Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Flowerbh]

My Isbar broody hen with her new foster hatchlings.....two Fawn and White Indian Runner ducks!



And my other two broodies hatched some foster BO for a friend of mine.



Lots of babies! Yea!

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Does anyone else have a problem with a broody hen stepping on the young chicks? Is it something that happens occasionally? Or is my broody just especially clumsy?

 

[fisherlady]

Does anyone else have a problem with a broody hen stepping on the young chicks? Is it something that happens occasionally? Or is my broody just especially clumsy?

It happens...wait till you see the hen kick the chicks by accident when teaching them to forage. Scares me every time but they never seem to get hurt, though I know it does sometimes happen.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

My BCM Magellan has finally gone broody again. We were out of town when she started sitting, but I estimate she's on day 14 or 15. It took me a while to get a new spot situated for her, and I finally moved her last night. The move seemed to go well. She settled immediately back onto her nest, and was still sitting this morning. When I returned from class this afternoon, she was off her nest, but that's usually about what time she takes a break to eat / poop. I used the opportunity to candle her eggs. They seemed a little on the cool side, but shortly after I got home, she went back to the nest again. Then she got up again, and then sat again, and up and down over and over again for the past 3 hours. Should I be worried? I have eggs in the incubator on about the same day, so I could throw them in there if needed. She just seems very easily distracted . She wants to get up and move around, but then when she sees the eggs out of the corner of her eye, she's like, "oh yeah! My nest!" Crazy bird...

 

[fisherlady]

My BCM Magellan has finally gone broody again. We were out of town when she started sitting, but I estimate she's on day 14 or 15. It took me a while to get a new spot situated for her, and I finally moved her last night. The move seemed to go well. She settled immediately back onto her nest, and was still sitting this morning. When I returned from class this afternoon, she was off her nest, but that's usually about what time she takes a break to eat / poop. I used the opportunity to candle her eggs. They seemed a little on the cool side, but shortly after I got home, she went back to the nest again. Then she got up again, and then sat again, and up and down over and over again for the past 3 hours. Should I be worried? I have eggs in the incubator on about the same day, so I could throw them in there if needed. She just seems very easily distracted . She wants to get up and move around, but then when she sees the eggs out of the corner of her eye, she's like, "oh yeah! My nest!" Crazy bird...

Being unsettled after a move isn't unusual... can you try covering her box or area with a sheet to help minimize distractions and help keep it dim? or otherwise reducing her visibility to help her concentrate on her nest?

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Being unsettled after a move isn't unusual... can you try covering her box or area with a sheet to help minimize distractions and help keep it dim?  or otherwise reducing her visibility to help her concentrate on her nest?

Yes. She's in my mini coop. I can actually close it up all the way so she can't access the run. It's fairly dark in there. How long do you think I need to leave her closed up?

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Yes. She's in my mini coop. I can actually close it up all the way so she can't access the run. It's fairly dark in there. How long do you think I need to leave her closed up?

I kept my broody girl in her broody box with the door closed nearly the entire 21 days. I let her out at least once a day, and she had the entire small box to "roam" Didn't seem to do her any harm, and she didn't seem to mind at all. Except for the fact that when I let her out she'd go running about fifty feet, dump a MASSIVE poop, then let out a giant SQUWAAAK! And then shake herself like it was Christmas morning and she was a kid getting a pony. Afterward she'd head for the dust bath, roll there for a bit, maybe eat a bug, and then gladly returned to her nextbox. Sometimes I "encouraged" her. OK I carried her.... But once she saw the eggs she happily settled right back in. She had food and water 24/7/21 so she was cool with that. And eventually she started hanging out in one spot waiting to be carried to her nest, but that was towards the end of the last week when she was pretty beat.

Contrast that with two girls I THOUGHT might be going broody and what a difference! In the evening, I put them in their own broody pen with food and water and made sure it was dark-ish so there were no distractions. By 10 AM they had torn the place up. They were having NOTHING TO DO WITH IT THANK YOU VERY MUCH K THX BAI

tl:dr Let the broody hen tell you if it's OK or not. If she's truly in the mood she'll be happy to be left alone in the dark.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Haha! Yes, they are so funny when they come out for break. The noises she makes! Thanks for the advice. I'm going to close her up, and check on her tomorrow. She actually has a decent amount of roaming room in the little coop, but if she starts pooping in there....oh dear lord!...I can smell those broody poos from the house. She'll die from the fumes in there!

 

[mystonedgarden]

My lil mama hatched 3 fluffballs total. The ones in the front. Her dark chick is hiding but you can see her tushy. The chicks in the back were supposed to be photographed but lil mama showed up and stole the spotlight.

 

[vegaschick]

Well, I got the eggs in the mail today, letting them rest a bit and then will place them under the broody hens, of which I now have 3 of as one more went broody in the last 2 days.Only one air cell detached. Hoping for the best.