I have a banty hen, with no rooster in her life. She had recently decided to go broody. Suddenly the weather warmed up and she kicked into mother mode. She decided to nest up in the loft of the barn, and after a struggle, lots of yelling and pecking and fighting on her part, we caught her and got her down. She was sitting on 2 eggs. I tried the "break a broody" method, and put her into a dog crate with some wood and a wire grate in the bottom to not allow her to nest. after 3 days r so, it seemed to do the trick, and I let her back out into the barn with her little banty friend. The next day she was gone. It has been 3 days since I last saw her, and I know shes around somewhere, because the banty's poop is real small compared to the standards, and the standards dont have access to the barn. There are some HUGE poops in the barn now, and I now from other posts broodys will come off the nest occasionally to eat, drink, and drop a giant poop. I assume this large pile is hers. I just cant find her. I dont know what to do. If the eggs were fertile, I would let her sit on them. But I know they are not. Also she has a history of not laying. I have had these 2 bantys for almost 2yrs. The little one has never laid an egg, even for her previous owner, and she is 4 yrs old. The broody one has laid maybe 9 eggs I can account for in 2 yrs including the 2 I pulled from her recently. My friend that re-homed them to me told me that she did this before, and they thought she was grabbed by a predator and dragged off to be gone forever. They found her IN A TREE where she had built a nest and sat on 14 eggs until they rotted. She was gone for over a month when they found her, sitting on rotten eggs with thin shells from decomp, leaking stink. And she was STILL vicious when they removed her from the nest guarding that rotten mess with all she had. I have a feeling she is at it again, and she is just as determined.
I dont know what to do. I have 3 trees in my yard she could stand a chance to get into. The others are just too tall, no low enough branches for her to fly onto. Shes not in any of the trees and is no longer in the barn, but she must come back in to eat and drink (and poop) since theres evidence. My little bitty banty is lonely but I cant put her into general population because the standards will kill her. We need noisy chicken back! Apparently in broody mode she is silent chicken, because I dont even hear as much as a sigh from her. These 2 bantams are little "old" ladies, both 4-5 yrs old, and they were just here to live out their days. Never expected much from them in the way of eggs. They keep each other company.
If I can locate her, I might give her a couple eggs from my golden comets to sit on. They are 90+ % fertile so if I give her 3 eggs, at least 2 will hatch if she sticks with it. I just dont know if she'll be big enough to properly warm them or turn them, the comets lay HUGE eggs, usually too big to fit in a XL egg carton and still close the lid. Im thinking the babies will be small enough for her at first, but the time they are 3 weeks old they will be getting out of hand for her. She really wants to be a mom, but she's a virgin and a spinster. So the odds are against her. I really dont want more chicks right now, I just got a dozen from the hatchery. Plus these will be GC x GC mutts. Im ok with mutts, but I already have 3 birds in the coop, and theres only really room for 10. So with the dozen babies I have, Im over capacity as it is.
HELP!!
I guess what I need to know is what I can do to either get her OUT of broody mode for good, how I might be able to "track" her, and if I do find her, how to swap out some eggs (if I decide that will work for us) to see if she can hatch em. Or is it too much for a bantam to hatch out and care for standard chicks? Maybe golf balls instead to trick her? I dont want her to get eaten or injured, the other banty will die of loneliness and isolation. I also dont want to smell the stench of rotten eggs in my backyard in a month when she gives up on her own and comes home. Its getting nicer outside, and the summer breeze carrying gross stink isnt my idea of fresh air.
I dont know what to do. I have 3 trees in my yard she could stand a chance to get into. The others are just too tall, no low enough branches for her to fly onto. Shes not in any of the trees and is no longer in the barn, but she must come back in to eat and drink (and poop) since theres evidence. My little bitty banty is lonely but I cant put her into general population because the standards will kill her. We need noisy chicken back! Apparently in broody mode she is silent chicken, because I dont even hear as much as a sigh from her. These 2 bantams are little "old" ladies, both 4-5 yrs old, and they were just here to live out their days. Never expected much from them in the way of eggs. They keep each other company.
If I can locate her, I might give her a couple eggs from my golden comets to sit on. They are 90+ % fertile so if I give her 3 eggs, at least 2 will hatch if she sticks with it. I just dont know if she'll be big enough to properly warm them or turn them, the comets lay HUGE eggs, usually too big to fit in a XL egg carton and still close the lid. Im thinking the babies will be small enough for her at first, but the time they are 3 weeks old they will be getting out of hand for her. She really wants to be a mom, but she's a virgin and a spinster. So the odds are against her. I really dont want more chicks right now, I just got a dozen from the hatchery. Plus these will be GC x GC mutts. Im ok with mutts, but I already have 3 birds in the coop, and theres only really room for 10. So with the dozen babies I have, Im over capacity as it is.
HELP!!
I guess what I need to know is what I can do to either get her OUT of broody mode for good, how I might be able to "track" her, and if I do find her, how to swap out some eggs (if I decide that will work for us) to see if she can hatch em. Or is it too much for a bantam to hatch out and care for standard chicks? Maybe golf balls instead to trick her? I dont want her to get eaten or injured, the other banty will die of loneliness and isolation. I also dont want to smell the stench of rotten eggs in my backyard in a month when she gives up on her own and comes home. Its getting nicer outside, and the summer breeze carrying gross stink isnt my idea of fresh air.
