California - Northern

[WildflowerJLH]

Know that there is a good chance of breaking her broodie if you move her. As Deb said, do it at night and somewhere you can lock her in for a few days so she won't try to go back to the place she chose. I moved my broodie over a foot because a rotten egg exploded and made a mess. I mixed clean shaving in with her original nest that wasn't too soiled and moved the eggs. What was pipped and peeping loudly. I came back a few hours later and she was back where she started and only took a few eggs with her...the pipping one was not one of the chosen and it got cold and died. Picky little things! Remember, people move broodie's to break their broodiness.
#2 I was surprised to hear she'd plucked her belly clean already. Mine plucked herself right before "lockdown", I felt to increase humidity.

I had not considered a "lockdown" for a broody hen. When would you do this?

 

[debs_flock]

Quote: I believe she just meant when the hen was near hatch, that's why she put lockdown in quotes. You really don't do anything, it's up to hen.

Deb

 

[WildflowerJLH]

I believe she just meant when the hen was near hatch, that's why she put lockdown in quotes. You really don't do anything, it's up to hen.

Deb

OK, that makes sense. I am not planning to do much besides make sure she has a safe place to keep those babies, assuming she sticks it out!

I have had other broodies before, but none have worked out. One abandoned the nest at 18 days. I had one that I could not break, so I brought chicks home about the time her "eggs" should have hatched. She rejected them. At least that time, I was prepared to just brood the chicks myself.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Amy Beth - you can leave her where she is until she hatches the babies, then move her and the babies at night. I've never had an issue doing it this way. If you move her now, you could break her broodiness. My Icelandic broody incubated her eggs 8 feet up on a shelf by the rafters in the shavings bag. I let her hatch them there, then the day they hatched, I moved her and the chicks to the broody area in my coop.

Don't give her the duck eggs, they take 28 days to hatch and chickens 21 days. So if you want to hatch both, you have to set the duck eggs a week before you set the chicken eggs.

As long as you didn't mark with pencil, you'll be fine. Pencil rubs off easily. Check for unmarked eggs daily.

A plucked belly is perfectly normal. My olive egger broody plucks her belly before she goes broody. It allows skin to egg contact to control temperature and humidity.

Leave her alone 3 days prior to her hatching, other than checking for eggs that shouldn't be there.

 

[waititout]

Omg, this weather is amazing today! Enjoying some time with our "chickies".

 

[zooweemama]

Amy Beth - you can leave her where she is until she hatches the babies, then move her and the babies at night. I've never had an issue doing it this way. If you move her now, you could break her broodiness. My Icelandic broody incubated her eggs 8 feet up on a shelf by the rafters in the shavings bag. I let her hatch them there, then the day they hatched, I moved her and the chicks to the broody area in my coop.

Don't give her the duck eggs, they take 28 days to hatch and chickens 21 days. So if you want to hatch both, you have to set the duck eggs a week before you set the chicken eggs.

As long as you didn't mark with pencil, you'll be fine. Pencil rubs off easily. Check for unmarked eggs daily.

A plucked belly is perfectly normal. My olive egger broody plucks her belly before she goes broody. It allows skin to egg contact to control temperature and humidity.

Leave her alone 3 days prior to her hatching, other than checking for eggs that shouldn't be there.

Ok. I'm leaving her. I don't want to break her broody mood. If anyone else goes broody though- I will totally break them. lol One at a time ladies. haha

How long (i know it will be approx) after hatching does a hen often wait before laying again?

 

[debs_flock]

How long (i know it will be approx) after hatching does a hen often wait before laying again?

She won't start laying again until she has raised the chicks, a couple of months anyway.

Deb

 

[JerseyGiantfolk]

Welcome to the thread.

He looks like some kind of PhoenixX.

Hi, I am up the Redding area and would love to find a good home for our bantam rooster. I don't know what breed he is because someone basically threw him over the fence one night. Guess they saw our big red barn and decided this would be a good place for the roosters they didn't want.

We have had him about a year, I guess, but it creates problems with our chickens having two roosters (actually we are down from four earlier in the year). That is because our big old EE rooster will beat this one up if I let them out together.

I have him listed on CL but I really just want him to go to a good home with hens to guard, and not for food or fighting! He is too pretty for that! Anyone want a free rooster?

.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Know that there is a good chance of breaking her broodie if you move her. As Deb said, do it at night and somewhere you can lock her in for a few days so she won't try to go back to the place she chose. I moved my broodie over a foot because a rotten egg exploded and made a mess. I mixed clean shaving in with her original nest that wasn't too soiled and moved the eggs. What was pipped and peeping loudly. I came back a few hours later and she was back where she started and only took a few eggs with her...the pipping one was not one of the chosen and it got cold and died. Picky little things! Remember, people move broodie's to break their broodiness.
#2 I was surprised to hear she'd plucked her belly clean already. Mine plucked herself right before "lockdown", I felt to increase humidity.

I know my mothers broodies would quit when we moved them - they would get upset if you touched them, caught them or tried to move them. They would eat you if you tried to take or check their eggs (OEG) If you changed locations they would go ballistic and eat the eggs and fly around the box/cage screaming.

That's why I bought my mixed up bunch - to find broodies that I could move - and that didn't get upset and quit. I have moved both of my broody girls - one when she had one baby out because I didn't want the other hens to bother her (Phoenix) and the other when I was sure she was going broody (Silkie). I have a small cage that I used for the feed store chicks - it has a light and plexiglass surrounding one side with a curtain to the other side, which is open cage. Its about 12" x 12" x 24".. I think it was probably used for rabbits. That's what I put the girls in to hatch their eggs. Both of them stayed broody for me - and I did move them at night to lessen any chance of them getting upset. However - both of them I picked up numerous times when they were showing they were broody - one (Phoenix) I picked up every night to take out the new eggs because she was with the other chickens.

Mine plucked herself clean underneath early on (Silkie) - it was sorta icky to pick her up an hold her under her skin while checking eggs. I think the phoenix didn't quite as early.

 

[lawatt]

goodness, lots of excitement re: new broody chicken! lots to learn, in case mine do the same some day!

in the meantime, i have a quick question for anyone who might be around: my chicklets that have started laying, a couple of weeks ago, they are all looking/acting very healthy and happy but all of their combs/wattles have gotten paler than they were before they started laying -- they've gone from bright red to just pink. should i be concerned, or is this normal?

(they eat their usual Bar-Ale all-natural noy-soy (which contains oyster shell) feed, plus kale & yogurt on random days, and whenever i get home early enough, a few hours or free-ranging...)

thanks!