She was on the nest when I went for eggs late yesterday afternoon. I figured ok, I'll wait till morning. She's still there but she unhappily let me get the eggs from under her. Tonight everyone is roosting....she's still in the box. I pulled my "Chicken Hospital" out of the garage. Tomorrow we'll be cleaning out the coop and putting it in for her on the one side. I will move her in with a couple eggs and see what happens. I understand first time moms sometimes dont do so well and she wont even be a year old till May. But I will give her a shot. I wanted a couple more but didnt want to raise chicks again so I guess I cant complain. But she is a TSC chick and I didnt have much hope of a RIR being broody.
Congrats you got one of the few that go broody! LOL I just got done with my first broody and she did fine with her babies!
ok, so I have a nice little nest made up in a quiet corner for her. My shoulder is acting up and I need older son to help and hes gone so I couldnt clean today and its going to rain again. I watched her today when I went out she was outside. She was out for maybe 15 minutes then went back in. Is that too long? When I move her I have to do it at night right? And shes on 5 eggs laid today, can I sneak another one under her when I move her that was laid yesterday but not refrigerated? One more, do I have to keep her locked in a cage or can she just be segregated in the coop? Its in the corner techinically in what is supposed to be the storage part of the shed but they use the whole thing.
I have 6 RIR that will be a year old in May - one went broody and is hatching babies this very moment!
AMS 15 minutes is not too long and it is a good sign that she taking care of herself and not obsessive about the eggs. My broody NEVER left. I had to clean poo from behind her and stick the food and water right in front of her.
I have a RIR that went broody a few days ago, too. Same age as yours and she's a Cackle bird from CountryMax. I thought I'd let her hatch a couple of eggs even though I have 30 in the incubator that are supposed to hatch on Monday - whatever makes her happy. She surprised me - I thought for sure that one of my buff orps would have gone broody before any of the others. I need to move her still and I was going to do it at night so as to not rattle her too much. She makes a purring/growling noise as soon as I walk into the coop as it is. Good luck and have fun! Katie
how long is too long that hen can be off eggs? i had one on the eggs this morning went back out this afternoon and another was on them now no one is. are the ok or not? it was 50 out and sunny or should i still try and put her in broody box tonight if back on them?
