Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bobbieschicks]

Ugh! Topsy is going broody again. She did spend the night in the nest box - next door to her last brood of silky babies who are now 6 weeks old and turning 7 weeks on Tuesday!

I took her down this morning before leaving for church as she was just sitting on a ping pong ball anyway. Then when we got home at 1:30pm I noticed she was in the box - sure enough she was sitting on 3 eggs - one each from my EE/WL (blue), EE (pale green) and WL (white)! But none of her own eggs. So I tossed her out of the nest again and told her to not be broody.

She is definitely NOT LISTENING as she's back in that nest box again! She was such a good momma - even better then Smokey was at taking care of her babies and teaching them to take care of themselves. Smokey's babies still huddle on the floor of the coop - but Topsy's babies have been known to hang out on the roost and in the nest boxes near momma.

I put the fan on her and dropped the coop temps from 113F to 106F so far. Hopefully the outside temps will drop soon and cool everyone off even more.

I will have to formulate a plan of what to do with Topsy as I highly doubt those eggs are fertile. I have 3 cockerels of age to mate, but I haven't seen any of them mating those 3 layers - at least not any day recently.

Edited to say that thankfully she just laid an egg - so SHE ISN'T BROODY! YEAH! but she's probably trying to go that direction and has begun to lay her clutch. My guess is this excessive heat has tricked her into thinking she's broody and now she's trying to be. I kicked her off the nest again and took all the eggs. Interestingly even with all this heat I still got 7 eggs from my 7 layers.

 

[Katiesduckies]

Well I am glad to see everyone is having luck with their broodies!! Congrats!! Welcome all the newcomers as well!! I don't think my broodies are going to be mama's

We are in the process of getting money around to build a bigger coop and run so our free ranged chickens will be in their new home so I don't have anymore missing chickens

I think it's kind of funny because the hens only come up missing never our 2 roos!! So after I get this coop built I am going to need more hens!! I am trying to come up with a nice nesting box setup so there are plenty of boxes for the hens and easy to clean and take care of, any ideas that are great for broodies?

 

[bobbieschicks]

If I could do it all over again - I'd build a more open design with bigger screened areas for ventilation for these ridiculously hot days and wood shingles or covers for winter months.

I'd make sure it was easy to hose out in the spring to wash it thoroughly. I would probably keep the same kind of horizontal roost area up off the floor - just make it longer and bigger to house more girls/boys- I like having it over a SweetPDZ covered manure board that I can just scoop the poop without bending over. I use the deep litter over the winter to help keep the floor and coop warm as we don't insulate it.

I would also make sure to have both upper level rollout boxes and lower level or ground level removable nestboxes for those breeds who like to go broody - that way once they start sitting I could easily remove them nestbox and all to a wired in section of the coop with water & food so they are protected and still with the flock.

But since I've already built mine - I just have to keep these ideas in mind for future expansion. haha.

Well I am glad to see everyone is having luck with their broodies!! Congrats!! Welcome all the newcomers as well!! I don't think my broodies are going to be mama's

We are in the process of getting money around to build a bigger coop and run so our free ranged chickens will be in their new home so I don't have anymore missing chickens

I think it's kind of funny because the hens only come up missing never our 2 roos!! So after I get this coop built I am going to need more hens!! I am trying to come up with a nice nesting box setup so there are plenty of boxes for the hens and easy to clean and take care of, any ideas that are great for broodies?

 

[Katiesduckies]

If I could do it all over again - I'd build a more open design with bigger screened areas for ventilation for these ridiculously hot days and wood shingles or covers for winter months.

I'd make sure it was easy to hose out in the spring to wash it thoroughly. I would probably keep the same kind of horizontal roost area up off the floor - just make it longer and bigger to house more girls/boys- I like having it over a SweetPDZ covered manure board that I can just scoop the poop without bending over. I use the deep litter over the winter to help keep the floor and coop warm as we don't insulate it.

I would also make sure to have both upper level rollout boxes and lower level or ground level removable nestboxes for those breeds who like to go broody - that way once they start sitting I could easily remove them nestbox and all to a wired in section of the coop with water & food so they are protected and still with the flock.

But since I've already built mine - I just have to keep these ideas in mind for future expansion. haha.

Well thank you!! we are doing a concrete floor so in summer months we can just hose it out!! I do need to put some kind of bedding in the nesting boxes Ive put straw in it once but that didn't last long lol

 

[Kassaundra]

Broody Gurus I have a question, maybe two. I have a broody setting on 2 eggs that are due to hatch 10 days after eggs I have in an incubator (b/c she wasn't broody when I had important eggs). Anyway I am considering (but not 100% sure b/c these chicks are important to me) when the chicks hatch from the bator to take her eggs and give her the chicks. I understand I should do this at night for best chance at her accepting them. If she doesn't accept them will she kill them that first night?

If I do this I will put the two eggs she is setting on in a make shift incubator (I don't have a incubator the one the eggs are in now are at a friends) if by some odd chance they actually hatch they will be 10 days behind the chicks she is raising (if that goes well anyway) so would / could she take those at that time too?

And any thoughts on the plan in general?


Well okay then three questions.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Ok ... updated shots of Broody Naima's Blue Copper Marans ....

Blue Copper ....


Dust bathing in the coop


Black Copper




Blue Copper, Black Copper, and Splash


Freddie Frizzle - raised by last year's broody, Red Sex Link, Miss Lizzie




Broody Naima doesn't seem to mind having the kids climb all over her (unlike Miss Lizzie last year - and also starring Freddie Frizzle)


She's trying to get them outside ....


Beautiful little Blue Copper - again ....

 

[bobbieschicks]

Well thank you!! we are doing a concrete floor so in summer months we can just hose it out!! I do need to put some kind of bedding in the nesting boxes Ive put straw in it once but that didn't last long lol

I've een using straw in my nest boxes and pine shavings on the floor. What I found recently is the broodies preferred the floor nests made out out of pine shavings to straw. And once the babies were two to three weeks old the broodies like to sleep in the nestboxes with their babies. That's sweet, but it makes for a messy morning cleanup.

So my next set of nestboxes will be a back access rollout design on the top row and the bottom row will be removable individual boxes sized for my EE and Silky's use. I'd put those nestbox liners on them all to washout poo easily.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Ok ... updated shots of Broody Naima's Blue Copper Marans ....

Blue Copper ....


Dust bathing in the coop


Black Copper




Blue Copper, Black Copper, and Splash


Freddie Frizzle - raised by last year's broody, Red Sex Link, Miss Lizzie
[IMG]http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/2/28/900x900px-LL-28c5515d_2012-July-06--IMG_4749.jpeg[/IMG]



Broody Naima doesn't seem to mind having the kids climb all over her (unlike Miss Lizzie last year - and also starring Freddie Frizzle)


She's trying to get them outside ....


Beautiful little Blue Copper - again ....

Absolutely adorable! I love your photography skills. You make everyone look like models

 

[bobbieschicks]

Broody Gurus I have a question, maybe two.  I have a broody setting on 2 eggs that are due to hatch 10 days after eggs I have in an incubator (b/c she wasn't broody when I had important eggs).  Anyway I am considering (but not 100% sure b/c these chicks are important to me) when the chicks hatch from the bator to take her eggs and give her the chicks.  I understand I should do this at night for best chance at her accepting them.  If she doesn't accept them will she kill them that first night?

If I do this I will put the two eggs she is setting on in a make shift incubator (I don't have a incubator the one the eggs are in now are at a friends) if by some odd chance they actually hatch they will be 10 days behind the chicks she is raising (if that goes well anyway) so would / could she take those at that time too?

And any thoughts on the plan in general?


Well okay then three questions. 

I don't remember what breed of chicken she is but that factors into it. Most broodies will not accept chicks after the initial hatching time so the first batch of chicks she may take, but the second probably not. However, every broody is different, if she's silky or an older experienced broody she might take the extras too. But I seem to recall this was her 1st time, so I would be leery of trying to give her both groups.

And chicks is always more of a risk then eggs.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Ok, so Snowi decided to lay a egg under the coop. No big deal, we keep a rake handy because that is her usual spot. Summer came out for her daily walk and ended up under the coop sitting on that one egg! I had to go under the coop, pull her protesting feathered butt out, and put her back in the coop where she 'found' her clutch again. Is that normal for a broody oris she just extra egg obsessed?