First Broody Hen

[Gary335]

Good morning all! I have had chickens for about a year now, and have learned a great deal in that time. But today for the first time I realized that I have a broody hen. I had been thinking she might be ill, as she has been in a corner of the coop and not moved for several days now. But I was in the coop this morning and noticed that she seemed energetic and not at all sick, so I investigated, and sure enough she is sitting on eggs. I have roosters, so these will be viable. I do not intend to intervene in any way, unless for some reason her life is at risk. I am allowing things to take whatever course they will. It is still summer and fairly warm so I don't imagine my intervention would be much needed anyhow. I have provided food and water since she doesn't seem to be moving at all.

That all being said, as I said this is a first for me, so I'd like to pick the brains here. Is there anything I should know or do? Any advice that might be helpful? While I do not intend to intervene in any major way such as moving her or the other birds for example, or incubating, I would be happy to see her hatch some chicks, so anything small I can do to keep her happy and healthy during this period I'd be more than willing. I would be deeply grateful and appreciative for any knowledge anyone would like to share!

 

[Perris]

Congratulations on your good fortune! And it sounds like you are off to a good start. Minimal intervention is my motto too.

There are a few useful threads and articles you could browse to better inform yourself of what's to come. Here are some of the better ones imo
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/guide-to-letting-broody-hens-hatch-and-raise-chicks.65989/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rst-turkey-strut-to-weaning-the-chicks.76878/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/natural-breeding-thread.1653246/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread.457488/

Good luck - and enjoy the process . I find having a broody with chicks is one of the best parts of chicken-keeping.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You do not need to put food or water within easy reach. She stored up excess fat, that is what she will mostly live on. She will lose some body weight while incubating the eggs but that is just fat put there to be used when broody.

Do not lock her in during the day. She needs to be able to go get some food and water when she wants to. When she is ready she will leave her nest for a while to eat, drink, and poop. I've had a broody come off of her nest two times a day and stay off for over an hour each time. I had a broody that came off of her nest once a day, every morning, and stayed off for about 15 minutes. I've had some I never saw off of the nest but I knew she was coming off since she was not pooping in her nest. Hens have been doing this on instinct for thousands of years. Trust her to know what to do and let her do it.

Other hens may lay in her nest or that broody may carry an egg back to her nest. You do not want the number of eggs to increase to the point she cannot cover them all. If that happens one will get pushed out and cool off and the embryo dies. Then it gets back under her and another is pushed out to die. You usually do not get good hatches if she cannot cover all of the eggs.

There is another potential if new eggs show up. Any that start incubating late will not hatch on time. She will bring the first chicks to hatch off of the nest and abandon any late eggs even if there is a chick in there. We call that a staggered hatch. Many people get really stressed out by the thought of a chick not hatching. To avoid this I start all of the eggs at the same time.

My suggestion is to mark all of the eggs under her (I use a black Sharpie) so I know which belong. Then every day after they have all laid for the day I check under the broody hen and remove any that do not belong.

Other than checking for eggs that do not belong I do not touch her or bother her until she brings the chicks off of the nest. Good luck!

 

[Gary335]

Thanks so much for all of the great info! When it comes to checking for eggs that do not belong, is it okay to simply move her so I can see? Will she attack me for bothering her? I’ve been in the coop a couple of times just to check on her, and she doesn’t seem to be feeling aggressive or bothered much by my presence, but the thought of invading her space to check the eggs has me concerned!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Thanks so much for all of the great info! When it comes to checking for eggs that do not belong, is it okay to simply move her so I can see? Will she attack me for bothering her? I’ve been in the coop a couple of times just to check on her, and she doesn’t seem to be feeling aggressive or bothered much by my presence, but the thought of invading her space to check the eggs has me concerned!

When my Barred Rock went broody, she was a complete PITA to the other chickens, but she didn’t mind at all when I rummaged around underneath her. (She wasn’t sitting on fertile eggs, but she was delighted to sit on her flockmates’ eggs.)

There’s no predicting what an individual bird will do. Just go in there and get the eggs.