New Broody Hen- We are thrilled and clueless

[MommaBee]

So wouldn't you know that after 2-3 months of hatching dozens of eggs in a incubator our 14 month old speckled sussex has gone broody! YAY! Now what?
1.) Our eggs are not fertile. But I have access to some. How many should we try to place under her? Also will it mess up her hatch timing if she has already been sitting for 2 days.
2.) She is in the coop where everyone else lays. I have a feeling her friends will try to lay next to her, should I move her? She is a a tupperware bin that would be very easy to move. Its on the coop floor so I am not worried about the height. But we do have one mean hen who I am worried will pick on her.
3.) We have 2 coops, one big one with 11 week olds in it, and a small one with 7 one yr olds in it. Would it be smart IF she hatches any chicks to move the other 6 one year olds to the big run and let her raise the chicks alone? Or should we build something else for her.

So excited! I hope this works and she is a good mother. Please give us all the advice on broodys that you have! We will start reading too!

 

[DraigAthar]

Yay for broodies!

1. 9-12 is a good number for a standard breed. I hear they can cover up to 18, but always seems a bit much to me. You won't mess up her timing. Broodies don't actually count the days, heh. They just sit on the eggs until they hatch. I've had a broody on hold for several weeks while waiting for enough fertile eggs to put under her. She just kept sitting on the fake eggs until I replaced them with real ones, and then hatched them all out.

2. I always move broodies into their own mini-coop. It's just less hassle and worry all around. If you have the space, I say move her.

3. See my answer to #2.

Good luck!!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She should easily cover 10. Mark the eggs you put under her so you can remove the volunteers daily.

 

[MommaBee]

We finally found our broody some fertile eggs 2 weeks ago. She has been doing a fantastic job and by next Monday we will hopefully have a few chicks hatched from the dozen we put under her.

My question is: should we be feeding her anything special? Or giving her anything to help her stay healthy?

As you can see it, it took us a while to find her some fertile eggs to hatch. She is going on her 7th week of sitting. Her determination is amazing to me. She is in a separate pen from the other chickens, which is big enough for her to raise her babies in. So we could feed her a special diet if needed. Her comb just looks so dull, and she looks tired.

Any ideas?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd get her some good high protein grower feed like a game bird grower. You can continue to feed her and the chicks the same thing. I'd shoot for something from 20-25%.
I'd also put some vitamins and electrolytes in her water. I'm sure it's hot in the nest box now. Be careful not to overdose.
On her daily trips to the feeder, some plain whole fat yogurt wouldn't hurt either mixed with the feed - for the protein and probiotics.
Sprout some Black Oil Sunflower seed for a treat, it only takes about 3 days to sprout, very high in vitamins and protein.

 

[MommaBee]

Just an update:

She did a great job for he first time and we got 6 sweet lil babies from her... thought I would post a few pics I took last night. She ended up accidentally cracking one egg just slightly around day 14 from the eggcropsy. And her first one that hatched mysteriously died. And 2 were dead in egg. But we are thrilled with 6 out of 10. And have loved the hands off process. SO nice to watch this momma raise her babies.