Is My hen broody?

[neferset]

Something I've learned in the last few years:

A hen will go broody on fertile eggs.
A hen will go broody on infertile eggs.
A hen will go broody on those porcelain false eggs.
A hen will go broody on an Easter basket full of plastic eggs and jelly beans.
A hen will go broody on a nest full of ping pong balls.
A hen will go broody on a light bulb.
A hen will go broody on a glue bottle.

The same hen will refuse to lay in a nest with golf balls.

I don't know. Chickens can be crazy sometimes. If you are in doubt, catch her off the nest and candle the eggs in about a week or so. If they aren't fertile and you want chicks, get some fertile eggs for her and replace the ones she is sitting on.

 

[Hopefully]

Ahh! Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I totally ditched this thread for some reason

lol
That is crazy! Maybe the golf balls aren't comfortable to them? But then again... a lightbulb?! WOW!

I can't get any fertile eggs at the moment, otherwise I'd definitely stick some under her. I want to candle the eggs, and will soon. She's been sitting faithfully on those eggs. She gets up early early in the morning for about 10 min (I was spying on her) then she sits for the REST of the day and night! CRAZY! I want to observe her in there but she's under a tree that tons of bees are attracted to right now.. I've never been stung and don't plan on it. The bees leave by nightfall though so I usually peek at her as the last bit of light fades away.

I did touch an egg this morning though while she was not looking and off eating. They are SO warm! There better be a chick in one. haha, if not, all well.

 

[neferset]

A lightbulb, yes. I always wondered what she intended to hatch.

We had our standard Australorp x EE hen sit for three weeks on ping pong balls before we finally got some shipped Turkey eggs for her. Then she sat for 4 weeks on those, but they were bad eggs, so my guy threw them out. Then she disappeared for all but feeding times for a while. Then she came back with two tiny bantam chicks. She was determined to hatch eggs, even if she had to steal them.

But yeah, golf balls appear to be uninteresting and alien, though Elmer's Yellow Wood Glue isn't.

You might try getting eggs shipped in if all else fails.

 

[Hopefully]

Quote:
That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing that!

Would my hen be depressed if her eggs didn't hatch? How would it affect her?

 

[PortageGirl]

Well, what they do is sit and sit and sit and sit... and since it's hard on them, not enough feed, not enough exercise, not enough water sometimes, they get weak and it can cause them to get ill and susceptible to disease and illness. This is why we were trying to say it was better she had some eggs that had a better chance of hatching, because once she had any hatch, she’d leave the old, non-viable eggs and concentrate on her babies.

It’s not so much that she gets depressed as they get so darned single minded and determined that they won’t quit and get themselves sick.

 

[neferset]

Quote:

I absolutely agree. With some of them, it's like they get obsessed. If you look at what I said about poor Raven (the Australorp x EE hen), she sat for just shy of 3 months. She is still recovering from it and, yes, it did take its toll on her. If I had to do it over again, I'd find another way. You can break a hen out of broodiness by sitting her on wire or ice cubes (I've heard), but the worst thing to do is just to let her sit on eggs that won't hatch if you can help it. Because she won't stop.

 

[Hopefully]

I've been worried about Lucy (my hen) not eating, so I've been putting food beside her. She doesn't scream at me because she appreciates that I bring the food to her (free service lol) It's OK if I do that, right? I don't want my baby to go hungry just for these eggs.

ALSO.. I know it's been 4 weeks since my roosters have been gone. Yea.. I had 2 roosters. They mated with Lucy before I got rid of them, but that was more than 4 weeks ago. *Sigh I just want her to be there for a purpose, you know? I would get some fertile eggs, but I can't now. My grandma's hens lay fertile eggs, she usually eats them. Should I ask her for one so I can put it under my hen? But then that'd be a standard chicken... not a bantam.
I'm getting stressed over this. I hate that my Lucy has to sit in that can all day and night so loyally when she should be roaming around having fun. She's only 8 months old! She's still a baby lol

Anyways... is there any hope?

Please answer truthfully..

Sincerely,
Very Worried Owner Who Can't Get This Off Her Mind!!!

 

[neferset]

Standard eggs hatch just fine under bantam hens, so unless for some reason you don't want a standard chick at all or have nothing you can do with one, there would be no problem. Actually, you can hatch just about anything under a broody bantam, so long as she can cover it. (I'm having the inappropriate image of a bantam hen trying to set an ostrich egg.)

In fact, I have one hen who hatched 3 standard roosters. She mothered them for so long that it was ridiculous to watch, especially when she was putting her wings around her 3 huge boys.

But, if you truly don't want her brooding anything yet, you can stop her. I mentioned two ways in my last post. I've just never had a reason to break broody behavior (though I probably should have that once).

Brooding isn't really a problem exactly if it doesn't stretch into months like it did for Raven and putting food and water where she can easily reach them is a good thing.

Mind, if I had some bantam eggs at the moment, I'd send them to you. The last ones I had went into the incubator. I think my last adult bantam girl is setting somewhere at the moment. (Edited to add: By last, I mean the last one who doesn't already have a bunch of chicks she's looking after.)

 

[PortageGirl]

It's just -barely- possible, but really do not pin all your hopes to it!!! With a forum name like yours Hopefully, I don't want to crush all your hopes, and I believe in staying Hopefull, I just also believe in doing everything I can to help keep that hope realistic.

This is why I suggested a few days ago that you get the fertile eggs and tuck them under her in addition to her eggs... now there's more time in between and if any of her eggs hatched by some miracle, the eggs from your grandmother's hens would get abandoned most likely.

Now I really think you should wait a couple more weeks, and if nothing hatches after the 10th... 12th of November at the very very latest (IMO), nothing has hatched, you should get your girl off those eggs and get rid of the can, eggs, nest, everything. Keep her where she cannot get broody, where she can eat and eat and eat, get strong and healthy and if she ever does this again, and you want to hatch some eggs, put some of your grandma's hen's eggs under her right away.

 

[Hopefully]

Thanks guys!
If these eggs don't hatch, I guess I'll get a standard chicken egg from my grandma's... 1 standard chicken wont be too bad, I guess. (I usually go for the smaller breeds, but all well

My dad thinks some of the eggs are fertile... I won't get my hopes up lol I do get my hopes up a lot.. more than I should!