My First Broody!

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I decided not to candle tonight for Helen’s eggs due to hatch next Tuesday. Maybe tomorrow. She’s been very calm about being broody but I don’t have anyone to help me tonight.

Prudence is still broody and crazy as a loon. I did candle my incubator eggs tonight, tossed 1/6 chicken eggs and, disappointingly, 8/12 guinea eggs. It may be a blessing in disguise, though. Nine chicks seems a much more reasonable number to skip under Prudence when they hatch 7/8.
 
Well, I tried to move Prudence to prep for giving her the incubator eggs. She’s definitely disturbed but still halfway broody, willing to be confined, just a little bit confused seeming. Hopefully she settles back down. I put her in a large dog crate in the coop. As long as it goes well, I’ll move Helen, too, into a crate. Space is at a premium here!
 
I decided to leave my broody, Spot, in the coop with her 6 eggs. I did make a little barrier so the babies can’t get out/fall etc. I went ahead and put a small waterer and chick feed in their space in the coop.
Space is at a premium with me too, currently have 11 4-day old chicks in the brooder, 3 4week olds in the dog crate/small coop. So I’m hoping she is a good mom and the Roo/other hens aren’t crazy!
 
Well, she wasn’t satisfied with either crate, so I let her out to wander. She seems like she’s looking for a new nest or ... chicks? Maybe I flipped a switch with all the changes and she thinks she’s done. I hope she’ll choose another nest and then I’ll try moving her again, at night this time.
 
Michelle Farmer-Brown said:
Uh oh
Click to expand...
Sigh, right? I have moved heaven and earth and gotten rid of untold numbers of other birds, not to mention all the moves I made for her, and now it's not even female. I could have kept every one of those bantam cockerels and had a little rooster flock. Suddenly, I don't even like the little muppet. He isn't even very nice.

But, funny story about Prudence. I thought I'd have to tell you all I'd disturbed her too much. I wanted to move two dog crates into the coop, one for my pair of turkey poults and the other for a blind pullet. I actually thought either the poults or the blind chick might be good roosting with the flock and I wanted to use the crates for Helen and Prudence, but as I was moving things around, I picked up Prudence, still in her nest, and moved her. Halfway through my redecoration, she got up and left. Efforts to get her to settle in the crates failed. I gave her back her nest and she would not sit. Yet she's walking around the yard, clearly still feeling broody and looking rather lost. Tonight when I shut the flock in for the night, she was in her usual, pre-broody spot on the door. As I was grabbing chicks to put them in the coop, I noticed she was down again, defending the spot where her nest used to be from chicks who wanted to sleep there.

So I did what my gut told me to: I gave her back her nest. Granted, it's not in exactly the same spot, it's now two feet up in the air, wedged between a dog crate and a wall, atop a brick to help it sit level, but she's back sitting again. Never again will I disturb a broody hen. I think having to mark eggs is a hassle, but I'm willing to do it. Now let's hope she stays, funny thing.

High Flier Prudence.jpg
 

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