Hatching with a broody

[NuthatchKnollChickens]

We’ve had chickens for years but have never let a broody hatch eggs before. Broodiness is amazing — it’s like suspended animation! Our girl will NOT leave her eggs. Not to eat, not to drink. I guess she knows what she’s doing but it makes us a little nervous. Should we encourage her to get up and eat/drink? She’s separated from the flock and has access to food and water... she just never leaves the nest box!

 

[turkey girl 0964]

She does leave the nesting box you just don't see her. I have never seen any of my broodys get off of the nest box. They know when to get off to eat and drink by themselves. You can tell when they get off because you will see a big giant smelly poop in the run or coop and that they aren't dead. Sometimes you have to take a broody of the nest if she is loosing too much body weight.

 

[maceleneo]

I'm taking my broody hen out of her nest once a day because she wasn't eating at all: the food was untouched and she didn't poop for a couple of days. maybe I could have waited longer, but taking her out once a day works for us.
the first poop she did after that I forced her out was tiny and green and my vet said that this means she was malnourished.
if your hen is separated from the flock you can easily check if she's eating even if you don't see her in the act. if she doesn't, I would definitely encourage her to get up.
I take mine out her nest every morning, she stays still for a while, then eats, drinks, poops, sometimes dust bathes and runs back to her nest.

 

[NuthatchKnollChickens]

I'm taking my broody hen out of her nest once a day because she wasn't eating at all: the food was untouched and she didn't poop for a couple of days. maybe I could have waited longer, but taking her out once a day works for us.
the first poop she did after that I forced her out was tiny and green and my vet said that this means she was malnourished.
if your hen is separated from the flock you can easily check if she's eating even if you don't see her in the act. if she doesn't, I would definitely encourage her to get up.
I take mine out her nest every morning, she stays still for a while, then eats, drinks, poops, sometimes dust bathes and runs back to her nest.

This makes sense to me. We took her out this morning and she ran around like crazy, dust bathed, ate, and went back to her nest after 15 minutes or so. Thanks!

 

[Chicalina]

I do the same as @maceleneo . I actively take her off once a day for a short break. Otherwise she loses condition too much and trust me she would rather die than leave that nest!

 

[maceleneo]

This makes sense to me. We took her out this morning and she ran around like crazy, dust bathed, ate, and went back to her nest after 15 minutes or so. Thanks!

right, I forgot to mention the "run around like crazy" part!

 

[NuthatchKnollChickens]

I do the same as @maceleneo . I actively take her off once a day for a short break. Otherwise she loses condition too much and trust me she would rather die than leave that nest!

Yep, she’s amazingly dedicated! We’ll start getting her off the nest daily so she doesn’t lose too much weight. Thanks!

 

[Chicalina]

Broodies are amazing. None of the temperature/humidity issues with an incubator. Just good old nature.

 

[RevlisRemmah]

I got chicks the first week of June last year and one of them when broody and hatched 5 babies! It’s so exciting! She did go into suspended animation though. And when I did catch her outside the nest she was manic! Pecking around like a crazy bird, kicking everyone out of the dust bath area! She’s a good momma so far!

 

[NuthatchKnollChickens]

Update: all four eggs hatched, two hatched three days ago and two hatched two days ago. Mama hen still just wants to sit with them under her, though, and is not eating and as a result the babies are not eating either. We got them to drink a little by taking mama off the babies and bringing them to the water but she just calls them right back under her. No luck at all getting mama to eat even if we give her meal worms. We did get a couple chicks to eat a couple bites of their chick feed by taking them to the feed and tapping it, but again, mama is not supporting this educational effort. Any thoughts?
We don’t have our heat lamp out there as we would if we hadn’t been using a broody. Could that make any difference?