Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Peep-Chicken]

She may not be showing what many of us see as 'classic broody signs' but I would say she is working on it. Many folks have hens who just disappear one day and show up 3 weeks or so later with a dozen chicks in tow... there is no way she gathered the dozen or so eggs in a day or two, so process of elimination says the hen was stashing eggs until she had enough to make her happy to sit on, and meanwhile acting rather normal around the barnyard to avoid attracting attention (maybe a survival instinct?).   Your girl may be trying her version of the same thing... if your eggs are fertile and you want some chicks then give her a day or two to make up her mind with them and see what happens.  Just remember to mark the eggs you want her to hatch and pull any extra she collects to avoid a staggered hatch.  

 Let us know what she decides to do!

Thank you! I'm going to check on her in a little bit.

 

[fisherlady]

My broody is 6 days from hatching. She has not been getting off the nest to poo. The eggs are clean, but the edges of the nest are gross. I was thinking of kicking everyone except her out of the coop, remove her from the nest so I can change the bedding, then put her and the eggs back before letting everyone back in (she's in a fenced off nest box). Will this possibly disrupt her so she ditches the eggs? How close to hatch day should I do it? Is there a better option I'm not thinking of?

Sounds like a plan, as long as she's not a really flakey bird... but you know your hen best. If I were doing this I would remove the other birds, spread some treat she really likes (or put down a dish of it, such as scrambled eggs or meal worms) a few feet away from the nest and then mater of factly remove her from the nest and set her down in the middle of the treat or in front of the dish. I would move the eggs onto a folded towel or something similar to minimize their contacting any thing really dirty and quickly swap out the nesting material. If the material directly under the eggs isn't contaminated you may want to hollow out a bit of a nest area in the new stuff and place a handful or two of the old bedding in it and then replace the eggs. This should allow it to smell 'right' to the broody when she returns from her treat.

If your broody isn't the type to tolerate any handling you can probably still swap out a lot of the material while she continues to sit. You just have to be careful not to jostle the eggs too much and you will not be able to remove unite s much of the dirty nest as you'd like.

Also, look to provide her with a treat every day to encourage her to get up for a least a few minutes until the eighteenth day, you can't really force her to do it, but a tasty snack may work.

 

[myby]

Anyone concerned on the cold weather for the broodies?

 

[MEMama3]

Anyone concerned on the cold weather for the broodies?

mine seems to be faring well. I put a thin quilt over the fencing that blocks the broody box (leaving an area along the top for ventilation) and she has thick bedding in there. High of 4°f tomorrow.

 

[kmollyhughes]

I had broody girls sitting a couple months ago with night lows down to -12'. Eggs did fine. Babies were out in 20'. Now all babies are on their own and it still gets down to just 9' at night. They grow and feather out faster than babies stuck in a brooder. Makes that 90' in the brooder seem like a joke.

 

[Gen9]

My broody is 6 days from hatching. She has not been getting off the nest to poo. The eggs are clean, but the edges of the nest are gross. I was thinking of kicking everyone except her out of the coop, remove her from the nest so I can change the bedding, then put her and the eggs back before letting everyone back in (she's in a fenced off nest box). Will this possibly disrupt her so she ditches the eggs? How close to hatch day should I do it? Is there a better option I'm not thinking of?

I went through a similar situation with my broody. Good suggestions by fisherlady, I did the same thing; putting the eggs in a folded towel etc. I also make scrambled egg & give it to her, put the water close enough for her to stretch her neck out & reach the water, without risk of spilling on the nest or worse: eggs. I did this on day 17. Actually I have to check on her, because there are eggs still hatching, it's day 22

 

[Gen9]

Anyone concerned on the cold weather for the broodies?

I boarded up my coop because of the wind. I'll probably take the boards off when the wind stops. It got pretty bad last night.

 

[Gen9]

I'm also in the Jan/Feb hatch a long thread, I posted a bunch more pics there but I'm gonna post a few pics here of the chicks I've seen so far. These are Marans & Ameraucana/EE x marans

 

[Peep-Chicken]

I just checked everyone. Luna was in the nesting box. Along with two other birds. I shooed everyone but Luna. She was sitting in her usual spot in the nest. The golf balls where in the other nesting box. I gave them to her.

I am going to post a video to you tube and you all can tell me if she is broody or not!

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Here's the link!

Do you guys think she is broody?