Mildly broody

[EmmaDonovan]

No, they don't lay whole brooding. Nor while raising chicks. Nor while molting afterward. Nor during the following winter, lol. I had some beautiful, sweet BO that laid about 8 eggs every spring and that was about it. Every year for three years. Then they made lovely soups and dumplings, lol. I have 2 girls that just went broody. Rather than fight them about it, I gave them two eggs each. They each hatched out one chick.

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I hadn't thought about that, just getting one or two fertilized eggs and letting her hatch them rather than fight the process. Hm. I don't know much about hatching. It might be too hot right now, seems like 100+ temps would be too hard on chicks, they're hard enough on adult hens.

Just went out to do an ice run and egg check. There were two (real) eggs under the broody, she was fine with me taking them. She got up and left the nest and went out to chase frozen peas with everyone else.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

New cage is coming tomorrow. The broody hen is on and off the nest. She is still coming out to eat treats with the others.

Where exactly do you buy just two or three hatching eggs? People either want you to buy six or more or they're scammers. Are there hatcheries in the Tucson area that are legit and will sell you only two or three hatching eggs?

 

[DobieLover]

New cage is coming tomorrow. The broody hen is on and off the nest. She is still coming out to eat treats with the others.

Where exactly do you buy just two or three hatching eggs? People either want you to buy six or more or they're scammers. Are there hatcheries in the Tucson area that are legit and will sell you only two or three hatching eggs?

It is not practical to put just 2 or 3 eggs under a hen due to the uncertainty of the fertility of the eggs or the hatch rate you will get.

If only 1 egg hatches, the mother can raise the chick but when she weans it, its on its own to work its way into the pecking order.

If no eggs hatch, the hen did all that work for nothing and is rewarded with a stint in the breaker after all.

Hatching eggs are usually 6 minimum for this reason. And if shipping is involved, most want/need at least a dozen because shipping reduces egg viability.

Did you break your broody when the crate arrived?

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I got the crate but I haven't put her in it. She comes out to eat and drink and get treats. I put her on the roost with her sisters at night. She stays there until morning.

I haven't decided whether to give her some eggs or not. I've found a local breeder so I can purchase six eggs locally.

I don't know if we can raise chicks in our current run setup. It was built as a temporary run for adults and will take work to convert it for chicks. I'm currently working on the coop, shoring it up for the monsoon season.

We had hoped to have our permanent run rebuilt before the heat hit but it came early this year and really threw a wrench into our lives. No one was ready for 100+ temps in March, grrrr...

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I think we are having too many problems with flock members not getting along right now to introduce chicks, so she'll have to be broken. She is still cluck-cluck-clucking but spending less time in the nest. Most of the time she's just doing normal chicken things but yesterday afternoon she strutted around and shrieked for a little bit. That freaked out her sisters who jumped away and stared at her. "What in the world is wrong with you?"

I might try the car ride method tomorrow. If that doesn't work she'll go into broody jail.

 

[CraziChknLady]

Is your broody breaker an elevated all wire dog crate? She needs to be out of nesting material with lots of air circulation around her to help cool off her belly. Sometimes people make the mistake of putting them in a plastic crate and the nesting behavior never breaks because they can still sort of nest on a solid surface.

Would the dog crate need to have wire on bottom or not? I'm worried about bumblefoot,unless it's such a minimal time that it won't matter? I've got a small cage or an old rabbit hutch with small enclosure,not sure if either of those would be suitable.

 

[DobieLover]

Would the dog crate need to have wire on bottom or not? I'm worried about bumblefoot,unless it's such a minimal time that it won't matter? I've got a small cage or an old rabbit hutch with small enclosure,not sure if either of those would be suitable.

A 2x4 or 1x4 or 5 is placed on the floor of the wire cage for them to sit on. It is very important to have lots of cool air flow all around the hen to cool off her belly. It may also help during very warm weather to dunk her in COOL water a few times a day and putting her back in the crate wet.

 

[CraziChknLady]

A 2x4 or 1x4 or 5 is placed on the floor of the wire cage for them to sit on. It is very important to have lots of cool air flow all around the hen to cool off her belly. It may also help during very warm weather to dunk her in COOL water a few times a day and putting her back in the crate wet.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the explanation and idea. Had to modify mine a bit. Used rabbit hutch/ enclosure during day then moved her inside at night. Have an old ferret/rat cage I repurposed, but had to put mats in bottom as the wire spacing was too wide. Didn't want feet to get caught. Placed branches in both areas so she couldn't nest. She was able to be near everyone in both areas and after so many nights, and when I could feel her body temp decrease, I put her on the roost at night. Broke the broody hen! Of course had another go broody right after that, so I just did the same thing. She took 4-5 days though. Thanks again!