Aluzya
Chirping
My 1 year old Icelandic hen went broody about 2 weeks ago. I had moved her because she wasn't in a safe place where she had decided to do her business. I moved her at night and she was sitting on the fake egg the next morning. I had put her in a dog crate in our shed. I was wondering at the time if the 3-ish week old pullets I had in a separate broody box in there would trigger her into thinking that her eggs hatched even though she had only been broody for a couple of days at that point. I let her out that first day after work and she ended up not going back into the crate but "seemed" interested in the pullets in the brooder. By the next day she was less broody and the following she was back to her normal self. I'm thinking that she broke because I moved her and not because of the pullets but I don't know. I was going to use her to finish hatching some eggs that I had in the incubator at the time which have hatched this past Thursday into Friday.
She's back to showing signs of being broody today in the same spot as she was previously. I was going to give her a couple days to see if she was serious. IF she is, then is it possible that she may accept the chicks I hatched Friday? I know that it could be a long shot because she is only just starting to show broody signs and this is only the second time she's been broody. I wasn't going to try and see for another 4 days when the chicks would be about 7 days old. It would be much easier and fun to watch the hen run around with the babies.
I also need to figure out if I should keep her in the brooder with the chicks in the shed or let her and the chicks mingle with the rest of the flock. She was pretty grumpy with everyone last time she was broody even without chicks running around her so I think that she may do well protecting them from any pesky flock mates - hopefully.
Thanks in advance for your help!
She's back to showing signs of being broody today in the same spot as she was previously. I was going to give her a couple days to see if she was serious. IF she is, then is it possible that she may accept the chicks I hatched Friday? I know that it could be a long shot because she is only just starting to show broody signs and this is only the second time she's been broody. I wasn't going to try and see for another 4 days when the chicks would be about 7 days old. It would be much easier and fun to watch the hen run around with the babies.
I also need to figure out if I should keep her in the brooder with the chicks in the shed or let her and the chicks mingle with the rest of the flock. She was pretty grumpy with everyone last time she was broody even without chicks running around her so I think that she may do well protecting them from any pesky flock mates - hopefully.
Thanks in advance for your help!