Help choosing the best broody breed. Please

[peeps224]

I’m going to give my broody hen some eggs to hatch soon! But I have two Broodys one is a sussex and one is a wellsumer, is there a better brooder out of the two breeds or dose it make no difference? it will be her first hatch, and my first time hatching eggs with a broody, I’m really nervous and Open to any suggestions. Thanks

 

[Cyprus]

I've heard of Sussex brooding, but never Welsummer.

 

[peeps224]

Really. Well as far as I can tell she’s broody, she’s on the nest when I go to collect the eggs. I don’t know if she sleeps on the nest though.

 

[aart]

I don’t know if she sleeps on the nest though.

That would be important.
Breed doesn't really matter, either they are broody or they are not.

Here are the signs I look for:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, doesn't she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.


Then if I want her to hatch some chicks:
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.

 

[peeps224]

Thanks so much for the help. I’m pretty sure that both hens are broody but I’ll check tonight to see if they stay on the nest just to be sure. I’ll probably set the eggs under the sussex, but I’ve heard that if something goes wrong it’s good to have another broody have you had any experience with trading chicks or eggs between broodys?

 

[123RedBeard]

If both are showing broody behavior ... I'd be inclined to "not put all my eggs in one basket" ...

Put half your eggs under each broody hen ... if one gives up early ... just put the eggs under the serious one ... only give each hen 3-6 eggs this first go round.

If you have two broodies ... but only give one eggs ... are you prepared to "break her" ... and then what if the one you gave eggs to abandons the nest at two weeks?

 

[peeps224]

If I do split the eggs between the hens but only have one broody coop can they raise the chicks together or will they get Aggressive?

 

[Morrigan]

If I do split the eggs between the hens but only have one broody coop can they raise the chicks together or will they get Aggressive?

It depends entirely on the hens. I've read charming stories of hens sharing eggs and chicks. But that hasn't been the case in my coop. I've had two broody hens in the same coop and they wanted nothing to do with each other. So, for planning purposes, I would assume that they will not want to raise their chicks together and have a strategy to deal with it. At hatch time, you could put a partition up so that the hens cannot see the other hen's chicks and the chicks are prevented from wandering into the other nest.

 

[RazorDuck]

I agree with aart. It doesn't actually matter about what breed they are, though the Sussex does tend more toward broodiness.

 

[peeps224]

Thanks, now I can set the eggs with the comfort of knowing that I at least have some idea as to what I’m doing