Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[QueenofKings]

How long have the girls been broody??

They've been broody since August 10th but the eggs they were originally setting have all disappeared since then so I bought chicks for them yesterday (Sept 1st) and placed them under at night.

 

[bumpercarr]

I have two that flat out refuse to be moved and seem to do fine (I just have to check their nest every other day for new eggs), but then I have one, a java that will fight tooth and nail to not allow another hen into her nest resulting in broken eggs so I do move her.. Thankfully we have a nice little shed out in the chicken run that we have a door on and she goes in there, she still is "part of the flock" without being bothered..

I think that is a nice compromise. I just don't like to let the sitting hen get out of the routine of seeing the rest of the flock. I think it is healthier for her and for the chicks that may result from her broodiness. But, for some, it is just too stressful to leave a broody with the rest of the flock.

The broody that I have right now is very protective of her eggs, yet allows about half of the flock to sleep in the same area of the coop where she is. I guess she's figured out that they are not after her eggs. She's safe where she is, has enough protection to keep others away if she needs to, and is low enough not to cause me any concern should any of the eggs happen to hatch. I don't have any others that are old enough to lay, so I don't have to worry about extra eggs in the nest.

Anyway, it is just my personal preference to try to leave the broody with the rest of the flock, although when I have a lot of layers I check the nest every day for extra eggs that have been laid. I think it is a little more natural that way, after all, in the wild they would raise their clutch with the rest of the flock for safety.

 

[ochochicas]

My chicks just turned 5 weeks old yesterday. The "bad" broody officially left her chicks today. It has been really cold and stormy here so I have been hoping she would stick around for another week or so. She's been leaving them a lot during the day, but comes back to bring them into the coop at night. Tonight she's up on the roost and the chicks are in the little hen house. The other broody and her 6 chicks are also in there. Hopefully they will produce enough heat to keep everyone warm. The other broody will not tolerate the chicks that are not hers - she attacks them. However, since it is dark I think she would not notice they aren't hers if they snuggled up in the middle of the night.

It is supposed to be down to the mid 40s at night. Will the chicks be OK by themselves? There are 3 of them. One is a turken and doesn't have that many feathers (he's a big boy though). They all weigh under 1 pound. It is supposed to warm up for the weekend so I just need to get them through the next couple of days.

 

[rebrascora]

Quote: Congratulations ChickyChick..... I just love sneaky broody hens! They obviously have much more natural instinct than the others. My Tasha does this but her favourite number is 14 and she managed to hatch and rear all 14 of her own eggs the first time, so be prepared for a huge surge in chicken maths!
I've spoiled her fun a bit this time and given her leghorn eggs to hatch which are bigger, so she's only got 10 of those. Unfortunately I'm already overrun with her farmyard mutt chicks, so I need some pure breeds this time.... just one more week from today to hatch!
Do you have any idea when yours are due? Did you notice when she stopped coming in to roost? Do you know what breed/cross they will be? Is she in a safe place where predators can't get to her or can you make it safe?
I make a nest in an old drawer, lift the broody off and transfer the eggs and then the broody and then put them in an old cupboard in the hen house, where she has food and water at hand and can move about but not let her out until I am there. The first few times you have to guide them back or retrieve them from the old site but after that she gets the hang of it. She only comes off every other day. My broodies seem to be happy sitting in the dark of the cupboard on their own with just a small gap to allow a bit of light and ventilation and no risk of other hens harassing them. I let her out on an afternoon after the other hens have laid, so no risk of extra eggs in the nest and I feed them all a scoop of mixed corn outside so that she is feeding with the flock and remains integrated before she goes back. It is a system that is working really well for me and the broody hens seem really happy with it. When the chicks hatch I can open the door but put a sheet of Perspex across the front so light gets in but the chicks are safe and the other hens can see them, so the integration can commence.
My cupboard is actually a sideboard but any discarded kitchen cabinet or even an old wardrobe would work. Once the broody season is over you can remove it from the hen house and burn or clean and keep for next year.

Anyway, good luck to everyone with broodies and eggs/chicks.

Barbara

 

[K Epp]

I know this is a opened ended question, but I need ideas so I'm going to ask it.

What do you feed your chickens?

 

[Turk Raphael]

My chicks just turned 5 weeks old yesterday. The "bad" broody officially left her chicks today. It has been really cold and stormy here so I have been hoping she would stick around for another week or so. She's been leaving them a lot during the day, but comes back to bring them into the coop at night. Tonight she's up on the roost and the chicks are in the little hen house. The other broody and her 6 chicks are also in there. Hopefully they will produce enough heat to keep everyone warm. The other broody will not tolerate the chicks that are not hers - she attacks them. However, since it is dark I think she would not notice they aren't hers if they snuggled up in the middle of the night.

It is supposed to be down to the mid 40s at night. Will the chicks be OK by themselves? There are 3 of them. One is a turken and doesn't have that many feathers (he's a big boy though). They all weigh under 1 pound. It is supposed to warm up for the weekend so I just need to get them through the next couple of days.

Don't underestimate the Turken's ability to deal with extremes in weather. Generally, they remain active and feeding in the coldest weather when non-Turkens huddle for warmth in the coop!

I have only recently acquired my own but my family in West Virginia has had them for decades (quite literally) and they are the first to hit the fields on the coldest days.

 

[ochochicas]

The chicks are all good this morning. It is 51 degrees so I think they'll be fine. They are in their own horse stall snacking away on breakfast. Their mom suddenly wanted to go out with them and is mad that she is left in the coop with the rooster. Welcome back to flock life, honey! LOL

 

[AmericanMom]

I think that is a nice compromise. I just don't like to let the sitting hen get out of the routine of seeing the rest of the flock. I think it is healthier for her and for the chicks that may result from her broodiness. But, for some, it is just too stressful to leave a broody with the rest of the flock.

The broody that I have right now is very protective of her eggs, yet allows about half of the flock to sleep in the same area of the coop where she is. I guess she's figured out that they are not after her eggs. She's safe where she is, has enough protection to keep others away if she needs to, and is low enough not to cause me any concern should any of the eggs happen to hatch. I don't have any others that are old enough to lay, so I don't have to worry about extra eggs in the nest.

Anyway, it is just my personal preference to try to leave the broody with the rest of the flock, although when I have a lot of layers I check the nest every day for extra eggs that have been laid. I think it is a little more natural that way, after all, in the wild they would raise their clutch with the rest of the flock for safety.

We are going to be tweaking the coop starting next month, I drew up some plans and hopefully will have a place for the broodies within the coop because that is whats best, I did the next best thing, the door of the shed we place her in has a homemade trellis door, she can see and be seen and she gets out every evening ... As soon as the chicks hatch and are mobile she takes them back to the main coop. I don't like it but I got tired of broken eggs

 

[ChickenCanoe]

What does it mean if a hen with chicks just over 2 weeks old tries to get in the nest box the other hens use and sit on an egg? She was clucking softly while settling down... I definitely got it out of there though. Also, today I watched all 4 chicks get up on a roost in the run with Mama. Is it too soon for them to sleep on a roost at night? They sleep in a separate part of the coop, away from the flock.

They can go onto the roost whenever they choose. Doesn't matter.

Mom knows if they are big enough to be on their own. Sometimes they leave them at 2 weeks, sometimes at 8 weeks. Generally, the chicks are okay, but may become easy targets for overhead predators when their mothers leave them earlier rather than later.

X2
They're also easy prey to mink.

Might be doing the happy dance around here... Seems my Molted Java may be heading into the broody way again, seriously, his is her third time this year!! It doesn't take much it seems to kick her hormones into gear, went out this afternoon to let my Brody Jersey Giant out, went back and hour later to make sure she was back on her nest so I could block her off and to my surprise Java was laying flat on the nest... Of course Broody JG was clucking and pacing so I took Java off and she went right into another nest, thought ok...she needs to lay an egg... Got the Jersey situated and came back up to the house... Just went back out and Java is flat in "her" nest and clucking quite a bit (all signs for her) so I gave her a couple wooden eggs and she happily tucked them under her...

Normally I wouldn't allow her to do this again but she does so well, never loses weight and is such a great momma, I had been saving my EE eggs for incubation but I hope I have a way better incubator...

I have too many setters. 5 out of 12. I just took the most recent setters off their eggs last night and put them in broody jail.

I know this is a opened ended question, but I need ideas so I'm going to ask it.

What do you feed your chickens?

What I feed has changed a lot over the last 60 years. For the longest time it was a mash from a local mill, cracked corn and full time free range. I never had roosters then, just a laying flock.
Over the last 10 years, I've gone through 20 different kinds of feeds, initially based on cost and availability. But with research, I've found a local wholesaler that has an amazing variety of feed and feed grains, including a line of organics. A couple years ago I made it really complicated. I had a lot of mixed flocks and I carried a 22% starter, 18% all flock short pellets, 20% layer, 17% breeder, 36% poultry concentrate and 60% fishmeal.
Then last winter I discovered fermenting and I'm going through so much less feed doing so that I decided I could afford organic. I've pretty much eliminated all those other feeds and the base feed for everyone is a 16% coarsely ground organic grower. For chicks, I mix the 16% with fishmeal in a 10:1 ratio to give me 20% protein. Broody hens and molters get the same thing. The breeding flocks get about half that amount of fishmeal added to give them 18% protein. The plain fermented 16% goes to birds from 10-20 weeks.
I also sprout grains for them as a scratch. It varies from barley, wheat, peas, sunflower seeds and buckwheat. In the hottest part of the summer, the only scratch they get is oats.
In winter when the forage is gone, I grow fodder from the above grains.
The fermented feed is started with a probiotic powder formulated for chickens and a little plain kefir.
I also add a vitamin mix to new chicks water and to the breeder water a couple times a week.

Kind of a long winded answer but does that cover it?
In winter

 

[ChickyChickens]

Congratulations ChickyChick..... I just love sneaky broody hens! They obviously have much more natural instinct than the others. My Tasha does this but her favourite number is 14 and she managed to hatch and rear all 14 of her own eggs the first time, so be prepared for a huge surge in chicken maths!
I've spoiled her fun a bit this time and given her leghorn eggs to hatch which are bigger, so she's only got 10 of those. Unfortunately I'm already overrun with her farmyard mutt chicks, so I need some pure breeds this time.... just one more week from today to hatch!
Do you have any idea when yours are due? Did you notice when she stopped coming in to roost? Do you know what breed/cross they will be? Is she in a safe place where predators can't get to her or can you make it safe?
I make a nest in an old drawer, lift the broody off and transfer the eggs and then the broody and then put them in an old cupboard in the hen house, where she has food and water at hand and can move about but not let her out until I am there. The first few times you have to guide them back or retrieve them from the old site but after that she gets the hang of it. She only comes off every other day. My broodies seem to be happy sitting in the dark of the cupboard on their own with just a small gap to allow a bit of light and ventilation and no risk of other hens harassing them. I let her out on an afternoon after the other hens have laid, so no risk of extra eggs in the nest and I feed them all a scoop of mixed corn outside so that she is feeding with the flock and remains integrated before she goes back. It is a system that is working really well for me and the broody hens seem really happy with it. When the chicks hatch I can open the door but put a sheet of Perspex across the front so light gets in but the chicks are safe and the other hens can see them, so the integration can commence.
My cupboard is actually a sideboard but any discarded kitchen cabinet or even an old wardrobe would work. Once the broody season is over you can remove it from the hen house and burn or clean and keep for next year.

Anyway, good luck to everyone with broodies and eggs/chicks.

Barbara

Chicken math has taken its toll on me already! I have 79 chickens running around here on the farm! I only keep barnyard mutts because they are like the only breed that can have any color in them! I LOVE THAT!