Newbie with a question!!

[jmez61690]

Hi y'all! I'm new, I have 8 hens, no roosters. I've had a broody Jersey Giant for a week and just today was able to find some fertile eggs to give her! I'll be picking them up tomorrow afternoon.

I have been trying to find a solid answer for hours but there is sooo much information to sift through, I'm giving up and just asking. Lol.

We have five laying boxes, so, more than enough. Trouble is, they only use two, and their favorite is the box my brooder is on. They keep laying eggs under her. No biggie, I take them right out and I will mark the fertile eggs. But, will they continue disturbing her until she eventually gives up sitting, or will they break the eggs? I know any of that is possible.

So I was wondering if I should use an extra large dog crate and give her her own little space. I have room to put it in the coop, or I could set it up in the run. (They have 1/4 acre.) But that brings about the question of whether or not moving her will break her broodiness. I'm uncertain about which way to go or what problems I could be facing, but I do know that if I move her into the crate I need to get that set up tonight and move her after dark so that I'll know if she'll stay broody before tomorrow, right?

This is obviously my first time, so please tell me anything I may be overlooking!!


Oh, side question, how many eggs should I give her? I'm getting a dozen, but unsure if that is too many.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Hi y'all! I'm new, I have 8 hens, no roosters. I've had a broody Jersey Giant for a week and just today was able to find some fertile eggs to give her! I'll be picking them up tomorrow afternoon.

I have been trying to find a solid answer for hours but there is sooo much information to sift through, I'm giving up and just asking. Lol.

We have five laying boxes, so, more than enough. Trouble is, they only use two, and their favorite is the box my brooder is on. They keep laying eggs under her. No biggie, I take them right out and I will mark the fertile eggs. But, will they continue disturbing her until she eventually gives up sitting, or will they break the eggs? I know any of that is possible.

So I was wondering if I should use an extra large dog crate and give her her own little space. I have room to put it in the coop, or I could set it up in the run. (They have 1/4 acre.) But that brings about the question of whether or not moving her will break her broodiness. I'm uncertain about which way to go or what problems I could be facing, but I do know that if I move her into the crate I need to get that set up tonight and move her after dark so that I'll know if she'll stay broody before tomorrow, right?

This is obviously my first time, so please tell me anything I may be overlooking!!


Oh, side question, how many eggs should I give her? I'm getting a dozen, but unsure if that is too many.

Many people do seperate their broodies out and many use dog crates too. I would opt to have it in the coop if possible if you go that way. Broodies aren't usually that easy to break, so she should be fine. Many people also leave the broody to hatch right in with all the other hens. I've seen both ways work, I've also seen people have problems with a broody left in with the flock. I think a lot of depends on the flock. If you are more comfortable seperating her, I would go that way. If you want to try to keep her in the open coop, you can move her if problems arise, (but again, if there are problems you could loose eggs in the process.) As for how many, as long as she can comfortably cover them all, you're good.

 

[song of joy]

You're much less likely to end up with broken eggs and a staggered hatch if you separate her, as there won't be other hens competing for the nest and laying their eggs in with hers. This means you can give the broody more peace to do her thing, without having to disturb her every day to remove unwanted eggs from the other hens. It also frees up the next boxes for your laying hens.

A serious broody will be restless, but remain broody if you move her. I'd recommend doing this at dusk, so she'll be inclined to go back to the eggs for the night. It's helpful if she can't see the former nest location. I throw an old sheet over a large broody cage with food and water, which I position in the coop. After a day or two so, I open the cage so she can move about in her sectioned-off portion of the coop.

I usually isolate broody hens from the flock (but within view) during incubation, hatch, and for 4 days after the hatch. Then I let mom take her chicks to mingle with the flock.

Your hen will be fine with a dozen eggs. Candling is up to you. I candle once, on Day 10, when I have a broody hen doing the incubation. At that time, I remove clear eggs and early quitters to avoid a potential rotten egg explosion under the broody. Note that broody-incubated eggs may hatch on Day 20 rather than Day 21.

It may be more risky to set her up in the run if it's not as secure as the coop. I mysteriously lost an egg from one of my broody hens when she was set up in a chain-link dog kennel. I'm thinking it may have been a snake.