And to be honest. I dont wanna hurt them

 

[NikolasGuy1234]

That would be a wonderful idea. Just be sure that what ever you use to block off that broody area is not likely to be a tangling hazard for the chicks. I have lower tier nest boxes that could easily be turned into a wonderful broody nest/pen, and could even open the outside access door to allow the broody into her own little private run area. There are 3 options to do so within my coop. Hoping I'll have to do so this summer. Based on your coop design, you might even be able to create that broody area with some strategically placed hay bales.

Ok so i got to doing it and it turned out pretty nice!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ok so i got to doing it and it turned out pretty nice!

Looks great.

If that's scratch (or corn cracked or whole) in that bowl... ditch it she needs NUTRIENTS not empty carbs. Formulated ration is BEST. Either un medicated starter, flock raiser, or grower type. That sort of snack should only be fed at 10% or LESS of the total daily ration. If it happens to just be a fancy feed that is formulated... consider switching because it's too easy for the birds to pick out the tastier stuff and get unbalanced in the long run. And please be sure to collect it every night to avoid possible rodents.

 

[Morrigan]

Ok so i got to doing it and it turned out pretty nice!

This looks a lot like the set up I used for my first broody. It does the job, but you are most likely going to need to manually take her off the nest once a day so she can go to the bathroom.

In my case, I learned that if you put food and water right in front of a broody hen, they may not leave the nest at all, and will foul their own nests. This is especially true if the confinement area is too small to really allow them to wander away to do their business.

In my case, after one fouled nest, I lifted her out each morning. She would run around and do her chicken thing for 15 to 30 minutes and then come clucking back to the nest area. I would then lift her back in.

I kind of got tired of all that. Next time, I let the broody stay in her preferred box and she hatched and raised her chicks inside the main coop. I had no issue with other hens bothering the chicks, although I do usually set up some baffles or screens at hatching to keep curious chicks from running into other boxes while mom is finishing the hatch. Just something like this.