Give her chicks?

[ValerieJ]

Plenty of room but I won’t be keeping the chicks. I’d want to be selling them from 4 weeks old. I have some friends that will take pullets or cockerels. If she sticks till Saturday I’m going to be buying her a couple of non expensive eggs.

I think it will be very sad for both the mama hen and the babies to take them away at 4 weeks old. Any chance you can wait until she is ready to wean them?

 

[aart]

I think it will be very sad for both the mama hen and the babies to take them away at 4 weeks old. Any chance you can wait until she is ready to wean them?

Taking them before she wens them could throw her right back into being broody,
so might be good to wait, or keep at least 2 of the chicks.

 

[featheredplanets]

If I manage to get eggs from an easy early to sex breed then I will do. I’m hoping for Pekin eggs actually so she can possibly hatch a bantam friend for my Sussex. If I can get eggs of a similar breed then she can keep a/the pullet for as long as she likes.

She’s still acting broody, yesterday was off the nest in the morning but has not been off today. But I’ll make sure she gets off, rather have a healthy hen than no hen. Comb is starting to pale so I think she may stop laying, haven’t found a dark brown egg under her today so she may have already stopped. Everyone refuses to lay in the other nests (of which there are 3) so there were 2 hens sat on top of her laying this morning and all I could hear was angry clucking. I tried moving her last time and that’s when she broke herself.

 

[aart]

Have you tried putting some fake eggs in the other nests?

...or....
When I have a broody I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

 

[featheredplanets]

She’s still sat. Couldn’t get any eggs yesterday so I’m going to buy some that can be posted/shipped. They should be here by Tues or Weds. I cleaned a prefab and set it up but I’ve no hay. I don’t want to use the hay from the old nest because it’s dirty. I was going to move her tonight but I thought she may not be comfortable without the hay, should I wait until tomorrow night when I’ll have nesting material? @ValerieJ @aart It seems like such a little thing but I don’t want to break her by accident.

 

[slordaz]

I would not give fertilized eggs until she isn't laying anymore, she is definitely practicing the brood took my best broody 2 tries before she successfully brooded, and she was such a good momma, word of warning if one goes broody you may get others that decide they want in the action too, make sure that the others cannot harass her if she is truly broody and be prepared for others to decide now is a good time to go broody too.

 

[slordaz]

I think it will be very sad for both the mama hen and the babies to take them away at 4 weeks old. Any chance you can wait until she is ready to wean them?

Momma hens usually have them weaned by 3-6 weeks anyway while others want to brood but don't want to raise them so you get to , your getting way ahead of yourself with a hen that hasn't actually brooded. your putting your human emotion into the equatio. My broodies they are out with the flock and are usually not to worried about them running off on their own by 2-3 weeks, while my best decided she was gonna start her own flock I think she stayed in the brooder at night with her chicks for 3 months but was out and they were fully integrated into the flock all day long

 

[ValerieJ]

I would definitely wait until I had nesting material before moving her. Other than that, I agree with @aart's advice, above.

Are you prepared in case she abandons the eggs to incubate them?

Good luck with this! It is so much fun to watch a broody hen do all the incubating and raising of the chicks.

 

[Shadrach]

If you are inclined to let her sit and hatch for the reasons you stated then waiting until your hen has finished rearing the chicks is the considerate way forward imo.
It can take from three or four weeks to three months for a mother hen to decide that the chicks can cope on their own ime.

 

[ValerieJ]

If you are inclined to let her sit and hatch for the reasons you stated then waiting until your hen has finished rearing the chicks is the considerate way forward imo.
It can take from three or four weeks to three months for a mother hen to decide that the chicks can cope on their own ime.

Agreed!