First time with a broody- hatch day is here-not sure what to do?!!??

[SarniaTricia]

I had to move Princess and the little ones to the brooder coop yesterday....... I thought I saw a rat in the layer coop..... She seems a lot happier in the larger brighter house.

I set traps and will check it tomorrow.
(I also moved the layer girls. Big clean out and painting this week)

Lots of babies to keep her occupied and lots of feeders and waterers.

I will post photos tomorrow.

 

[marlowmanor]

How is everyones broody mommas doing? Our little chick is 2 weeks old now and doing well. Momma Hazel is a wonderful mommy. I'ver been calling the chick Peep Peep. I don't know that it will get a name that stays or not. I just like hearing it peep peep all the time.

 

[chickenreferee]

Glad to hear Hazel and company are doing well. Peep Peep is a cute name.

Ida and the 'kids' are getting along quite well too. I started letting them out of their run into the yard yesterday. Today they were all hanging out with the other hens and the roos and getting along just fine.

They sure do grow up fast though. Wing and tail feathers already and not even two weeks old.

 

[CarolJ]

Onyx is being a wonderful first-time mother. We lost one chick to an accident - so we're down to eight. But Onyx has them all over the run - and when I let the chickens out to free-range, they're out there in the thick of things. The only issue is that she takes them under the coop for the night rather than INTO the coop. She has tried to teach them to go up the ramp - but they haven't quite learned it yet - and she won't go into the coop at night without them.. Our run is secure - but it still makes me nervous not to have them in the coop at night. I tried catching them all to put into the coop - but they're fast and I'm scared I'll step on one. I figure they'll learn how to go up the ramp soon, though.

 

[marlowmanor]

Well it appears we have another broody EE!

She is a viscious one too! It took my DH and I both to get the eggs that were layed and she sat on from her. I had to oin her head down with a stick while DH got todays eggs from her. Our flock eggs are not fertile since we have no adult roosters and our 2 cockeral are just starting to crow. However I have already contacted the guy we got our last batch of chicks from and we are getting 6 hatching eggs tomorrow from him. They will be some mixed breeds but all of his birds are great and I don't mind some mixes. That's basically what I got from him last time anyway when we got chicks and they have all turned out to be gorgeous birds and I got a good ratio of pullets and cockerals. 8 pullets out of 10 chicks is pretty good! Hopefully I have that kind of luck with hatching eggs too. His fertility rate is much better than we had before too so we should definately get more than 1 chick this time. Wish us luck!

Does any one know how soon a hen goes back to laying eggs after hatching chicks? Hazel's chick is 2 weeks old now. Having another hen go broody throws a wrench in our egg collection. We only have 6 adult hens and if 2 are out of commission because of broodiness it makes it harder to fill egg orders. Thankfully I only sell to my stepmom right now and she only gets eggs every 2 weeks or so. I guess she would just have to get less eggs every time she gets them or wait longer between deliveries to get the same amount of eggs.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

My 1st broody, a silkie hatched out 10 babies 12 days ago. She was a great mom for the 1st week. Now she goes to roost in the coop at night and just leaves the babies outside to wail. They can't figure out how to go up the ramp. I have seen her show them at least 10 times to no avail. Last night it poured rain and yhe wind howled steady at 20 mph all night. She left them outside even in that weather. I set up a dog kennel w/ hay and light and the lil pips sleep in there every night w/o her. She still mothers them during the day, just not at night. I was so mad at her during last night's storm. Has anyone else had a "daytime only" broody?

 

[marlowmanor]

We gave the new broody the 6 eggs we got. We were going to set her up in a dog crate but there wasn't enough room in it for her to roam a little when she needed to stretch her legs so we went ahead and set her up in the broody box. She was ticked off at us for a while and even kicked the eggs out of the nest at one point which made us worry she was going to refuse to sit. We had to leave to go get some things to fix a light switch in the house and when we got back she qas settled on the nest with the eggs. So now the wait begins. Our hatch date should be July 16th. I am excited about seeing what comes out of this hatch as the breeds that could be in the mix are interesting. I may even get me another polish or polish cross!

I would so love that!
Now I have to come up with a name for this broody. She is a meanie so I was thinking about something that goes along with that. I've been thinking about Helga!

Mostly because I picture this huge, mean German woman!

 

[chickenreferee]

We gave the new broody the 6 eggs we got. We were going to set her up in a dog crate but there wasn't enough room in it for her to roam a little when she needed to stretch her legs so we went ahead and set her up in the broody box. She was ticked off at us for a while and even kicked the eggs out of the nest at one point which made us worry she was going to refuse to sit. We had to leave to go get some things to fix a light switch in the house and when we got back she qas settled on the nest with the eggs. So now the wait begins. Our hatch date should be July 16th. I am excited about seeing what comes out of this hatch as the breeds that could be in the mix are interesting. I may even get me another polish or polish cross!

I would so love that!
Now I have to come up with a name for this broody. She is a meanie so I was thinking about something that goes along with that. I've been thinking about Helga!

Mostly because I picture this huge, mean German woman!

Helga!

That is perfect!

I'm excited for you too. I hope you get a couple polish babies. How is Hazel and her baby doing? You asked in an earlier post about when they'd start laying again- I think it's about 4 - 6 weeks after the chicks hatch? Not real sure though.

Good luck with the new broody! lol

 

[chickenreferee]

My 1st broody, a silkie hatched out 10 babies 12 days ago. She was a great mom for the 1st week. Now she goes to roost in the coop at night and just leaves the babies outside to wail. They can't figure out how to go up the ramp. I have seen her show them at least 10 times to no avail. Last night it poured rain and yhe wind howled steady at 20 mph all night. She left them outside even in that weather. I set up a dog kennel w/ hay and light and the lil pips sleep in there every night w/o her. She still mothers them during the day, just not at night. I was so mad at her during last night's storm. Has anyone else had a "daytime only" broody?

Have you tried putting them into the coop with her? Never heard of a part time broody, but chickens are an odd lot sometimes!

 

[bufforphington]

i have a question. should i put the broody hen in a different place? (like in a dog kennel in the garage) or can i just keep her in the coop?