Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Ridgerunner]

Another pondering...I have a hen that I'm pretty sure is trying to go broody, she was on the nest almost all day yesterday and looks like she was there all night.  I'm not interested in hatching any eggs right now, but I was just wondering if I did want to and I bought eggs for her to hatch, how do I know for sure that she is officially broody and will set the eggs all the way through and not get bored after a week and leave them.  Or is it just one of those things you have to learn about a hen through trial and error? 
Also, I mentioned this before, but I'm still kinda curious...is it possible that hearing the chicks peeping across the barn triggered some mothering instinct in her, or is it just coincidence that she's acting broody a few days after bringing home chicks?

You are dealing with living animals. You never know anything for absolute sure.

A lot of broodies you can tell immediately they are broody. Some fake it. I make it a rule to wait until they spend two consecutive nights on the nest before I give them eggs, even the ones I'm sure of. It usually takes me that long to get the eggs I want anyway.

A broody can quit at any time, but I've never had one come off the nest without hatching the eggs if she first spends two consecutive nights in the nest instead of roosting in her normal place.

 

[smyers32]

Thanks Ridgerunner, I know there's no guarantees with animals. I just wondered if there was a certain something you look for before you give a hen eggs to sit on. Thanks for the info!!

 

[delisha]

I have had hens set for a week and get off. I have had hens who set a nest, hatch them out, and go set another nest with eggs the same day. Same with ducks. I have even had them co-set a nest. Community nesting in ducks is more common.

 

[Beekissed]

I make mine sit on that nest for a week before I let her have a clutch. During that time, I put her off the nest each time I see her, just to test her resolve for sitting. If after a week of that treatment and she still wants to sit, I'll give her a clutch of newly laid eggs.

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

This horse manure info is really interesting to me and may explain the quality of my chicken's feathering... Prior to having chickens, we've had horse for a few years. Still have two. My chickens free range from sun up to sundown, and while I don't use horse manure in their coop at all (wouldn't do me much good anyways since all they use it for is to roost), those birds high tail it to my run-in stalls and scratch all through the new manure. Next, they move to the pastures. They basically follow the horses around from pasture to pasture. If I clean stalls and add to my former manure compost pile, the chickens spend their day there. There's not much of a manure compost pile anymore since they scratch all through it and kick it all over the place.

Anyways, anyone who visits our farm always comments on the beauty of my chickens. Shiny, full feathering on every one. I don't know much about showing chickens, and mine are just hatchery birds anyway, but they are beauties if I do say so myself . There's a good reason to keep two fat horses around after all!

 

[Leahs Mom]

I make mine sit on that nest for a week before I let her have a clutch. During that time, I put her off the nest each time I see her, just to test her resolve for sitting. If after a week of that treatment and she still wants to sit, I'll give her a clutch of newly laid eggs.

That's good advice. Do you also move her to a nest away from your main nest area or just leave her to set in the normal boxes?

 

[normanack]

I make mine sit on that nest for a week before I let her have a clutch. During that time, I put her off the nest each time I see her, just to test her resolve for sitting. If after a week of that treatment and she still wants to sit, I'll give her a clutch of newly laid eggs.

One of mine just did that -- broody for a week, even with me chucking her off the nest, so I let her sit on the two eggs she stole the seventh day. She's been sitting on them now for a week, getting off only briefly.

Question 1: is it normal for a hen to look, well, dead while she's brooding? Most of the time she has her head plopped down in the bedding in front of her.

Question 2: when a hen is bound and determined to brood, is it okay in general just to let her, even if it's inconvenient for the owner? Is an alternative like letting her sit on fake eggs, or no eggs, acceptable to the hen?

Thanks for your thoughts.



p.s. I thought I left my footwipe in the nest box, but it turned out to be a Silky. ;-)

 

[Beekissed]

That's good advice. Do you also move her to a nest away from your main nest area or just leave her to set in the normal boxes?

I do...I normally have a broody pen where she can still hear and see her flock mates but has a quiet area all to herself. Makes for a problem free brood and hatch.

One of mine just did that -- broody for a week, even with me chucking her off the nest, so I let her sit on the two eggs she stole the seventh day. She's been sitting on them now for a week, getting off only briefly.

Question 1: is it normal for a hen to look, well, dead while she's brooding? Most of the time she has her head plopped down in the bedding in front of her.

Question 2: when a hen is bound and determined to brood, is it okay in general just to let her, even if it's inconvenient for the owner? Is an alternative like letting her sit on fake eggs, or no eggs, acceptable to the hen?

Thanks for your thoughts.



p.s. I thought I left my footwipe in the nest box, but it turned out to be a Silky. ;-)

1. Well...never had one look quite like that but they do look sort of flat and still. Actually...I'm not real sure what end we are seeing here.

2. You can try to break them of the broodiness if you don't want her to sit. Giving her fake eggs will just cause her to stay broody longer. Some folks separate them into a pen without nesting materials and such until she cools off a little. I have dunked mine in water with good effect...worked on all of them but one persistent EE that finally bought a ticket to ride the Culltrain.

 

[galanie]

I've only had chickens for 3 years but trust me, that includes two years of trying to break Orpingtons of being broody. In the last two Springs, Iv'e had no less than 2 and sometimes 3 go broody at once. The best luck I've had is with them on a wire bottomed cage so air can move under their tushes. It breaks all but one in 3 days or less. The one, won't be broken I don't care what I do. I've tried every suggestion I've read here, and there are plenty. With that one exception, the wire bottomed cage up off the floor worked.

Most go broody twice a year and a couple will go broody three times a year. The broody cage works every time. Except with Sugar.

 

[Beekissed]

I love having broodies and I'll take them any time of the year I can get them but only if they are known to be good, proven broodies. Sometimes I had a few that weren't good mothers that would go broody and I'd have to break those...no point in letting them try once they've proven they won't sit well.