I’m not Mother Nature, but..... My journey hatching broody and bator chicks

[Mimi13]

That's why I like to segregate them from the flock with a wire wall,
easier to keep an eye on feed and water levels....and find those nasty broody poops.
They can stick pretty tight the first few, and last few, days.
Nothing wrong with pulling them out of nest if no evidence of such.
I like to get them used to me 'handling' them, can really pay off for monitoring eggs/nest and especially if problems later.

Tomorrow I will go ahead and set up my ”brooder” section in the coop. I built the coop with plans of having the brooder section underneath the poop board. This whole thing just came over me so unexpectedly. Yeah, kind of like it did for that little broody sitting on those eggs.

 

[cmom]

One of my Rhode Island Reds recently was sitting. Every day I put her out of the nest box for nearly a month before she finally gave up. She was sitting on a golf ball.

 

[Kris5902]

One of my Rhode Island Reds recently was sitting. Every day I put her out of the nest box for nearly a month before she finally gave up. She was sitting on a golf ball.

Chickens... they are pretty, not necessarily smart... but so pretty!

 

[Kris5902]

On a slightly different note... I think I may have watched too many you tube chicken videos with my cats before I moved to the farm... one of my cats tries to hatch things now. Are you missing your keys? Cell phone? E reader? Glasses? Tv remote? Check under the cat... he also liked to sit on golf balls.

He caught a mouse once... AND SAT ON IT! Kept tucking it under his belly like a broody, the poor mouse was traumatized, but completely unharmed... I released him back into my yard and he scampered off, I’m guessing happy to be away from the crazy cat that wanted to hatch him/keep him warm.

 

[mandelyn]

I worry about my broodies, there's been enough of them now to have seen their... scope.

The perfect momma sits diligently, minds her manners, and does everything by the book.

The angry broody... screams and carries on anytime anything/one gets near, offers up death pecks, doesn't take grief from other hens when leading those chicks around. Might face down a hawk and get carried off in the effort...

The Hoarder... you'd be amazed at how far they can roll an egg, or just how many they think they can cover. Might also have angry broody tendencies.

The half-hearted... I'm sitting! 8 days in! Just kidding. Broody again! Kidding. She never really wanted to hatch eggs anyways.

The copy-cat... You're sitting? I'll sit too! (might also be part of the "just kidding" type, aka the "sympathy sitter")

The "I'm never getting off these eggs EVER"... Not even to poop. I'll starve before I get off these eggs!

The chronic sitter... "These chicks don't need to eat, do they? I could stay here forever..."

The repeat broody... "Sorry kids, at 3 weeks old you're on your own! I feel the call again!"

The great broody/bad mom... "I sat and I sat and then OMG, what IS that? Is there something crawling around under me, messing with MY eggs!?" *peckpeckpeck* ... Not even realizing those were eggs hatching... Every. Single. One.

With new broodies, you gotta give them a go to see what they can do, to learn if you'll ever let them try THAT again.

It's ok to worry a little bit, just don't stress over it. Cover your bases, give her her own space, mark the eggs, wait and see. Kick her off once a day if you can't tell if she's been off.

Nothing stinks worse than a massive, gnarly broody poop, and you DON'T want it on the eggs.

 

[chickengr]

One of my Rhode Island Reds recently was sitting. Every day I put her out of the nest box for nearly a month before she finally gave up. She was sitting on a golf ball.

my silkies sit on the floor if get broody, lol.

 

[aart]

have seen their... scope.

Hilarious descriptions!!

 

[cmom]

I worry about my broodies, there's been enough of them now to have seen their... scope.

The perfect momma sits diligently, minds her manners, and does everything by the book.

The angry broody... screams and carries on anytime anything/one gets near, offers up death pecks, doesn't take grief from other hens when leading those chicks around. Might face down a hawk and get carried off in the effort...

The Hoarder... you'd be amazed at how far they can roll an egg, or just how many they think they can cover. Might also have angry broody tendencies.

The half-hearted... I'm sitting! 8 days in! Just kidding. Broody again! Kidding. She never really wanted to hatch eggs anyways.

The copy-cat... You're sitting? I'll sit too! (might also be part of the "just kidding" type, aka the "sympathy sitter")

The "I'm never getting off these eggs EVER"... Not even to poop. I'll starve before I get off these eggs!

The chronic sitter... "These chicks don't need to eat, do they? I could stay here forever..."

The repeat broody... "Sorry kids, at 3 weeks old you're on your own! I feel the call again!"

The great broody/bad mom... "I sat and I sat and then OMG, what IS that? Is there something crawling around under me, messing with MY eggs!?" *peckpeckpeck* ... Not even realizing those were eggs hatching... Every. Single. One.

With new broodies, you gotta give them a go to see what they can do, to learn if you'll ever let them try THAT again.

It's ok to worry a little bit, just don't stress over it. Cover your bases, give her her own space, mark the eggs, wait and see. Kick her off once a day if you can't tell if she's been off.

Nothing stinks worse than a massive, gnarly broody poop, and you DON'T want it on the eggs.

I think that most of us who have had broody's have had many of these experiences. One thing that baffles me and next time it happens I'm going to put a game camera up in the coop to see how they move a golf ball or egg from one nest box to another. I have marked the eggs and golf balls and put it in one nest box to find it when I collect eggs in another nest box.

 

[Kris5902]

I think that most of us who have had broody's have had many of these experiences. One thing that baffles me and next time it happens I'm going to put a game camera up in the coop to see how they move a golf ball or egg from one nest box to another. I have marked the eggs and golf balls and put it in one nest box to find it when I collect eggs in another nest box.

Please, when you find out how they move them, please share the video. I want to see how they manage that without breaking the eggs! How???

 

[cmom]

I have often wondered that myself. I did a game camera when one of my coops way infested with rats. Even though I have night lights in all of the coops. I did get rid of the rats and renovated that coop.