I do believe I have a broody!!! Wanted to pick some brains on the matter....

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

I never would have thought it would be my barred rock!! or at least I think she is a barred rock... honestly I really suck at breeds, but that is what I assume she is. Last night when I went out to close up the coop, she yelled at me as soon as I set foot in the door. She spent all night on the nest and was still there this morning.

I do not have a big rooster that is old enough to breed yet, all we have is a little banty roo and he really likes the bigger girls, but seems to fail at making that "special connection" lol. Idk, maybe he will surprise me and we will have some bigger eggs hatch, but I put all the banty eggs under her (Pretty sure most of them are fertile, or should be at least), along with a few other eggs that I'm not really sure are fertile.

How does that usually turn out when you have a bantam and a regular size chicken that breed?? Also, what is the max number of eggs I should let her set on?? I have only had one other hen that went broody and that was about 10 years ago. She was such a sweet mama.

I am really kinda excited because I was not expecting one to be broody so soon, we just got this batch in March. I know she is old enough, just wasn't expecting it!!!!


"GO AWAY!"

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds fun, if she's sitting on them eggs she's broody, expect new chicks in about 20 days, I have never had a large hatch bantam, I have done it the other way around, you will have to watch as the bantam chicks will be quite tiny. Be prepared to move them to a smaller containment when they hatch so they don't get lost or hurt for the first two weeks. Also make sure no other hens are adding eggs to her nest and you end up with a staggered hatch which never works out too well.

She can probably sit on a lot but her ability to care for them should limit how many she sits on, I think 6-8 is a good clutch.

 

[shell shocked]

hi yer
great news i am made up for you the men in the know tell me most dual purpose fowl are
good sitters if you have not done so move her at night away from the rest of your flock make sure
its well ventilated and fairly dark free from vermin an old trick they use is to cut a grass turf the same size as the box and place it upside down in the bottom this prevents the eggs rolling out
when the rest of the nest is built up and also helps to retain moisture and humidity which are
important for incubation as to how many eggs to incubate depends on the size of the hen
they tell me an odd number should be set this makes it easier for the hen to turn them make sure she leaves the nest once a day to feed and empty her bowels even if you have to lift her off
but no more than 20 minutes i hope this has been of some help

good luck

 

[trailrider330]

I don't have any experience working with Bantams so I can't answer that question for you, but I can answer your question about clutch size.

When I have set a clutch under a broody hen, I usually give them 8-12 eggs. If there are other hens in with your broody, you may also want to mark the eggs with a pencil just in case someone else tries to lay more eggs in the same nest. I have hens that like to try and sneak their eggs in once a clutch is already started. It makes things difficult when some eggs are at 21 days, others are at 15 days, and still others are at 10 days. But, if I have the set ones marked, I know which ones to leave and which ones to take out if I notice there are more there than when I started.

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

Thanks for the advice!!!! i really am not sure where to move her, unless I section her off a small portion of the coop. All my little pens and cages and other places are just chock full at the moment since I have so many different ages and groups of chicks. Will moving her cause her to no longer be broody?? The last time I had a broody hen, she hatched hers out in the same little nesting boxes. We currently do not have many other chickens in the pen she is in, a total of 9 including her. I do not feel comfortable placing her outside of the coop as I have recently heard coyotes nearby at night! I do have a larger wire cage I could put her in, it needs some work tho because my dogs jumped on top of it and caved it in and the wire is all bent (they are turds). Do you think that would work? The nesting box is kinda sorta under a box fan that I hung from the ceiling of the coop to circulate the air, so she is currently well ventilated.

I think I will leave her with the amount of eggs she currently has. There are probably about 10 under her, but I highly doubt that 4 or so of them are fertile. It is so amazing to me how chickens are able to keep everything just right for incubation purposes, instinct is such a marvelous and curious thing. I have hatched many eggs from those old little giant styrofoam incubators and it's such a pain in the butt that it really gives you a lot of respect for broody hens!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I would personally leave her where she is and move her when the chicks hatch into a small pen until all the chicks are strong and able to run from trouble.

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

Well, we only had 2 fertile eggs out of the bunch, and one of them actually made it, the other did not develop past the first week. Our one lonely little egg was pipping this morning, I am so excited! I hope when I get home today I will have a new little grandpeep! I have separated my proud soon to be mom, and she has been doing a great job. I will post pics as soon as I can get some of my little grandpeep!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Congratulations, I too only had one chick this year, he's a real momma's boy.

 

[CluckinOnTheYakus]

Well my baby hatched Friday night/early saturday morning, but sadly did not make it!!! I knew the odds were stacked against him to begin with, so my hopes were not super high, despite my excitement. He was having issues getting his legs to work, and unfortunately passed away sunday morning. That is ok though, because by springtime we will actually have a standard sized rooster breeding age and should have nothing but fertile eggs! Poor little banty man just did not do a good enough job this go around. But there is always spring time!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry to hear that, I hope you have better luck next hatch.