Broody

[Nomibear]

Okay, thanks! Though, all my stupid chickens sleep in a nest box or the floor, but not the roost. Stupid chickens.

Thank you for starting this thread! My girls are 15 weeks, and also choose to Roost or sleep in the nest boxes instead of the Roosts. Although, even before I built the nesting boxes, they would sleep in a huddle instead of roosting.
HEChicken, thanks for explaining why though. My roosts are short. I am planning on building a new, larger coop in the next few months. Do you recommend not stacking the nesting boxes? So they stay shorter then the roosting bars?

 

[fowl farm]

So I think I might have a broody hen! The other one was a false alarm, but this morning one hen came out, got a drink, ate a little, and went back in. She laid an egg, but is still in the box and was kind of picking at the straw. This might be a false alarm (again), but if it isn't, would moving her to a separate enclosure be bad? I know with wild birds you aren't supposed to touch their eggs, and she already has 3 in there (from this morning). How would I go about it safely? I know you said hatching might not work if they are big birds and small eggs, but they smaller birds, and their eggs seem pretty good sized (they are Red-Sex links). And my sister did it when she had chickens with success, so I want to try. Also, I want to give her guinea and duck eggs, in addition to chicken eggs(oddest looking brood ever!). That should be fine, right? And they go brood for approx. 21 days, right? Thank you so much!

 

[HEChicken]

If you mix and match eggs, you need to be careful about when you set them.

Chicken eggs (LF) - 21 days
Chicken eggs (bantam) - 19 days
Guinea eggs - 28 days
Duck eggs - 28 days for most breeds but
Muscovy duck eggs - 35 days

If you set combinations of those types of eggs on the same day, when the first of them hatch, Mama will abandon the nest to take care of her little ones, leaving you with partially developed eggs to deal with. So, if you want her to hatch guineas and ducks, you need to set them first, then add the chicken eggs a week (or two for Muscovy) later.

I would wait a day or two before deciding this hen his broody, and check at night too, to make sure she is serious about it (i.e., sleeping in the nest). One morning sitting in the nest wouldn't be enough to convince me.....

 

[fowl farm]

Yeah, I was wrong. I guess I'm overreacting because I want a broody bad! baby chicks would be so much fun!

 

[HEChicken]

The surest way to get a broody is to build yourself an incubator and set some eggs (j/k). What breeds do you have?

 

[fowl farm]

Red-Sex Link

 

[HEChicken]

Ahhhh....I see. Unfortunately those are unlikely to brood. You see, they were bred as a production egg layer, so because commercial egg farmers don't want broody hens, they did their best to breed broodiness out of them. Its not that they absolutely will not brood, but it is rare. (That said, my first broody was a black sex-link - the last of my hens I expected to go broody. She was a wonderful broody and mother, too). If you want broody hens, silkies and cochins are your best bet.

 

[heybarb]

I have 3 girls - all Old English Game Bird & Silkie mixes that have gone broody...I had hoped at least one would be broody. Never guessed that all 3 would be sitting on nests at the same time!

 

[fowl farm]

Hmmm.. at the feed store we got them from, one of the owners had them and I think he said they were good broodies/mothers, or at least his were. This is disappointing.

 

[HEChicken]

Have you looked at the breeds database here on the forum? (Go to the top of the page and click on the tab titled "Breeds") It is a fairly comprehensive list of the breeds currently available in the US and what characteristics to expect from them. I.e. egg color/size, broodiness, etc. I just looked to see how Red Sex-Links are listed and you will find them under the name "Star". There is also a way in the database to search through the breeds for the characteristics you are interested in, so for example, you could ask it to show you all of the breeds that will lay a brown egg. You may find it helpful to narrow it down and find some breeds that will be more likely to brood.