Moving a setting hen?

[ant1]

ok.
So I'm on day 7 with 4 eggs and added 1 more yesterday under my brooder. HOWEVER, a day ago, I saw another hen in the same spot - the two of them kind of crowding each other. The "new" one had shown some broody signs but it never lasted more than a day.
As of last night, the new broody miss is now on top of the eggs - she's not quite as good at covering em.

Is that normal behavior? Do they tag team like in the WWF? Should I try to isolate brooder one or two so that she can do her job? Is this a dominance issue?

 

[Moonkit]

ok.
So I'm on day 7 with 4 eggs and added 1 more yesterday under my brooder. HOWEVER, a day ago, I saw another hen in the same spot - the two of them kind of crowding each other. The "new" one had shown some broody signs but it never lasted more than a day.
As of last night, the new broody miss is now on top of the eggs - she's not quite as good at covering em.

Is that normal behavior? Do they tag team like in the WWF? Should I try to isolate brooder one or two so that she can do her job? Is this a dominance issue?

My hens usually form pairs in nestboxes when broody.. but they usually cover all the eggs just as well. I'll even leave pairs together when I move them. Like the the four broody bantams I have now.. One is a frizzled cochin and the other is a cochinXd'uccle cross.. they decided to pair up and refused to settle into a nest box until I gave them the "pretty pretty princess" lavender nest box.. apparently they're divas.

 

[Crooked-Creek]

Hello GallusSapiens, I would suggest moving her to a location that she can finish hatching her eggs without any interference. We use an old water trough, place it in a moderate temperature area, add food/water, relocate her and her eggs and lay a piece of wire mesh over the top of it. The wire is especially needed for the first few days to make sure the broody hen settles. When you relocate her and her eggs, I think she has a better chance of hatching. The biggest problem leaving the broody hen in a nesting box is when she gets up for food/water and another hen decides to lay an additional egg in her nest. The broody hen may settle into another nest, because her nest was occupied and her eggs go cold when the other hen gets up after she lays an egg. We have lost quite a few batches of eggs by leaving a broody hen with the flock. After the broody hen hatches all her eggs that will hatch, I would suggest moving her and her babies to a pen. We have had success placing them back with the flock, but you must place food/water at a location the babies can access. We have successful moved seven of seven broody hens this season. Good Luck

 

[drlcb]

Leave her alone. She will protect the chicks from any hen. You don't see sparrows or crows moving to isolated lairs to raise their young do you? If she is broody then she most likely has the follow through instincts to lay down her life to protect the ones that hatch on schedule. If you move her you stand the chance of her just abandoning the eggs and the nest. They have no problem walking away if things go awry pre hatch. You only have three other hens and no roosters right?

 

[AVintageLife]

Does not apply to incubator hatched chicks. Does apply to chicks that have been exposed to the germs/impurities of grown chickens.

So when someone says they bought some chicks from TSC to put under a broody, that's different from picking up some chicks from a farm?

 

[Cass]

So when someone says they bought some chicks from TSC to put under a broody, that's different from picking up some chicks from a farm?

Yes. Unless the farm chicks were hatched in an incubator and kept in a brooder box away from the flock.

BUT I wouldn't buy chicks from TSC to put under a broody unless I was there the day they arrived so they were only 2 -3 days old. Any older than that and the hen might not accept them.

 

[themadchicken]

Quote: Just wanted to add, look for an egg tooth on the TSC chicks. If they dont have a egg tooth i wouldn't try it. The lighter the color and bigger the tooth looks the younger the chick is. The tooth dosent shrink the chicks just get bigger in a few days.

 

[Dylon]

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[A Chicken Owner]

 

[A Chicken Owner]

This post has become very popular

Yes I agree