is there a way to force a hen to go broody?

[shaggy]

Quote:
thank you -- good advice .. as soon as i find out of it is female i might give it a shot

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm sorry for the loss of your hen.

But really, I think it would be far easier to devise a better, different location for your brooder than to attempt forcing a hen to go broody right when your new chicks are due to arrive. This might be a fun & interesting project to attempt, but I would still have a good Plan B for a brooder just in case the hen decides she doesn't want to accept the chicks. I have little success here getting a hen to accept chicks that weren't their own even though I've tried all the ideal ways to make it happen. My hens seem to recognize their own chicks by the sound of their cheeps, and if they haven't engaged in conversation before they were hatched then they want nothing to do with them. Other folks have had better success with this, so it's worth a try. But just have a good Plan B in place, just in case.

And Buff Orps tend to be a broodier breed than RIRs.

Let us know how things work out!

 

[alpinefarm]

I've had a little bit of success in getting hens to accept 1 or 2 chicks at a time, but I've never tried it with a whole slew at once.

It can be helpful to isolate the hen (in a dog crate in the house) for a day or several, prior to introducing the chicks. Let her get bored in a quiet, dark place, nothing to do, but be sure she is very comfortable, favorite foods, lots of bedding. Then place the chick(s) in under her at night when she is groggy. But keep an eye on things carefully for that night and, especially, in the morning when she realizes fully that she has company!

One time I tried this, the hen beaked the chicks a few times, tossing them across the crate even, though it was just to get them away from trying to weasel under her. They became afraid of her, despite their urge to seek a mama, and stayed at the far end of the crate. She did, after a day or so, change her mind and decide they were incredibly lovable. You just never know. You will need to be very attentive, remove them/give up totally if she pursues them with aggressive intent. You cannot let them get cold if she rejects them at first or ignores them. Keep trying it in spurts, if she is mostly tolerant, keeping them warm in a brooder box in between sessions with the hen.

And, yeah, have a back-up plan! The 1st week is the most critical/fragile time for chicks. You could keep them in the house for a week, then move them outside (with a brooder/heat set-up, of course).

 

[squeakyballs]

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That worries me... I wonder what went wrong? Was she broody? If so, for how long? How old were the chicks?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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Every hen has her own individual component of broody skills. You can't expect every one to behave the same way to the same circumstances. The best you can do is learn the common tendencies, the ideal methods (like making moves/changes at night), and your own hen's behaviors, and then go from there.

 

[shaggy]

thank you everyone for your wonderful advice

like usual i am putting the cart before the horse


step 1 --- rebuild my chicken run to be dog-proof (fence perimeter going 1 foot underground, heavy guage wire with a layer of chicken wire)

step 2 --- create a "broody corner" to isolate the mommy-to-be from the rest of the flock

step 3 -- get a hen to go broody for at least a week

step 4 -- once the hen is broody and stays broody for a week sitting on fake eggs - order my replacements

step 5 -- sneak my replacements underneath her while she is sleeping

step 6 -- drink lots of coffee, stay up all night, make sure they are bonding before crashing out for a long long nap


-- edit --

of my remaining 3 chickens ... my buff orpingtons are the most docile and the silkie is the most aggressive (within their flock)

with animals outside the flock (including humans) the silkie is the most (docile? scared?) and the Orpington would be the first to peck a dog in the face