Desperate for chicks! Please help!

[Pia78]

Hi there,

So last week and the week before, 2 of my Bantams laid eggs (the one had been a mom before and the other is new to this). They are free range chickens and are out all day, I leave their barn door open all day and only close it once all of them go in to roost.

When there was a clutch of 9 or 10 eggs, I think I put them all together, can't remember (2 were the size of pigeon eggs

).
The following day, we heard monkeys on the roof. They took 9 of the eggs

. The following day a mongoose took the last one.

How on earth do I do this.

I now have been collecting the eggs and have 8 inside my house and should have 2 more tomorrow.

When does a chicken go broody and will this happen regardless of eggs underneath her or how does this work? Am I doing the right thing? I am waiting for her to sit for a day or 2, even with just 1 egg) and then somehow get the eggs under her.

They pick another box to lay in if there are golf balls in their usual box.

Do I put all the eggs back in the chicken boxes and keep the girls in? (the rooster gets very upset if I separate him from his girls).

Clearly I have NEVER done this before.

What on earth do I do.

 

[Judy]

Broodiness is a hormone change. There is no dependable method for making a hen go broody that I know of. Some breeds go broody more frequently than others, though. If they are broody, they will set even if there are no eggs under them. Usually people simply wait til they have a broody, then collect eggs and put them under her all at once, in a place that is safe from predators. Of course, you could buy an incubator.

 

[Pia78]

Thanks for the response.

If I add the eggs to her box. Will it help her go broody?

 

[Pia78]

Anyone?!

 

[Pia78]

I'll sit on the eggs myself!!!

 

[gryeyes]

Thanks for the response. If I add the eggs to her box. Will it help her go broody?

The quick answer to your question is "No." Some folks have NEVER had a broody hen. It is totally up to Nature, as the hen's genetics may have had the broodiness bred out of her line. Even some breeds known to be setters and generally go broody don't always produce a hen which will do so. And some will go broody at the drop of a feather, to paraphrase an old saying. Some folks keep silkie hens because so many of them will try to hatch anything. Don't waste good eggs waiting. Wait until you HAVE a broody hen, then start gathering (or buying) fertile eggs for her.

 

[sumi]

Sometimes you may be able to encourage broodiness by leaving eggs in the box for them, but it really depends on the individual hens. Some hens are more prone to broodiness than others. My MIL had some bantams, mixed breeds, that were crazy broody. I once "forgot" to collect the eggs for 2 days... Went into the coop finally to find 5 hens went broody on those eggs and were lined up in a row like peas in a pod, sitting on them. MIL got a lot of new chicks. A guy I knew wanted to hatch chicks, and lots of them, so he left all the eggs in the boxes for the hens. He had some success, though lost quite a few eggs too. So it is worth a try if you are desperate for a broody and don't mind sacrificing some eggs. Just mark them so you know which are "bait" and which are fresh. And keep collecting the fresh ones daily.

A word of caution on the mongoose: I lived on a farm in the Klein Karoo and we had a mongoose problem. They LOVE chicks and not the way you and I do. We lost 32 chicks to them in total. And they are not scared to come right up to your house in broad daylight either. Once they discovered a food source they will stick around and raid your coop and pens on a daily basis. They are fairly good climbers and can squeeze through small holes and gaps as well, so if you have a broody make sure you have a secure place for her to raise the chicks and keep them in there for at least the first 3-4 months. I have lost 2 grown hens to the mongoose, but they prefer smaller prey. A well trained dog will help deter both mongoose and monkeys. One of our dogs here only needed to catch one monkey and they've stayed away since. So if you have a dog around that you can train and trust around the chickens that will help.

 

[Pia78]

Thanks for the help. This morning there were 2 more eggs. I left them there and added the LOT!! I made sure we were around the back garden (most of the time) where the coop is and another hen went in and laid an egg this afternoon . So all in all we have 11. She laid it in the same box as 5 eggs. She didn't set.

I have decided to build a coop and run in the front garden of our farm exclusively for laying etc. The monkeys have never been there before and mongeese simply wont go there. We have 2 dogs 6 month old and they would have a field day.

The problem is our chickens are free range so as you mentione[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]d, we will need to keep mamma and babies in for a long while and only let them out with supervision. So we are building the coop and run just for them. [/FONT]

Hope I am making sense. too many distractions this side and I am tired!!!!

 

[sumi]

Don't worry, you make perfect sense. LOL I hope you get a broody soon, they are so much fun! Watch out for too many "bait" eggs in the nest though. They can get broken and the next thing you know you've got an egg eater on your hands... I used to leave unhatched eggs from my incubator hatches for the hens to sit on. One did break one day, after sitting in the box for awhile, and the hens ate it

You'd think I'm starving them.

 

[Pia78]

Don't worry, you make perfect sense. LOL I hope you get a broody soon, they are so much fun! Watch out for too many "bait" eggs in the nest though. They can get broken and the next thing you know you've got an egg eater on your hands... I used to leave unhatched eggs from my incubator hatches for the hens to sit on. One did break one day, after sitting in the box for awhile, and the hens ate it

You'd think I'm starving them.

Oh yuck! Hhahahaaha!