Independant Broody

[AltonaAcres]

So this past spring, some of my neighbor friends had 2 broody D'uccles. They were like, yeah, we have a young rooster in our flock, but these girls probably won't successfully hatch many eggs, as they are so tiny. (they were sitting on 17 eggs). A few weeks later the eggs began hatching one after another till all but one egg hatched. Then they had 14 polish-D'uccle crosses, and 2 siklie-polish crosses to get rid of. To make it even harder, they were all black, and they were mostly males. No one wanted any, so they put 'em all in a big cage, to sell to some guy who takes unwanted chickens to butcher. They were about 3 months old then. I'm a sucker for chickens, so I decided I just HAD to "rescue" 2 of the little pullets. I've now had these two for about 7 months. I named them Penelope & Puff. The other day, I noticed one of them, "Penelope", was missing, when I counted all my chickens for the night. I was SO sad! Then, Lo and Behold, two days later when I was throwing down some scratch for my flock, she re-appeared. She looked fine! A predator most likely didn't injure her like I was afraid of. She ate and drank like she hadn't seen food in years. I tried to watch her to see where she disappeared to, but she was taking her good old time. She wasn't in the coop that night, and I didn't see her when I fed the chickens this morning. I'm guessing she's brooding, unless she somehow escapes and them came back?! Last time I had a broody go missing, I finally found her in some tall grass on her eggs, but I must have trampled down her hiding spot, bc the next morning all that was there was a pile of feathers. . I felt AWFUL. Anyways, what should I do this time? Let nature take it's course? Try and find her and help her? Move her? I really don't want bunch of chicks I wasn't planning on to take care of, but if she does all the work, I'm game. Once she comes out of her hiding spot with her "kids", I'll probably move her and her chickies into a safe, hawk-free little pen. But is there anything I should do now? It's supposed to get REALLY cold this weekend. Let me know! P.S. I have Mareks in my flock, so I don't really want to disturb her, or move her closer to her sick flockmates.

 

[Yardmom]

It sounds like she is setting where night predators are likely to get her. Do what you can to find her. You can move broody chickens. Some recommend doing it at night, but I have done it during the day. She does not have to be put with the flock. Just move her eggs or giving her new ones might be better. You could do the new eggs without finding her nest if you just catch her. I would recommend putting her in a cage with her own supply of food and water. The cage only needs to be big enough for her eggs and the food and water. If you don't want her to set just take the eggs away. You might have to keep up with the coop eggs so she doesn't just set in there.

 

[AltonaAcres]

Ok, so here's a big update. After disappearing for two more days Penelope returned once again. And..............we found out where she's been hiding. Under my 10 x 12 shed! There's about half a foot of space under it at the highest point. What if I put up some grate over the entrance? And I could give her food, water, bedding, etc.. Then, she'd have space, safety, and privacy. I could move the grate away while I did morning chores, So she could have a little break. The only thing is that I don't want to put too much effort into her eggs bc there's no guarantee how long the chicks would live, as we have a Mareks positive flock. Let me know your thoughts! I can't get to her, as I obviously can't crawl under my shed, I can't even see her with a head lamp. I have no idea what I'm doing!

 

[Yardmom]

Sounds like you found a cage for her.

 

[Yardmom]

Yes letting her free during the day works great. My broody knew the routine. Her cage was in the coop, so I would let her out during chores. She would go back in by the time I was ready to leave.

 

[AltonaAcres]

OK! I'll try it out