Montana

[BadgerHill]

FlySammyJ, All I have are mutt crosses. Otherwise I would spot you some eggs! Next year I should have both amaracaunas and Marans as well as welsummers and crested cream Legbars. Sadly they are babies now. Have fun picking from shiptons or tractor supply!

 

[rookiefarmers]

Put these under my broody blue laced red wyandotte and dark Brahma girls. Pray for them! First time broody moms and our first time hatching. I would be lying if I said I was not worried about all the what its. But off we go! Today is day 2.

 

[DuginMT]

Put our first clutch of 8 eggs under our BA broody hen today. She went broody about four days ago. We selected three EE eggs, and the rest are various brown eggs. Hopefully they are all fertile, our rooster King remains very healthy. I am worried that the broody hen has been moving around quite a bit, it seems she has not stayed on the same nest for a day or more, so I may have jumped the gun a bit. I did mark the eggs we are trying to hatch. Hopefully now that she has a clutch of eggs under her and is warming them up, she will stay in the same nest! If not, I guess we just lost eight eggs! Hoping for at least two more pullets out of this attempt, but if it fails I guess we can try again in a month or two. Have a great weekend!

 

[3BirdGirlz]

My incubators are full and I even have eggs under a broody cochin! My husband is going to kill me! Silver laced cochin, milli fleur cochin, bantam Salmon Faverolle, bantam BLR Wyandottes, and call duck eggs!!!!! This all started out for my girls's 4H projects...but I'm thinking I'm nuts and maybe addicted now.

 

[karlamaria]

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Put our first clutch of 8 eggs under our BA broody hen today.  She went broody about four days ago.  We selected three EE eggs, and the rest are various brown eggs.  Hopefully they are all fertile, our rooster King remains very healthy.  I am worried that the broody hen has been moving around quite a bit, it seems she has not stayed on the same nest for a day or more, so I may have jumped the gun a bit.  I did mark the eggs we are trying to hatch.  Hopefully now that she has a clutch of eggs under her and is warming them up, she will stay in the same nest!  If not, I guess we just lost eight eggs!  Hoping for at least two more pullets out of this attempt, but if it fails I guess we can try again in a month or two.  Have a great weekend!

when they get off the nest to eat or drink, someone always seems to take the broodys nest. You may need to lick her in so to speak so she can set and hatch. You will need to let her out once a day locking up the eggs from others until she is done and back onto the eggs.

 

[ReptileMom]

I agree with KarlaMaria. I have had not luck with those who go broody in the nest boxes where others have access to the eggs. The only way any have completed a hatch is to lock her in a crate with food and water, or in a nest box and let out when she needs water and food.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

It depends on the hen at my house. Last year I had a great momma hen sit on two separate batches successfully in the coop. She always new what nest was hers and no one dared go there But this years first broody hen is different....nest hopping and such. So I did lock her in a pen where she is happily sitting on eggs

 

[montanachicks]

Dugin MT, are you the one who had pics on here last year of a couple of your girls wearing the Chicken Aprons? Did those work out for you, and mind me asking where you got them?

 

[FlySammyJ]

I guess I got lucky with my broody *knocks on wood*, she's on day 8 in the coop's favorite nest and it's her first time. I have a crate on hand if I need to move her, but I haven't had problems so far. Everyone's started laying in the next one over, so I guess she's been telling them what's what

. She's definitely got her "mama growl" down pretty good - when I went in to check on her yesterday I thought she was gonna kill me!

 

[DuginMT]

Thanks for the advice all! I went out of town overnight yesterday and got back today and was happy to find the BA still on her nest, but with 10 new eggs under her in addition to the original 8! It is the favorite nest in the coop and gets lots of traffic. I pulled the new eggs out of there and left the marked eggs. This is our first try and I think I will have to segregate her off from the rest of the coop and feed and water her jail-cell style. Luckily there is an egg collection door right by her nest to put things in and take things out. I don't think this hen is too fierce, she doesn't growl much and doesn't peck, she just puffs up and puts her head down, her tail up, and spreads her wings slightly.

Montanachicks, we are still using the original five aprons full time, rotating them as needed on the 12 hens. They are holding up very well and do help grow feathers back on the hen's back, but do little to protect the base of the tail or the rump and undercarriage. I think they are worth it, though, and the birds got used to them pretty quick. It was funny the first time though, after putting on the first apron - the other chickens went nuts! I got them from Louise's Country Closet. I see she sells through Amazon now, I tried to post the link but BYC isn't letting me, so if you just search for Chicken Aprons or Chicken Saddles on Amazon you should find it. I believe the cost is $4.50 each plus shipping. You save a little by getting the five-pack, that is how I ended up with five!