Official BYC Poll: What Do You Do With Broody Hens?

[HumbleAmerican]

Broodies get to set on 8-10 eggs. I had three setting on eggs within 2-3 days of each other this year. I thought it was going to be a battle..... but they all adopted each other's chicks. I had 18 chicks using one hen for a jungle gym while the host to half the horde was across the field at her favorite dust bath. 20 minutes later she came back and half the horde scrambled back under her.

Good times. 26 chicks all at once was a bit much though.

EDIT: Realized I didn't answer the poll. I keep them in the flock doing chicken things. Figure they have more experience being chickens than I do.

 

[Laura_BelgianBantams_63]

Are they both claiming one clutch of eggs!??

Poor chicken wrangler dealing with that one!

SLW thought the black bantam was a baby. And so did the bantam! Whenever SLW did the broody cluck that translates to: "Come over here, I found food", The bantam would come over and eat the food!!

 

[Poultrybonkers]

My chocolates went broody twice already i set eggs under both time and if they do it again ill set more eggs under as saves me on brooding.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

I give them eggs with in the flock or give them chicks a bought a a feed store

I also do the same thing! It really works!

 

[ChicKittyHouse]

I have a Barnvelder, Spice, who goes broody about once a month if she doesn't have chicks. Sometimes I break her. I have a dog crate in the run so she's not isolated, but it can take a week to break her! I let her sit a couple of times a year. She currently has 2 babies that are 8 weeks old. She will usually take care of them for 10 to 12 weeks. When I do get an egg from her it's beautiful! I'm usually able to sell the ones I don't want to keep.

 

[K0k0shka]

I have a Barnvelder, Spice, who goes broody about once a month if she doesn't have chicks. Sometimes I break her. I have a dog crate in the run so she's not isolated, but it can take a week to break her! I let her sit a couple of times a year. She currently has 2 babies that are 8 weeks old. She will usually take care of them for 10 to 12 weeks. When I do get an egg from her it's beautiful! I'm usually able to sell the ones I don't want to keep.

I have a Barnevelder that goes broody often, too, and she’s not content with raising just one batch per year - she keeps wanting more! I didn’t expect this. I’d read that this breed isn’t prone to broodiness.

 

[ForTheLoveOfSilkies]

Mostly I allow them to brood chicks but when I want to break a broody I use broody jail for 3 days, 3 nights - a wire bottom cage in the main coop at night and outside during the day so still within the flock.
I allow them to brood within the flock unless there is an issue then I will seperate.
I only have Silkies so lots of broody mummas each year currently 3 are broody, 2 are raising 3 chicks each and another is sitting on 8 eggs. My 9.5 year old started laying again so she may go broody in a few weeks too.
I do like to eat eggs though so I try to have just one or 2 brood at a time! It's many months before I get eggs from a broody -3 wks to hatch plus around 12 wks raising them. Nowonder my old hen is still laying because she broods so often

I nearly lost one of the chicks the other day to a black bird, crow I think, swooped down but mumma Puff attacked and I ran to help. Lucky all are ok They all stayed in the enclosed run area the rest of that day.

 

[Ascholten]

I have one that gets this way every so often. Knocking her off the nesting box a few times typically stops this behavior. Sometimes I have to go out at night and do this too. A time or two sleeping on the floor and she stops the broods real fast. One time I did have to put her in her own cage and let her do a solo sabbatical for about a week to stop the behavior.

Hopefully we don't have to deal with this anymore because it IS annoying. She gets to the point where the other girls will try to go in there to lay and she's harrassing them, and then squabbles happen when she wants to grab the egg the moment it falls out the others pooper and roll it under her.

 

[Wolf River]

I have a old pair of welding gloves I put on before reaching for the eggs. Dont laugh it works!

 

[Wolf River]

Works for what? Not being jerky, think I missed something vital in the convo here. Works for scaring her off the nest or am I on a totally wrong topic?

Aaron

wont get yor hands peppered with beak marks!