BYC Café

[ronott1]

I gotta say, this being a broody hen is a hell of a lot of work and dedication.
Sitting there staring at the same 4 walls for three weeks straight, eating a pittance, crapping once a day, barely grooming, then having to do all this thermoregulation at the jumping off point. Then let's talk about the crazy "get the hell away from my BABIES!!!!" routine. No wonder Barb started molting in August while she was raising her brood.

They also rip there feathers out too!

Going broody is very hard on them, especially when they do not have eggs to hatch. They will sometimes sit on nothing until they die

 

[DobieLover]

One other thing you need to watch for is any chicks that make their way to the front of the hen. The hen will peck at them because she knows they shouldn't be there. You just need to tuck the chicks back under her bum and she'll leave them alone.

Thanks for telling me this. She did give that little chick under her wing a peck and pushed it back. Now I know why.
She seems to be doing a great job so far!

 

[Perris]

They tend to better in contact with soil.

the old poultry handbooks I've been reading all recommend ground nesting and contact with soil for broodies, explicitly for humidity reasons rather than temperature, but it's interesting that your experience concurs with their recommendations!

 

[Shadrach]

I gotta say, this being a broody hen is a hell of a lot of work and dedication.
Sitting there staring at the same 4 walls for three weeks straight, eating a pittance, crapping once a day, barely grooming, then having to do all this thermoregulation at the jumping off point. Then let's talk about the crazy "get the hell away from my BABIES!!!!" routine. No wonder Barb started molting in August while she was raising her brood.

That's why hens trance when they are sitting on a clutch. And, this is why they need to get off the nest at least once a day. Some hens are not very good at breaking the trance. I just want to bang my head on the wall when I read advice given to feed the hen at the nest.

 

[Shadrach]

the old poultry handbooks I've been reading all recommend ground nesting and contact with soil for broodies, explicitly for humidity reasons rather than temperature, but it's interesting that your experience concurs with their recommendations!

It's also a lot easier to control the position of the eggs. All the game fowl enthusiasts here ground nest their birds.

 

[DobieLover]

That's why hens trance when they are sitting on a clutch. And, this is why they need to get off the nest at least once a day. Some hens are not very good at breaking the trance. I just want to bang my head on the wall when I read advice given to feed the hen at the nest.

She would have been one not to leave. I removed her each morning right up until this morning. If someone didn't come along and give her a pop to snap her out of it, I'd toss a handful of seed mix and that sight along with all the flock tearing after it did the trick.

 

[drumstick diva]

Dobie Lover, your description of a broody hen staring at the same 4 walls etc. Just like us sheltering in place.

 

[DobieLover]

I saw her picking up and dropping something dark on the camera and heard a lot of peeping and panicked and ran out to the coop. It was just one of her feathers.
She has a dry dark chick under the left wing and a wet dark chick under her chest and a brown pipped egg next to the wet chick. That's all I can see by lifting wings.

 

[Shadrach]

Good for you. You've learn't an awful lot about chickens in a short period. Not leaving the nest is something I have to worry about with the outside sitters. For a start I can't find them often unless they come to feed and drink. It's usually the noise they make when they bump into other chickens that alerts me that they've emerged. Then of course I have to hang around while the have a bath and chat to their mates before deciding that perhaps they ouught to be heading back to the eggs. I swear some know I'm trying to follow them.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Hey Cafe look at all I missed .. I am selling the hatch from the the other day 8 or 9
So now today I get to plug more in so 9 more going in mostly for me