Is my hen going broody? In need of advice

[elizabethzw]

Thank you all for the information.

 

[stinkysneakers]

I'm planning now to give her a couple nights to demonstrate her broodiness before I get eggs for her, to make sure she isn't giving up on hatching some babies. I have a friend of a friend who can hook me up with some maran eggs (they're the ones that lay the dark brown eggs, right?) or it that doesn't work I'll be heading to the farmer's market on Saturday to ask around. If that fails too, it's off to craigslist!

If I get roosters I plan to rehome them locally as much as I can; I'd hate to have to cull them for the freezer and I don't think the neighbors would appreciate the mandatory alarm clock. But if that doesn't work out, plan B is keep the roos and fresh eggs for the whole neighborhood!

I just moved her to a secluded broody area inside the run where I'm hoping she'll feel safe and have some room, since the nesting box she was in is up off the ground and not very big. Her new nest is an old tire lined with rags and full of pine needles, with a child's size card table over top of it to keep the rain out and draped with fabric for privacy and darkness. She has her own waterer and her own feeder with layer feed in it (until I can get out tomorrow and get her some chick starter). She has about a three foot by three foot area fenced in with lattice to stretch her legs and relieve herself. What's the rule of thumb for when to candle eggs and what does "lockdown on day 18" mean?

Right now I have two birds. The other one, Lucy -- a Rhode Island Red -- likes to lay in the far right box where Louise was in the video. I started out with four, but a hawk claimed Thelma -- unknown breed -- and a fox got Ethyl -- my Delaware darling -- before our run was as secure as it is now. Their run area is 12 feet by 25 feet, which makes me think I have room for more. And I let them out in the mornings to free range and bring them in later in the day when the sun starts to set. They roost in a large doghouse modified to hold several rows of 1 inch pvc pipe for them to perch.

I'm really grateful for all y'all's willingness and experience! And pleasantly surprised that I got so many responses so fast

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

Hi StinkySneakers,
My first hens were Buffs that went broody, great Mamas. Mine growled at me, puffed up like a blowfish, and up went her tail. I separated her from the rest of the hens, made her a broody house out of pallets & plywood and was away from the main coop, and put her on lockdown. I would give her fresh food & water daily, but the door was kept closed, had to do this, because the other hens kept going in and laying eggs, and then I did not know which were old & which were new. The large poop that she will have mid lay, I scooped out with a child's shovel. I had one buff who went through 2 hatches, her comb & waddle were almost white, they got so pale. It took almost a week for the other hens to accept her back into the group once she was done laying.
I have a hen & two roos that my Buff hatched out last spring, they are half siblings, same father, different mothers. The boys keep tag teaming her, and I told my hubby, I do not want a special needs chick. Last week Lollypop was showing signs of going broody, two days ago I found her in the corner (both hens avoid the nest boxes like the plague). I messaged one of the teachers at my daughter's school, who has hens, and asked her for a couple of eggs. Got them from her yesterday, cleaned out the spare coop I have, and put the eggs & Lollypop in, and put her on lockdown. Took a peek at her this afternoon, and she is quietly sitting on her eggs. Because she is only a year old, I am going to keep my distance, and only go in to give her fresh food & water, I may do the food & water change at dusk, so I won't disturb her. Her coop is 3 ft wide & 6 ft deep, and all enclosed. The roos really tore her up with all the mating going on, so this will give her time to rest. Hope she is broody, and you get the Maren eggs for her.

 

[3KillerBs]

Great idea posting the video. I clicking on this thread because I'm suspecting that one of my dark Brahmas is trying to go broody. Mine does bite or try to bite, but isn't as tight on the nest yet. It was terrific to actually see the behavior rather than just reading about it.

 

[stinkysneakers]

She seems bent on the idea, so I got her some eggs today at the farmer's market. I had to visit several vendors to find one that hadn't refrigerated their eggs, but a lot of them gave me their cards and said if I ever need any to just call them the night before the market and they'd set some aside for me.

When I was trying to figure out broodiness, I watched a lot of youtube videos of broody behavior. It helped a lot!

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

My test as to whether she deserves eggs or not is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of roosting in her favorite spot. She certainly looks broody and I think you will find her on the nest after dark. I have had some hens spend one night on the nest and then not go back. Hens going broody depends on hormones and sometimes those hormone don’t fully kick in, but I’ve never had a problem with a hen that has spent two consecutive nights on the nest.

If you hatch chicks you will probably get some roosters. Do you have a plan for them?

It looks like you have more chickens, not just the one. Other hens often like to lay in the nest with a broody and most broodies will let them. When you get the fertile eggs, mark them so you can tell which ones belong. I use a black Sharpie and make two circles, one the long way and one the short way so I can tell at a glance which ones belong. Then, you need to check under her each day after the other hens have laid and remove any eggs that don’t belong. As long as you collect them every day, you can still eat them. Your eggs are not fertile so you don’t need to worry about them developing, but if too many eggs build up under her so she can’t cover them all, some of her fertile eggs can cool off and die.

If she is truly broody, you can remove her and set her on the ground when you check for new eggs. She will probably sit there for a minute or two, but she should soon either hop back on the nest or leave to eat, drink, take a dust bath, or poop. When she finishes that, she will return to the nest.

A hen stores up a lot of fat, especially in the vent area. She’ll mostly live on that fat while she is broody, so she doesn’t need to eat and drink a lot. A broody hen can lose a lot of weight while broody, but it’s just fat stored for that purpose. Don’t freak out if she starts looking skinny.

She can be pretty secretive about leaving the nest too. Her instinct is to try to hide the nest. You may never see her off the nest, but she should get off once or twice a day. In really hot weather I’ve seen a hen leave the nest twice a day and stay off over an hour each time. In colder weather she may come off once a day for only 15 minutes or so.

They also hold their poop until they go off the nest to eat and drink. You’ll probably find a huge stinky poop from when she comes off the nest. Don’t let that worry you if you see it. It’s perfectly normal.

That’s about it. Good luck and congratulations.