Not sure what to do with broody hens?

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Well, I am pretty sure that at least 8 out of the 12 eggs I put under her tonight are fertile, some I even could see the fetus moving inside (which was totally awesome!!!). But since they are brown and green eggs they were a little hard to candle. I think I will candle them again in a week to see how they look, by then it should be fairly obvious if they are good or not. She seems to have settled into her new nesting area and readily tucked in all the eggs for the night. Now I need to work on breaking the broodiness in the other hens, yay!
 
Yeah wellllllllllllll! Good luck on breaking the others from being broody! LOL

TC
 
Just an update, she is sitting so tight she wont get off the nest for ANYTHING!!! I am pretty sure she would starve herself to death if I didn't put the food and water in front of her a couple times a day. The first 3 days after moving her I didn't do anything, by day 3 her food still hadn't been touched so I got her off the nest and she couldn't even stand in front of the food and water. She could barely get back onto the nest. At that point I decided to start babying her so she didn't starve to death!

After this past week she still hasn't pooped in the brooder box yet, (kinda worried) but she is energetic and eating and drinking when I bring it to her. I candled the eggs tonight at day 14 or so and the first 8 eggs that I was pretty sure of are coming along great, the last 4 weren't growing at all, I took them out and cracked them open to be sure and found nothing in any of them. But I am super excited about the 8 remaining eggs. I was almost glad to take a couple eggs out since it gave her more room to maneuver and it will be easier for her to handle as a first time mom.

I am debating on throwing her in the run with the rest of the hens when I throw out some scratch tomorrow to force her to maybe stretch her legs and let go of any stool she is hanging onto, I am afraid it will make her sick if she doesn't get rid of it. I will throw her back in the brooder after 5 min or so. As hard as she is sitting I am not very afraid of her not sitting back down.
 
Taking her out for a stretch is probably a good idea. If she's not pooping, that's going to be a problem. Either for her (because she isn't) or the eggs (when she can't hold it anymore and lets loose all over them). Broody poops are pretty easy to find, just look for a chicken poop that looks like it came from a medium sized dog and stinks to high heaven (gross). You may have to get in the habit of taking her out everyday, which a lot of folks do.
Good luck!
 
Unless the hen is enclosed where she cannot get out unless you let her I would take a wild guess that she is getting up, you just aren't seeing her. I have a very determined broody who only gets up once every two days for the first couple weeks. I, like the OP worried she wasn't getting up enough. When I would take her off she laid down and seemed to have a hard time walking, it was then I realized she was in full broody mode and it took her a bit to pop out of the daze and actually get up and move around, I learned to leave her alone, she knew what she was doing..
I have been a member here a couple years and have yet to read any threads where a broody was so determined that she died while being broody from lack of food or movement. Some are more determined than others for sure but these birds have been doing this for eons without us humans.
 
Well, I kicked her out for a couple minutes, she defecated more than I ever dreamed a chicken could! Glad I decided to kick her out, I think she was ready to explode!!! Poor thing. Then today I got her off the nest just in the brooder box and she voided again and stretched her wings. Then it was like she was not sure where the nest was even though the box is only 2.5x5 feet wide, I could tell she was looking frantically for the nest but couldn't figure it out. She tried to sit right next to the nest. I will keep a close eye on her, good thing is I have two other dedicated broodies who would love to sit on eggs for a back up plan. I have only been halfway trying to break their broodiness just in case I start having issues with this first time mama.

 
KrystalRose said:
Well, I kicked her out for a couple minutes, she defecated more than I ever dreamed a chicken could! Glad I decided to kick her out, I think she was ready to explode!!! Poor thing. Then today I got her off the nest just in the brooder box and she voided again and stretched her wings. Then it was like she was not sure where the nest was even though the box is only 2.5x5 feet wide, I could tell she was looking frantically for the nest but couldn't figure it out. She tried to sit right next to the nest. I will keep a close eye on her, good thing is I have two other dedicated broodies who would love to sit on eggs for a back up plan. I have only been halfway trying to break their broodiness just in case I start having issues with this first time mama.

Click to expand...


LL.. And I bet it STANK!!! Broody poo is nasty stuff!!! I had a broody moved to a secure place where she wouldn't be bothered, everyday when I opened the door to let her out she would wait until she thought I left then she would bolt, frantically try and shove as much as she could down, poo on the run and then forget to where she was to go back too.. Would head to the main coop everyday, I would have to get her, return her back to the area where her eggs were and she would be like...oh yah, there they are ... rinse and repeat everyday lol
 
Ok, good at least its not just her with bird brain!!! After that brain fart she had I was worried she wouldn't stay on the right spot but she hasn't moved the past few hours so I think we are good, she even gave me a sweet growl when I peeked in on her. Her growl is almost cute, not like the "I will bite your hands off" growls I get from the other girls.

Today when she got up it was like she was looking around the brooder box and my room (I have a room with a sink and places for feed and such that the chickens don't get into) like she was seeing it for the first time even though she has been in there for over a week, it was funny. Sometimes I wish we could hear what is going through their heads.

And yes, it stank to high heaven!
tongue.gif
 
Last edited:
KrystalRose said:
Well, I kicked her out for a couple minutes, she defecated more than I ever dreamed a chicken could! Glad I decided to kick her out, I think she was ready to explode!!! Poor thing. Then today I got her off the nest just in the brooder box and she voided again and stretched her wings. Then it was like she was not sure where the nest was even though the box is only 2.5x5 feet wide, I could tell she was looking frantically for the nest but couldn't figure it out. She tried to sit right next to the nest. I will keep a close eye on her, good thing is I have two other dedicated broodies who would love to sit on eggs for a back up plan. I have only been halfway trying to break their broodiness just in case I start having issues with this first time mama.
Click to expand...
I Know, Right?!?!?
Thought cecals were bad until I witnessed a broody poop.....actually gagged me repeatedly.

Following your story here, looks like she's settling in....Best of cLuck!
 

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