Encouraging a Broody-ish 7mo old BO

[Redhead Rae]

I have a 7 month old Buff Orpington hen who seems to be broody-ish. She has been on one nest almost every day I've gone to collect eggs. She runs off when I take the eggs but comes back and seems to "mourn" them when she sees they are gone. I want to encourage her to go completely broody as I have some eggs I would like her to hatch. I've put her in a 5'x5' PVC run with a nesting tote (pictures below) to isolate her from the rest of the hens and give her some peace. We used this system for our previous Broody and it worked very well. I've also given her some fake eggs to sit on. At first she didn't seem to want to settle, but she has found the eggs and has been sitting on them.

How to I gauge when to give her real eggs? Our previous broody hen sat on the nest with a single minded determination and wouldn't get off no matter what.

Is there anything else I can do to encourage her to go even more broody?

The hen and chicks in these pictures are my previous mama and babies. The 5'x5' does have a lid that is tarp covered for shade (can see a bit of it on the left side of the second picture).

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You cannot force them to be broody. Some younger hens will spend hours sitting in the nest playing house, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are broody. Leaving eggs can help encourage it but it won't necessarily cause it if she isn't predisposed to going broody to begin with. Some never will go broody.

Spring and early summer are better times for hens to become broody under increasing daylight. This time of year under decreasing light it may not happen.

 

[Redhead Rae]

You cannot force them to be broody. Some younger hens will spend hours sitting in the nest playing house, but it doesn't necessarily mean they are broody. Leaving eggs can help encourage it but it won't necessarily cause it if she isn't predisposed to going broody to begin with. Some never will go broody.

Spring and early summer are better times for hens to become broody under increasing daylight. This time of year under decreasing light it may not happen.

She is showing other signs of being broody as well. Puffing up, growling. I'm going to watch her with the fake eggs for a few days to see how she does. I would really like to see some black cochin/Dominique chicks this year.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hopefully she gets busy setting.

 

[Redhead Rae]

Well, two days ago, I gave up on her going broody and took the tote out of the 5x5 run. She wasn't happy being separated and was splitting her time between sitting on the eggs and pacing along the side of the run.

However, yesterday I went to gather eggs and she was very determinedly sitting on the eggs. I had to pick her up and move her to get the eggs the other hens had laid and she didn't run off and settled back down on the fake eggs. So I put the tote back inside the run and I am watching her today to see how consistent she is. The only thing that seems off is that found two real eggs with her today. I think she is still laying, but those eggs could be from other hens since I didn't check after I moved her back into isolation.

How long would you watch before giving her real eggs to hatch?

 

[bobbi-j]

I'd wait until she's been sitting for at least 3 days and nights. Is the broody pen in a secure run? If not, how are you keeping her safe from night time predators?

 

[Redhead Rae]

Is the broody pen in a secure run? If not, how are you keeping her safe from night time predators?

If you look at the setup I have in previous pictures, the door we mounted on the tote closes and latches, we tie down the lid of the 5x5 run which is covered in 1/2" chicken wire. We have the run weighted down in two corners with a paving stone in one and the tote in the opposite corner. The 5x5 is in the chicken pasture surrounded by premier one poultry netting. We didn't have any predator issues when we used it for our previous mama and chicks.

 

[bobbi-j]

If it were here, a raccoon would be in that pen in 5 seconds flat. They can easily tear through chicken wire or figure out how to get between the tarp and top of the fence. A mink could do that also (those are currently my problem predators). But being inside the poultry netting likely keeps those critters out. How's your girl doing today? Seeming to want to be on the nest?

 

[Redhead Rae]

If it were here, a raccoon would be in that pen in 5 seconds flat. They can easily tear through chicken wire or figure out how to get between the tarp and top of the fence. A mink could do that also (those are currently my problem predators). But being inside the poultry netting likely keeps those critters out. How's your girl doing today? Seeming to want to be on the nest?

We had a problem coon earlier this year that got two roosters, but that was our fault. Our holding pens for next day slaughter weren't secure enough. However, we caught and dispatched that coon by baiting a live trap with the remains of one of the roosters. I know the broody setup isn't as secure as it could be, but we can't keep all our chickens in Fort Knox. I guess I could build a more secure box for her similar to my mobile coops except this would have a solid bottom instead of perches and 1' wire below the perches, so poop falls through.

I work from home, so I'm keeping an eye on her from my desk window. She's been on one brief walk-about so far, but went right back to the eggs. She doesn't really seem interested in her food. I'm wondering if having the isolation run inside of the main chicken run is isolated enough. A few couple minute walk-abouts a day shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?

 

[bobbi-j]

We had a problem coon earlier this year that got two roosters, but that was our fault. Our holding pens for next day slaughter weren't secure enough. However, we caught and dispatched that coon by baiting a live trap with the remains of one of the roosters. I know the broody setup isn't as secure as it could be, but we can't keep all our chickens in Fort Knox. I guess I could build a more secure box for her similar to my mobile coops except this would have a solid bottom instead of perches and 1' wire below the perches, so poop falls through.

I work from home, so I'm keeping an eye on her from my desk window. She's been on one brief walk-about so far, but went right back to the eggs. She doesn't really seem interested in her food. I'm wondering if having the isolation run inside of the main chicken run is isolated enough. A few couple minute walk-abouts a day shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?

No, they need to get up and stretch their legs. As far as keeping them within the flock, or close by - I prefer that to totally isolating them. The last few broodies I had, I allowed them to brood within the coop so they would maintain their position in the flock, and wouldn't have to reintegrate later.