MJ's little flock

[Grammy60]

Good evening everyone

Peggy's eggs and the orange teacup my friend gave me a few years ago.

View attachment 2349725

Wow, that orange cup is so pretty my grandson that lived with us, loves orange so much that his wheelchair is orange

 

[BY Bob]

Good evening folks

Good evening everyone

Good morning all.

 

[rjohns39]

Good morning all.

Good morning Bob, have a great day

 

[Grammy60]

Good morning all.

Hello Bob have an awesome day

 

[Shadrach]

Ok, good, I had been doing that until yesterday when the pecking was so overwhelming, I shut the three other hens in the henhouse with their food while Ivy poked around the yard unmolested.

I'm going to follow your advice about leaving her to sit for three days or until she eats. I was very worried about the 40 hour stretch she did at first and was afraid she would weaken and starve. But now I know that's not unusual.

@MaryJanet
I'm going to change my advice, if that is what I've given.
The temptation is often to recommend what I/we would do, but of course, our circumstances and chickens are often very different and what might be applicable to one set of circumstances may not be suitable for another.
I was in a bit of a rush tryinng to catch up on the various threads and didn't think fully about your circumstances.
Usually I would suggest that a hen reluctant to leave the nest should be taken off, woken up fully, fed, chucked in a dust bath if they don't go of their own accord and then fed again before they go back on the nest making sure they have pooped while off the nest.
Having read more carefully I think you should try to discourage her broody behavior, rather than letting her continue.
There is no point in her being broody given a) she has no eggs, and b) any eggs she might have will not be fertile.
Get her off the nest.
Wake her up. What I usually do is make them stand. I slide my hand underneath them and left them. I do this repeatedly until they stand and then eat of their own accord.
What sometimes happens is one can lift a hen off her nest and place her in front of some food.
She may stay in the sitting position and eat some food, but she won't eat enough and often wont poop. It is really important that the hen is fully awake ime. Most hens here when fully awake will at some point jump in the air, make a bit of a screech and shake themselves.
The next thing is the eating. Most hens here, once standing and awake will eat something first, then they poop and then go to bathe or chat to the others. But, before they return to the nest they forage and if feed is still available, they eat again. It's the foraging and the second feed that seems to be important for the hens here.
The majority of the hens here do not lose weight when sitting.
So, wake her up. Destroy her nest and any other nest she may try to settle in. You will need to be prompt in collecting any eggs the other hens may lay because miss broody may well decide to sit on those.
Worst case put her in a cage. Make sure the cage is off the floor to encourage air flow. No bedding and no food. You will have to remove her from the cage at least once a day for her to feed and drink. I am told it helps if the cage is not within eyesight of the nest site they were occupying.

 

[rjohns39]

A while back we were talking about the mist / fog rising off the mountain. We've tried several times to get a picture of it, with no luck. Apparently the camera doesn't like fog. Today we got kind of lucky so here are a couple of shots.

 

[MaryJanet]

A while back we were talking about the mist / fog rising off the mountain. We've tried several times to get a picture of it, with no luck. Apparently the camera doesn't like fog. Today we got kind of lucky so here are a couple of shots.

View attachment 2350134View attachment 2350135

So pretty!

 

[MaryJanet]

@MaryJanet
I'm going to change my advice, if that is what I've given.
The temptation is often to recommend what I/we would do, but of course, our circumstances and chickens are often very different and what might be applicable to one set of circumstances may not be suitable for another.
I was in a bit of a rush tryinng to catch up on the various threads and didn't think fully about your circumstances.
Usually I would suggest that a hen reluctant to leave the nest should be taken off, woken up fully, fed, chucked in a dust bath if they don't go of their own accord and then fed again before they go back on the nest making sure they have pooped while off the nest.
Having read more carefully I think you should try to discourage her broody behavior, rather than letting her continue.
There is no point in her being broody given a) she has no eggs, and b) any eggs she might have will not be fertile.
Get her off the nest.
Wake her up. What I usually do is make them stand. I slide my hand underneath them and left them. I do this repeatedly until they stand and then eat of their own accord.
What sometimes happens is one can lift a hen off her nest and place her in front of some food.
She may stay in the sitting position and eat some food, but she won't eat enough and often wont poop. It is really important that the hen is fully awake ime. Most hens here when fully awake will at some point jump in the air, make a bit of a screech and shake themselves.
The next thing is the eating. Most hens here, once standing and awake will eat something first, then they poop and then go to bathe or chat to the others. But, before they return to the nest they forage and if feed is still available, they eat again. It's the foraging and the second feed that seems to be important for the hens here.
The majority of the hens here do not lose weight when sitting.
So, wake her up. Destroy her nest and any other nest she may try to settle in. You will need to be prompt in collecting any eggs the other hens may lay because miss broody may well decide to sit on those.
Worst case put her in a cage. Make sure the cage is off the floor to encourage air flow. No bedding and no food. You will have to remove her from the cage at least once a day for her to feed and drink. I am told it helps if the cage is not within eyesight of the nest site they were occupying.

Ok well, with my previous pattern of waking her, she was eating twice, drinking, pooping, bathng, and flapping with a screech per session, with a session morning and night.

I can't destroy her nest because it's everyone's nest (except for Janet, who's a little flexible about where she lays).

In the past when hens were broody, I put them on the roost at night which is in the henhouse (the nest is not in the henhouse). Two nights of roosting was enough for Peggy to quit. However Peggy fought me so hard I was doing her a cruelty, and that's why I'm trying gentler interventions with Ivy.

For now, I'll return to my previous pattern of ensuring she has time off the nest twice a day for sustenance and bathing.

 

[MaryJanet]

Good evening everyone


Wow, that orange cup is so pretty my grandson that lived with us, loves orange so much that his wheelchair is orange

It's a lively colour, vivid

 

[Ribh]

I've been pondering the "reset the clock" advice too. I assumed it meant the clock reset back to hour 1, but bringing Ivy out of her trance twice a day for food and water hasn't had an observable effect. Maybe the breeder meant the clock resets back to day 1? Anyway, it was slightly baffling.

Sorry, I probably didn't understand what I was being told. I assumed it was a reset to day one but in all honesty I try to be gentle but I do aim to break mine as quickly as possible. They go in my small coop with the coop door closed so they have a small run, food & water, can see their tribe but can't nest. Like Shad I try to get mine up & moving with a hand under & some gentle prods until they're awake & walking. At least our temps aren't high yet. That's when I really start worrying. I found Alpia spread over 4 large eggs yesterday. I'm going to have to watch her.