Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bumpercarr]

Well, I guess we'll join in the fun.

This is Bonnie the Broody. She's a year old Orpington. She's been hogging the nest box for over a month, but didn't quite make the commitment to being a broody until I took her out of the rest of the coop last Sunday night and put her in with eight store bought hard boiled eggs. Monday morning she SCRREEEECHED when I opened her door! Puffed all her feathers up too! She stuck with it through the day so we took out the store bought eggs and tucked in all the eggs our other girls laid that day, plus a few from the day before. Eleven eggs. We'll candle them tomorrow night to see how things are progressing.

Candling tomorrow might not provide you with any information. There is a lot of good information about candling in these forums, I think you want to wait at least a week.

 

[jc12551]

Two of my free range Cochin hens went missing last week. One of them has been spotted coming back for food and water. Yesterday we followed her and found her under our neighbor's shed on 13 eggs! Now the question is, "Do I move her or let her stay?" She is very flighty and may abandon if I move her (last year she abandoned a nest when I candled them). If she stays she may get eaten by something.

I am sure the other hen is on a nest. I just can't find her.

 

[bumpercarr]

Two of my free range Cochin hens went missing last week. One of them has been spotted coming back for food and water. Yesterday we followed her and found her under our neighbor's shed on 13 eggs! Now the question is, "Do I move her or let her stay?" She is very flighty and may abandon if I move her (last year she abandoned a nest when I candled them). If she stays she may get eaten by something.

I am sure the other hen is on a nest. I just can't find her.

Wow, that is a tough question. I guess if I thought she'd abandon the nest, I'd just leave her. Often, they know better where they are safe than we do, but with spring here and all of the critters coming out of their dens, I'd be worried too. So, I guess I don't know how to answer that question. I think I'd vote for leaving her alone, but that solution wouldn't be for everyone.

 

[fisherlady]

Wow, that is a tough question. I guess if I thought she'd abandon the nest, I'd just leave her. Often, they know better where they are safe than we do, but with spring here and all of the critters coming out of their dens, I'd be worried too. So, I guess I don't know how to answer that question. I think I'd vote for leaving her alone, but that solution wouldn't be for everyone.

I second the leaving her... though you understand the risks. Even though it is your neighbor's shed, can you talk to them and figure out a way to reduce access points to her? Just leave her one in and out and block that off at night? I don't know how the shed is set up, but you may be able to greatly increase her security if you can block her in, even if it is only at night...

 

[Sydney Acres]

Two of my free range Cochin hens went missing last week. One of them has been spotted coming back for food and water. Yesterday we followed her and found her under our neighbor's shed on 13 eggs! Now the question is, "Do I move her or let her stay?" She is very flighty and may abandon if I move her (last year she abandoned a nest when I candled them). If she stays she may get eaten by something.

I am sure the other hen is on a nest. I just can't find her.

First, do you want her to hatch out the eggs? Seems obvious, but not everyone has the room or desire for more birds.

Assuming that you want the chicks, can you make her current nest safe? Will your neighbor let you put an electronetting fence around the shed? Or if you don't have electronetting, then some other type of fencing that you can make somewhat dig-proof and climb proof with fence floor extensions and fence top extensions, both pointed towards the outside? If you do this, be sure that she has food and water available inside the enclosure.

If that's not an option, do you have an incubator to finish incubating the eggs if she does abandon the nest when moved? Or can you borrow one? Or would you want to buy one? If it comes to that, be sure that the incubator is all set up and running at full temp before risking the move.

If you can't make the current nest safe, and you want the chicks, and you have an incubator available, then I would move her. If you don't have an incubator available, then you have to decide what's more important to you. Is she more important, or is the potential for chicks more important? It's only the potential for chicks, since if she gets killed and you don't have an incubator, the embryos still die, even if the eggs don't get crushed during the attack. Plus there's no guarantee that the eggs will hatch, even if everything goes well.

If you do decide to move her, be sure to read back on this thread over the last 3-4 weeks for information on moving a broody, and calming a nervous broody after she's been moved.

 

[MargaretYakoda]

Candling tomorrow might not provide you with any information. There is a lot of good information about candling in these forums, I think you want to wait at least a week.

Yep. Tomorrow makes day seven for Bonnie.
She's such a sweet girl, she raises her feathers, but still eats cracked corn out of my hand. And she's talking to the eggs almost constantly!

 

[bumpercarr]

Yep. Tomorrow makes day seven for Bonnie.
She's such a sweet girl, she raises her feathers, but still eats cracked corn out of my hand. And she's talking to the eggs almost constantly!

Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought they were put under her today.

 

[TeaChick]

Well, I guess we'll join in the fun.

This is Bonnie the Broody. She's a year old Orpington. She's been hogging the nest box for over a month, but didn't quite make the commitment to being a broody until I took her out of the rest of the coop last Sunday night and put her in with eight store bought hard boiled eggs. Monday morning she SCRREEEECHED when I opened her door! Puffed all her feathers up too! She stuck with it through the day so we took out the store bought eggs and tucked in all the eggs our other girls laid that day, plus a few from the day before. Eleven eggs. We'll candle them tomorrow night to see how things are progressing.

Congrats!!!
I have a broody too; I've unofficially declared her broody: she screeches at me and is in a bad mood in general, hasn't moved from the nest except to eat, drink and poo (very quickly no less), but she laid yesterday, so it's not really official, I guess. I don't really know about these things.
But my hen is a year old Bantam Cochin; we could have a brood-a-long, if you want. =)

Also, I like your avatar; when I was a little girl, I sooooo wanted to be Princess Laya (sp) and marry Han Solo (sp) and live long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away... =D

 

[TeaChick]

Two of my free range Cochin hens went missing last week. One of them has been spotted coming back for food and water. Yesterday we followed her and found her under our neighbor's shed on 13 eggs! Now the question is, "Do I move her or let her stay?" She is very flighty and may abandon if I move her (last year she abandoned a nest when I candled them). If she stays she may get eaten by something.

I am sure the other hen is on a nest. I just can't find her.

I agree with leaving her (unless you know of some relatively specific danger she's in where she is). If it were me, (for one, I wouldn't be able to sleep and) I would try to figure out a way that I could make the area a bit safer for her w/o disturbing her at all. For instance, if there's a way to put a chicken wire hoop around her, I might try to something like that. But it seems most important not to disturb her in light of your prior experience with her abandoning a nest b/c of you candling.

 

[TeaChick]

Snoodle, my Bantam Cochin Frizzle, said that she doesn't want me to look at her and she really doesn't want me to touch her eggs.
She's sitting on her nest and only got up three times yesterday (morning, midday, evening) to eat, drink, and make an egg-sized poo.
But she did lay yesterday. She's up to nine eggs in there now.
Is she broody b/c she's sitting and screeching at me (whom she usually speaks to so nicely and converses with so sweetly, really I'm not just being dramatic)
or is she not broody b/c she laid yesterday (and maybe today, but I she hasn't been off for me to check this afternoon)?