Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

eek. could she possibly have mites? i've noticed when she gets out for breaks, she's scratching around her face pretty excessively. She drew blood at the base of her beak! a little over a week until her chicks are due. What do I do? 

My Topsy did that but not so much to draw blood. Smokey scratched too. It's like she suddenly needs to sharpen her beak desperately. You can treat for mites and change her bedding when she gets down to eat. You can dust her bedding with serving dust, just not the eggs. I wouldn't dust her unless you have false eggs under her. Treat with something like ivermectin that you put a drop on her skin possibly.

 

[lilstar]

My Topsy did that but not so much to draw blood. Smokey scratched too. It's like she suddenly needs to sharpen her beak desperately. You can treat for mites and change her bedding when she gets down to eat. You can dust her bedding with serving dust, just not the eggs. I wouldn't dust her unless you have false eggs under her. Treat with something like ivermectin that you put a drop on her skin possibly.

Is it possible that its just a weird quirk and not indicative of mites? I haven't actually seen/checked. Just thought all that scratching was ominous! I don't want her spreading anything to the chicks. The "beak sharpening" sounds familiar! She wipes either side of her beak on the pavement. Wasn't sure what to make of that.

 

[Johnn]

Need advice-one of my broody hens melow came out for some food before and now she won't go back, she ran to the shed went in it then came back out and went out with the other hens, should I try catch her and put her in the broody shed or just leave her?

 

[Johnn]

Right I decided to put melow in the broody shed so I did and she went crazy so I let her out and she ran away into the field for 10 mins then came running back to her old nest. Has anyone ever let a hen sit on eggs in the shed that the rest are in?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Right I decided to put melow in the broody shed so I did and she went crazy so I let her out and she ran away into the field for 10 mins then came running back to her old nest. Has anyone ever let a hen sit on eggs in the shed that the rest are in?

Yes Alot of us have and as long as she isn't in the fav nestest box she should do fine. If i have to move one to another area i keep them locked up for about 2 days then let them out and still have to round them up and put them back where their eggs are. you could wait till the eggs hatch and move her then be sure to mark the eggs she is sitting on in case others lay in her next. I use a washable marker. less toxic

 

[bobbieschicks]

Broodies seem to have a mind all their own - I've only had 3 so far (Smokey twice, Topsy once) and seems each time they've acted a little quirky. Smokey couldn't find her nest the 1st time she went broody, but the 2nd time she did great sitting and finding her nest. Topsy wouldn't stay put until I moved her at night.

The 1st time Smokey went broody she stayed on the nestboxes (everyone's favorite nestbox) until I moved her during the day on Day 17 - with no problems.
Topsy stayed on the nestbox until I finally successfully moved her in the evening on Day 5 (moved her at dark). I had tried several times to move her during the day and she would jump down and run around until she could get back into the nestboxes.
Smokey's second time going broody didn't go as smoothly for me - as she wouldn't move during the day. So I moved her on Day 8 in the dark. And she sat tight until hatch day about a week later (she was hatching some of the same shipped eggs as Topsy who had been sitting longer).

I wouldn't leave mine in with the others because I only have 3 nestboxes and it seems whichever one they are in becomes the favorite. I use shipped eggs and it seems like they kept getting crushed and scrambled by the others.

To successfully move them you have to do it in the dark - either complete darkness without a flashlight or dusk - prep the new area first, move a little bedding there from the old area, put a towel over their head so they can't see and keep them in the dark until morning. I read "two days" but I just opened their area the next morning and they were sitting tight.

Right I decided to put melow in the broody shed so I did and she went crazy so I let her out and she ran away into the field for 10 mins then came running back to her old nest. Has anyone ever let a hen sit on eggs in the shed that the rest are in?

 

[bobbieschicks]

Yes it could be a quirky thing - my girls have lots of quirks - or she could have mites. You can check for mites by looking in the evening at the roost to see if they are crawling on it and checking her skin near her vent.

Also, I wouldn't treat her unless you see evidence of mites as you don't want them to become resistant to whatever you use to treat.

Is it possible that its just a weird quirk and not indicative of mites? I haven't actually seen/checked. Just thought all that scratching was ominous! I don't want her spreading anything to the chicks. The "beak sharpening" sounds familiar! She wipes either side of her beak on the pavement. Wasn't sure what to make of that.

 

[Johnn]

Thanks for the advice, The orpington who is broody has been really good because she actaully went broody in the broody shed so thats lucky, how many eggs do yous think she could have she is a very big fat girl! Melow is in the fave nesting box but th eothers are happily using the one next to her so i think i will just keep her in there because shes so silly, she dosent have a clue what shes doing!, thats my broody orpington on the pic shes not broody on there tho

 

[dlynne1123]

Luckily the little chick isn't my only one. That one passed away, but I woke up this morning to at least one other egg beginning its zipping, and very lively I might add, thru the shell. Having lost my trust in the birds I'm worried but choosing to let mother nature do her thing. I hope tohat I get at least one little peep from this hatch! It looks like its an Easter Egger egg too, so I can't wait to see those little cheeks!

The one from yesterday I think it wasn't ready to come out, and suffocated b/c I didnt' break the sac.....but my temperatures could have been too radical as well. Mom may have known something that I didn't and tried to take care of it early. Tough love I guess! I preach it all the time with dogs, gotta grow it myself for chicks!

Thanks for everyones advice!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Really sorry to hear about the chick, that is one reason I don't want to get an incubator...I let the hen do her thing, that way I know it was natural selection and not something I erred in..too sad when we are geared to save life and sometimes the kindest thing to do is nothing...a tough call. My next hen is broody on seven eggs, marked them, and learning her break time so this time I can keep extra eggs out..she's third dominent hen so hoping there won't be much fuss or eggs trampled. So far she's been a great mama.