is my hen still broody?

[Ruby Mia]

one of my bantams has been broody for a couple of days and just today we have decided to hatch a few chicks. this morning she was sat on the eggs for about an hour and then we let them all out the run to free range as we do everyday and she came running out the nesting box. she been outside for almost two hours now just leaving the eggs. is this normal or does she not want to hatch them anymore? also, if she doesn't want to hatch them anymore, we dont have an incubator so is there any other way of hatching the chicks?

 

[charlie8352]

My chicken has done this except we have an electric opening door and just this morning she sat there on 3 fake eggs until about 12:30 and then she just walked out of the coop and did not go back in???? I don't know wether she is still Broody but I added some extra sawdust in her nesting box would this of worried her?? I haven't really had chickens for that long now but I would like to know if there is a way of seeing if she is still broody thanks Charlie

 

[esther5]

it's worth a try to persuade her to be broody. i lost most of mt flock to a fox so was desperate to hatch some chicks from the eggs we had left. i did a search...''how to make your hen broody'' and many people said you couldn't but one post said as a boy his uncle did it.

this is what i did and it worked with the 2 hens i tried it with who were showing no signs of broodiness.

find a nest sized box or hutch what has ventilation but can be closed up completely.

make a comfortable nest and stick the eggs in with your hen on top.

leave her there but let her out twice a day for food and water for around 30 mins.

it took 3-4 days before my hens went broody properly but they had little choice but to sit prior to that. after a week i left the door open during the day so they regulated their own sorties from the nest.

odette is proud mum to 3 chicks and princess is due on friday.

hope it works for you.

 

[esther5]

i should add that i stuck a few refrigerated eggs under princess to make her broody and purchased some eggs locally after a week when i was sure it had worked. i thought i would check the refrigerated eggs before i threw them....just in case. to my surprise, some were fertile so they ended up in the incubator. of those i have 2 day old chicks in my brooder so their first week was under a reluctant broody lol.

 

[Ruby Mia]

Thank you so much! I will try out your plan esther5

 

[esther5]

i'd be interested to know how it goes...

best wishes

 

[esther5]

Thank you so much! I will try out your plan esther5

how's it going, ruby?

 

[Ruby Mia]

both my bantams are lying on 11 eggs now and they have been for a week today. at the moment we have 2 chicks growing that we have seen using a torch, but unfortunately one of the eggs got stamped on by one of our other hens wanting to lay her egg and there was a tiny little baby chick inside which has died. so we put them in a box so that no more chicks would get stamped on, but they didn't seem to like it and just left the eggs. so we have put them back in the nest box and tomorrow were going to lock them in by putting a piece of wood outside the nest box and let them out for 30 mins everyday.