Fall brooding? Story and questions

[MotherHen2017]

So, about 6 weeks ago my Sussex hen went broody on me. I've never gone through this, so with much excitement I set her with the days eggs. I wasn't sure anything would really happen, but 3 weeks later we have 3 of the cutest little fluff balls!

To my surprise though, just a couple of days before my Sussex hens eggs were due to hatch I had another hen go broody. So, after a few days we set her with some eggs. Her eggs should be hatching any time now.

So last night I go out to collect the days eggs from my hens who are still laying, and lo and behold there's another hen sitting on the eggs!

So here's what I'm wondering. Firstly, is it normal for hens to go broody this time of year as the weather is getting colder? Secondly, what is up with them going broody one at a time every 3 weeks?! Haha!

I don't have the space to be putting all these hens who decide every 3 weeks that they want to have babies! Haha!

 

[MotherHen2017]

Sorry no answer for you but I think that's awesome. Some day we will live outside of town can't wait then we can hatch our own eggs

I must admit I am loving it. Watching the mama hen teach her babies is amazing! I'm just worrying about keeping them safe and warm until I integrate them back into the flock.

Suppose if I talk to them they'll hold off on wanting more babies until spring? Haha

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can try having a Popeye’s or Kentucky Fried poster in the background when you have that conversation but it didn’t work with mine. They just ignored me. Probably thought I was bluffing.

You don’t say where you are so I have no idea what your weather is like. Before they were domesticated it was very unusual for a hen to go broody this time of year. When the days get shorter they quit laying eggs and use the nutrition that was going into making eggs for growing new feathers as they molt. That way they did not try to raise chicks in the bad weather months when food was scarce. Come spring they’d start laying again and going broody.

But we’ve domesticated them, we keep them well fed year around. Often they get extra light, from security lights or street lights, so the days get extended. Length of day and days getting shorter have an effect. It’s still a little unusual for them to go broody this time of year but I have two hens in my broody buster right now. There are threads on here where a hen hatched and raised chicks in weather with temperatures regularly below freezing. It’s more risky for a hen to raise chicks in that kind of weather since what may be an inconvenience in the summer can become fatal in really cold weather, but for the most part they can handle it.

That three week thing is just a coincidence. There is no telling when any of them will go broody.

If you haven’t done it you need to ask yourself a few questions before you set any more eggs. What are you going to do with the cockerels and pullets that hatch? You will almost certainly get both. Do you have enough room for those chicks to grow to maturity during the winter? Often space becomes pretty tight when it snows and having immature chickens with the flock requires more space. I have no idea what your set-up or goals are, you may have all this covered. In any case, good luck!

 

[lazy gardener]

So you reintegrate the new chicks with your flock fairly quickly? Are there ever issues with the chicks getting picked on when they're that young? I'm most concerned about my rooster causing issues. But so far wandering around the yard the rooster has pretty much ignored them.

Good luck as well with your missing broody! I hope the predators leave her be. I'm Curtis to see what you end up with in a couple of weeks.

Better to integrate chicks into the flock early while Mama broody's hormones are in full swing. They tend to start to wane after the first 2 weeks. She will protect the babies, so integration should be seamless, as long as she's not a wimp at the bottom of the pecking order. As for a roo: Most roos will protect the broody and her babies from harrassment. My roo LOVES his babies. IMO, any roo who shows baby or hen aggression belongs in the crock pot.

 

[hlhutchinson]

I must admit I am loving it. Watching the mama hen teach her babies is amazing! I'm just worrying about keeping them safe and warm until I integrate them back into the flock.

Suppose if I talk to them they'll hold off on wanting more babies until spring? Haha

Lol yes I think having a sit down talk with them and explaining about the upcoming weather will do the trick hahaha

 

[hlhutchinson]

Sorry no answer for you but I think that's awesome. Some day we will live outside of town can't wait then we can hatch our own eggs

 

[song of joy]

I think broodiness is somewhat contagious. I've noticed that when one of my hens goes broody, it's fairly common for a couple more to go broody over the next few weeks. Certainly time of year also plays a part, but I have a 4 year old hen that never went broody until June every year . . . that is, until this year when some of my other hens went broody in March and April. She promptly went broody in early April for the first time ever.

With regard to flock integration, let the broody hen integrate her chicks into the flock. I usually separate my broody hens from the flock during incubation, hatching, and for the first week or so after the hatch. After that, I let her mingle freely with the rest of the flock. It's so much easier to let her do all the work, from brooding to flock integration!

As to broodiness in fall and winter, like ridgerunner noted it can and does happen fairly often. One of my hens went broody and disappeared recently. For the life of me, I can't find the nest. She appeared briefly yesterday, but disappeared again before I could track her to a nest. If a predator doesn't take her, she may show up with chicks at some point over the next couple of weeks. That presents the dilemma of what to do with the chicks???

 

[tuesdaylove]

I only have one hen that ever goes broody, and she does it year-round. September 1st, three of my chickens were killed by some wild animal, and I just happened to have a couple eggs laid by one of those hens and fertilized by the rooster that was killed. I stuck those eggs under the broody hen (a Cochin/Rosecomb mix) and one of the eggs just hatched on the 22nd! Little chick is growing up with the flock just fine. I was worried at first that it might get too cold this winter before she gets big enough to withstand it, but who am I kidding? I live in Georgia, it's not like we're gonna drop below 80 by Christmas anyways!

 

[BabyGirl2]

I let my hens set their nests wherever they want inside the coop, disagreeing with them is of no use. Last spring one hen hatched and raised two chicks with all the other adults hens and rooster in the same coop and pen/run. I had to yell at Georgia (my rooster) once when they first started moving around, after that he left them be (momma hen probably had more to do with him backing off then I did.) Trust your hens instincts when it comes to her babies.

 

[rojororeo]

When she realized she was locked in, she freaked out, so I let her out. I made openings in the partition that are about 4" X 5" and she easily fits out and the bigs haven't tried to go in. The other bantam isn't laying yet, but I marked the fertile eggs just in case she starts.
So now we are a week away from hatch day. I was going to make a barrier of some sort to keep the chicks in their area.
Will mama still want to get out, or should she be locked in with the chicks? I could close off the openings completely or make them higher up. They are at floor level right now.
Also I have a way to open the side of the milk crate so the chicks can get out. Should I do that before they hatch? Or wait a day or so?
Any advice will be appreciated!

I also have a broody right now who is due next week for hers to hatch. I have a fairly large pen and coop everyone lives in, and within that a separate pen and small nursery coop for the momma-to-be.
As soon as she goes broody, I grab her and put her in the nursery coop with the eggs, food, and water. I block her fully into her coop to keep everyone from bugging her, because usually she gets quite upset the first day I put her in there and won't set, which allows everyone else to mess with the nest. If she is allowed loose in the outdoor part of her pen, she spazzes and won't set that first day, possibly breaking eggs or messing up the warmth of eggs she was given from the main coop. She spazzes because she can see the others and gets upset. Take away her ability to see them, and she gets back to the job at hand nearly immediately.

Then once eggs start to hatch, I use the gate to give her a protected outside area to bring the babies to as the other eggs still hatch. I learned to not allow the other hens in the nursery coop, as they accidently killed at least 2 almost-baby eggs in the past in their curiosity.
Once all are hatched, then I reopen the gate and let everyone figure it out. I've never had issues with baby-pointed aggression, and nor do they attempt to correct babies on food sources or space until the mom says she is done raising when they are 6 weeks or so old.
Heck, my rooster is usually pretty good about helping feed and protect them from the other hens as well.
When momma is done, she just goes back to the main coop at night, leaving the babies alone in the nursery coop. Sometimes they explore the main coop on their own, sometimes not. I usually give them a few weeks of going back to the nursery coop until I finally put them in the adult coop one night, which seems to usually do the trick. (Or when I need the nursery coop for her to set for another brood cycle, lol.

This will be our 2nd clutch of babies this year. The first one, we have 3 cute little 3-4 month olds that I am hoping are all girls by the looks of them. They are all egg laying mutts, so it is hard to tell.

Good luck with your babies! Momma is very pretty!