Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

How do I go about giving her eggs when she never leaves the nest? Do I just put them near her and hope she accepts them?

@lizzyGSR , just put them in front of her breast. She'll pull them under herself.

This is how I do it as well.

I just went out to collect eggs, and my broody was sitting in a different nest. Hmm. Is that bad news for her broody-ness?

Hens are not that smart and it is not at all uncommon for them to switch nests during the time they are brooding. What happens is they get up to take a broody break and another hen takes the opportunity to hop in that nest and lay her egg. When the broody hen returns, that nest is occupied so she just goes and sits in another one.

For this reason....if you are going to let her brood in her chosen location, I'd recommend marking her eggs. You will need to lift her up daily and remove any eggs that have been added to the nest - otherwise you will end up with a staggered hatch - eggs at different stages of incubation. However the later ones will not survive as once the first chicks hatch, she'll stop being broody and leave the nest to care for her chicks, leaving those later eggs to die of cold and neglect.

So - to prevent that, remove the eggs that are added daily and that way only the three you gave her will get incubated.

Another option is to try to move her to a place of your choosing, where you can segregate her. That way you can give her her own feeder and waterer and won't need to worry about other hens getting in and laying their eggs. The problem with this is, many hens are so set on the spot they chose that they won't settle in the place you choose for them.

 

[lizzyGSR]

This is how I do it as well.

Hens are not that smart and it is not at all uncommon for them to switch nests during the time they are brooding. What happens is they get up to take a broody break and another hen takes the opportunity to hop in that nest and lay her egg. When the broody hen returns, that nest is occupied so she just goes and sits in another one.

For this reason....if you are going to let her brood in her chosen location, I'd recommend marking her eggs. You will need to lift her up daily and remove any eggs that have been added to the nest - otherwise you will end up with a staggered hatch - eggs at different stages of incubation. However the later ones will not survive as once the first chicks hatch, she'll stop being broody and leave the nest to care for her chicks, leaving those later eggs to die of cold and neglect.

So - to prevent that, remove the eggs that are added daily and that way only the three you gave her will get incubated.

Another option is to try to move her to a place of your choosing, where you can segregate her. That way you can give her her own feeder and waterer and won't need to worry about other hens getting in and laying their eggs. The problem with this is, many hens are so set on the spot they chose that they won't settle in the place you choose for them.

Lift her up? That sounds like a good way to get attacked. Broody hens don't mind you messing with them? I've got several girls who will "growl" at me just for getting close to them (and they aren't even broody). Also, do you just use a permanent marker to mark the eggs?

My nest boxes are just 5 gallon buckets with a half-lid on them. Should I just pick the nest up with her in it and try to move it?

 

[HEChicken]

Lift her up? That sounds like a good way to get attacked. Broody hens don't mind you messing with them? I've got several girls who will "growl" at me just for getting close to them (and they aren't even broody). Also, do you just use a permanent marker to mark the eggs?

My nest boxes are just 5 gallon buckets with a half-lid on them. Should I just pick the nest up with her in it and try to move it?

Oh yes, if a hen goes broody in the nest box, I lift her every day and remove eggs. Yes, they will growl and some will even peck at you, but I've never had one break skin or actually hurt me - though it was certainly her intention to do so

That is awesome that your nest boxes are 5-gallon buckets. I've thought about doing that but you just gave me a great incentive. Moving her will be really easy compared to what I have to go through to move a broody hen. Yes, if you have a place you can segregate her with her own feeder and waterer, I would just pick up that nest box at night and move her. They seem to tolerate moves better after dark as next morning they wake in the new location and accept it better than if you try to do it while they're awake.

Oh and yes, I just use a permanent marker.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Oh yes, if a hen goes broody in the nest box, I lift her every day and remove eggs. Yes, they will growl and some will even peck at you, but I've never had one break skin or actually hurt me - though it was certainly her intention to do so

That is awesome that your nest boxes are 5-gallon buckets. I've thought about doing that but you just gave me a great incentive. Moving her will be really easy compared to what I have to go through to move a broody hen. Yes, if you have a place you can segregate her with her own feeder and waterer, I would just pick up that nest box at night and move her. They seem to tolerate moves better after dark as next morning they wake in the new location and accept it better than if you try to do it while they're awake.

Oh and yes, I just use a permanent marker.

I will try to peak under her in the morning. I gave her 4 eggs today. I'm curious to see if there were any others in the nest box when she claimed it as "hers". I did go ahead and move her after dark today as you suggested. She sleepily clucked her protest but didn't budge so we'll see if she's still happy in the morning. I will give her food and water first thing in the morning. Is it best to keep them close to the nest?

I can take a picture of my broody and her nest box (the 5 gallon bucket) in the morning, if you'd like. I just laid them on their sides on the floor and put a partial lid on them. It is probably about 1/3 of the whole lid. I keep the buckets from rolling away by "wedging" them in place with 4x4 blocks of wood (about a foot long). So far, it has worked great. The boxes are easily moved for cleaning (or anything else for that matter) and are cheap and convenient. It only took a couple of minutes to wash them out and cut the lids down to size. I do have to add straw every now and then, as it does get compacted and/or kicked out every now and then, but I'd say they work really well over all. We'll see what my broody hen thinks when she wakes up in the morning.

 

[HEChicken]

I will try to peak under her in the morning. I gave her 4 eggs today. I'm curious to see if there were any others in the nest box when she claimed it as "hers". I did go ahead and move her after dark today as you suggested. She sleepily clucked her protest but didn't budge so we'll see if she's still happy in the morning. I will give her food and water first thing in the morning. Is it best to keep them close to the nest?

I can take a picture of my broody and her nest box (the 5 gallon bucket) in the morning, if you'd like. I just laid them on their sides on the floor and put a partial lid on them. It is probably about 1/3 of the whole lid. I keep the buckets from rolling away by "wedging" them in place with 4x4 blocks of wood (about a foot long). So far, it has worked great. The boxes are easily moved for cleaning (or anything else for that matter) and are cheap and convenient. It only took a couple of minutes to wash them out and cut the lids down to size. I do have to add straw every now and then, as it does get compacted and/or kicked out every now and then, but I'd say they work really well over all. We'll see what my broody hen thinks when she wakes up in the morning.

I really think I will try those buckets next year.

I prefer to keep the food and water far enough away she has to actually leave the nest and walk to them. Otherwise, sometimes a really good broody will try to eat and drink without getting up at all and I think it is good for them to at least stretch their legs once every 24 hours. The problem with them not leaving the nest is if they poop near the eggs, it will contaminate them. So - I try to encourage them to get up and walk away from the nest long enough to poop. While they are up, they'll eat and drink and then when they return to the nest they are all set until the next broody break.

 

[mama23grlz1boy]

I'm loving this conversation!

 

[Trish44]

I have had a broody be so intense about it that they hardly come out for food & water. I have had to make them get out at times just so they can get both & as HEChicken said to walk around a bit. If they're really serious they often will lose some weight at that time.

I'm going to take advantage of this nice weather to start winterizing while I don't have to freeze to do it. I have tarps & plastic to go on the north sides of pens to break the winter wind to put up. Then I plan to start getting my heated dog bowls out. I won't hook them up yet but just get the water buckets cleaned out & put up & get the bowls out so they're there. I haven't put my hoses up yet either, but I try to wait till the last minute to do that because after that I have to haul water in buckets, ugh I'm not looking forward to that.

 

[lizzyGSR]

This morning, I purposefully pulled my broody hen out of her nest to force her to get off of it. To my amazement, she clucked at me but never tried to peck me (this is truely amazing because this bird is one of the least friendly that I've got.... one of the more flighty birds and one that usually doesn't come when called unless it is chore time). When I set her down, she just sat right where I had put her. Hmmm... Strange. I began to worry about her as she let me stroke her back. I eventually picked her up and set her directly in front of the food bowl. That's when she came "alive" as she was obviously hungry. Makes me wonder if she hadn't ventured far enough out of the nest to find the food and water, which were only about 4 feet from the nest box and in plain sight. I will have to make it a point to go out and force her to take a break once a day. I never would've thought to do that without you guys, so thank you!!!

While she was up, I did remove the two golf balls that were in with the eggs she had been sitting on. 2 golf balls and four eggs was a lot for such a small bird to sit on!

 

[HEChicken]

That's great Lizzy - it sounds like you're doing a good job with her - and that she is doing a good job as a broody hen

Not much new around here. We are taking advantage of the gorgeous warm October days to get a few things done before winter. Yesterday we got a gate in our barn fixed that had been outstanding for months - it is so nice to finally have it working right. I'm also working on getting the barn cleaned up and raked out in preparation for the animals using it a lot more over the winter months. We will have to start feeding hay here pretty soon.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a calf. It is due in less than a week now so it could be any day now.

 

[chicken danz]

Time to loosen up some stiff fingers on the keyboard. I feel like I'm progressing sometimes and other times not at all. I think the stitches will come out in the morning and hope that allows me a little more movement in my hand. I can move all but one of my fingers now. It's just painful to do so. But I've been making myself do so at least several times a day. I also have to get PT back on my schedule. I had postponed making another appointment to see if I made it through the weekend without going back to the hospital. I'm still running a fever off and on but not constantly.
My oldest sister came over yesterday. She has been working on keeping my floors up since it's impossible to sweep one handed. Instead we worked on some of my projects I haven't been able to do alone. We got the duck pond cleaned, and started building a feeder for my calf I had in mind to build. She's not a carpenter and it was funny watching her. It made me feel a little better about my dumb left hand. At any rate it gave me an opportunity to get it started which was probably a two person job to begin with. Now that I have just the basic frame put together I might be able to finish most of it by myself. I'm still impatiently waiting on DH to get the pen built. Maybe I'll eventually get my calf home.
It was one of my off center days and I spent more time falling than standing. My first fall was in the pig pen and I landed right in the middle of a mud puddle. Of course the pig thought it was a great opportunity to play and decided to lean against me to get scratched while I was struggling to get up. Another time I was trying to drag the hose across the yard and tripped and fell again. That one hurt. Then I fell in the driveway trying to balance myself so I could use the drill left handed to screw in a screw.