Is she broody?

[NoNameHomestead]

I am going into my 2nd year as a chicken owner. I bought my flock of 6 as day old chicks, so a lot of things are still new to me. My ISA Brown has been on the best all of yesterday and today, her feathers are fluffed up and she makes a coo sounds when I touch her. I noticed today when I was collecting eggs, she kept one close to her and then rolled it to the opposite side of her body. I’ve heard that ISA’s will get broody but won’t stay on the best long enough for hatching. Is this true? I know this could depend on the individual.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Does sound like she's going broody. Do you want her to set on eggs?
If you want to break her, sooner the better. Best method is the wire cage.

 

[NoNameHomestead]

Yes, I want her to set.

 

[Kat C]

Are you ready to set eggs under her? If so go ahead and put the eggs you want to set under her. If she is broody she will start getting "happy" and adjusting the eggs under her body by body movements. (Usually our hens peck us for the first few eggs and then as they get more eggs they start getting all excited is the best word I can find - for a broody hen getting a clutch of eggs is very satisfying). Its the only way you will find out if she will stay broody for the long haul and be a good mother. We have hatched out over 1000 chicks under broody moms. Who is good and who isn't is hard to predict. Our first broody hen was a Buff Orphington. None of her sisters ever went broody. She was a stellar mom and we used her as brood mother many times. A few other hens who we thought would be good either broke set, or turned out to be lousy mothers for one reason or another. Really couldn't tell until we tried them. Here is a good article on raising chicks under a broody hen. Lots can go wrong, but it is worth it to watch a momma hen and her chicks.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree with KatC.

If you want to brood with her, set eggs. Do set ALL eggs at the same time so that they don't develop at different times, and separate her or partition her off so the others can't continue to lay eggs in that nest.

The other option is to mark the set eggs with black marker or pencil and pull eggs out, but that still leaves the hen to be disturbed and risks stomping on developing eggs.

I get my best results by isolating the hen. If you need to move her, that can be tricky as many hens literally brood to the spot they are in. I have both moved successfully and have gotten creative with carpentry skills to block brooding hens off from the rest of the flock. Absolutely, the hen needs no interruptions from day 18 to the first week of the chicks lives or you will have ruined hatches and crushed chicks.

I have had Black Stars brood. I've not had a Red Star, but I've heard it happens. It really is a toss of the genetics and very individual for the hen. Some of my first time broodies were some of my best broodies from surprising sources, though, heritage breeds, mutts, Silkies and Cochins are typically prone to brooding.

You never know until you try. And, for obvious reasons, only use inexpensive eggs for a first try until you know that your hen is faithful.

Good luck. Keep us posted. There are several really good brooding threads here on BYC.

LofMc

 

[Kat C]

Yes Lady of M is exactly right. There is some discussion of moving broody hens in the article I linked to. We have several extra large pens in our yard that we use for broody hens. Here is how we do it. We are saving up setting eggs, but in the meantime we put a few marked eggs under the prospective brood mother. After a few days, we come at night, put a light towel over her head and move her to the brood pen. We let her set on the marked eggs for another day to make sure the move didn't cause her to break set. Then we remove the marked eggs and replace with the setting that we want her to hatch. The marked eggs will have started to develop but there is not much fetus there and they can usually be eaten. The most you will see is a red spot and a few red spider lines. Since we usually have a bunch of hens going broody we usually have a back up hen if the first one breaks set. Meanwhile we collect our setting eggs from breed pens so we know who is the father and mother. After putting them in a pen together we wait until 7 eggs have been laid since they can still have sperm in the oviduct from being out in the yard with other roosters. Then we start collecting eggs. Here are some hints on storing setting eggs http://www.fresheggsdaily.com/2015/03/hatching-dos-and-donts-egg-selection.html we don't follow it 100% but try to keep at optimum temps and not use eggs older than 7 days. Of course if you only have one rooster and know what hen lays what egg you can just start collecting any time you want. We have had hens wait a week for their setting eggs and still do the full 3 weeks setting. But I would extend a broody hen much beyond that.
Some broody hens are so serious they almost starve themselves. We make our hens get up every several days to eat and dust bathe if they don't do that themselves.
So many things to learn, so many things that can go wrong, but oh the reward when your new momma starts calling her chicks to food and taking them out to eat So fun when the new momma takes a dust bath and the kids imitate, often getting hit with the dirt momma is stirring up! Its worth the trouble for sure.

 

[aart]

My ISA Brown has been on the best all of yesterday and today, her feathers are fluffed up and she makes a coo sounds when I touch her.

Does she spend all night on the nest too? I don't call 'broody' until they are on the nest for 3 days and nights.

I get my best results by isolating the hen. If you need to move her, that can be tricky as many hens literally brood to the spot they are in.

Ditto Dat^^^
I move bird to broody enclosure(well after dark) with fake eggs and give her a couple days to make sure she's going to settle in, then give her fresh fertile eggs.

 

[NoNameHomestead]

So I guess she was practicing for the real thing. She isn't on the nest anymore.

 

[Kat C]

So I guess she was practicing for the real thing. She isn't on the nest anymore.

That happens

 

[NoNameHomestead]

Thank you to everyone for posting. At least I got some really good info from it.