Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Your favorite broody sounds like a very sweet girl. Tame chickens are wonderful to have around.

Don't be too discouraged about your other broody. I've had a few that have taken a long time to break. My worst one would brood so deeply that I couldn't get her out of her trance at all unless I rubbed ice cubes on her face and waddles for several minutes. She didn't eat or drink at all. I literally had to tube feed her to keep her alive, which was very easy because she didn't move at all. But I needed her to wake up once a day to stand up and poop and flap her wings and stretch her legs, and of all the things I tried (which were numerous) the ice cubes seemed to work the best. I just had to be careful to keep the cube moving and not go over one place too often, as I didn't want to cause ice burns to her skin. Even a brood that severe broke in about 10 days. Other than her, I've never had one go longer than 6 days with the "no nests, no eggs, no reminders" method.

 

[Johnn]

So precious!

So, I just finished checking on my broody hen, and I heard chirping underneath!! I'm going to wait until tonight, then I'm going to check to see what's happening under there.

Thank you! Hope your eggs hatching goes well

 

[Johnn]

Bella and her chick are out for good now. I didn't want to leave them out the first day I left them out as we had a Heron hanging about. I left her out yesterday and she was fine so today is the day that they are officially free range. We've got Seagulls coming out way now but the gamekeepers seem to be keeping on top of them as they will be stopping them getting Pheasant and Grouse chicks. She's also hanging around in the woods which is good as it provides her with cover from sky predators.

Maybes Bella's mother just wants to help Bella with her chick. Her and her chicks are staying close to Bella's and her baby. She's not attacking her or trying to steal it this time!

First time have seen daisy off her nest since she started sitting

 

[Sydney Acres]

I can't remember which one of you posted that you lined your nestboxes with 2" of shavings topped with soft timothy hay, but I wanted to thank you for that recommendation.

One of my better Dorking hens has been broody on her nest under the raspberries for 2 days, so I decided to try again for a clutch of chicks this year. The predator-proof broody area in the barn is being used for something else at the moment, and won't be available for another few days. The nest under the raspberries is not protected from nighttime predators, so she has to be brought into the coop every night to roost with the flock, then returns to her nest in the morning. Her brooding instinct is strong enough to tolerate that amount of moving on and off the nest, but I think she'd be stressed if she had to brood and raise a clutch in the coop with no privacy. I was concerned about her health and comfort if she had to brood for an extra 7-10 days, with the delay getting her to the broody facilities, then having to be sure she held the brood for another 2 days after the move before setting eggs under her, so I decided to do something a little different.

I had a nice large box from Costco. It's about 2 feet wide by 2.5 feet long, with an open top. On three sides the walls are about 16 inches high, and on the fourth side the wall is about 4 inches high. It's very sturdy, and the size is perfect for her (she's a big hen with a long tail, so she needs room). I had plenty of soft chopped straw, which I'd used for my last broody, but was unhappy with how much it slipped around as the hen moved in the nest. After a few days the nest bowl was so deep that the eggs were at the bottom, directly on the cardboard with no padding at all, and all the straw was up along the sides of the nest. I was regularly rearranging the bedding. So I decided to try the shavings and soft hay method. I use aspen shavings for the enclosed house of my geriatric flock because it has no aromatic oils at all, so I already had that. I sent my husband to Petco for the timothy hay. I told him it had to be the type that was used for pet guinea pigs or hamsters, and had to be soft and not stemmy. He came home with this little bag of dried green grass -- it was about the size of a 2 gallon pot, and cost $7-8. I thought he was crazy -- that's what I'm used to paying for a full sized bale of good quality straw, but he said that was the only brand there that he thought would be soft enough for baby chicks (he's such a sweetie!). It's American Pet brand, Timothy Gold mini bale.

Well, I have to say that little mini bale was worth the price. I'm not sure I would call this "hay." This is the softest grass I have ever felt. Even dried, it is softer than fresh grass. There are no stems. Each blade is perfectly dried, so there's no matting or molding or suspicious odor. The blades are all less than 4 inches long, and there's no crumbled debris or dust in the bottom of the bag. And it is compressed surprisingly well. For my big box I assumed I would use most of what I had, but 2" of shavings topped with 2" of this "hay" took only about 1/4-1/3 of the bag/bale, so this will only cost me about $2 per clutch, which is absolutely worth it.

So last night I got the box ready. The "hay" smelled so good, basically like fresh cut grass. The bedding looked comfortable enough for me to sleep in! I took the hen off her nest after dark and put her in a spare bathroom with food and water and some chicken toys. While she was occupied, I went back out to her nest and collected a small amount of the leaf litter that was in her nest, the feathers that she'd plucked, and the four ceramic eggs that she was setting on, and put all those things in her nestbox. I left the nest box in my computer room (which doubles as my chicken hospital, so there's already a thick plastic sheet on the floor, covered by a cloth sheet, underneath a small walk-in run, always in place and available for an emergency). I then went to sit with her in the bathroom until she was finished eating, drinking, pooping, flapping, stretching, playing -- about 30 minutes, then she started acting like she wanted to go back to her nest. I turned off the light so she'd just sit in one place, and brought in the nestbox and a slightly dim flashlight. I set the nestbox a few feet away from her and shined the flashlight on the eggs. That way she couldn't see anything else, didn't notice that the box was new or possibly scary, it was just a spotlight on eggs. And she was like a homing missile. She immediately went into broody mode, walked right into the box, nuzzled each egg with the crook of her neck to get it into the right position, and wiggled down on them making the happiest little sounds. I shined the flashlight up to the ceiling and left the room, letting her get to know the box in ever-dimming light as the batteries in the flashlight burned out. A few hours later I picked up the box with her in it and she didn't budge -- she was in full broody trance. I put her in the chicken area in my computer room, where she's been quite happy all night and all morning, occasionally talking to me when her trance is light, but never budging. I think she's happy enough with that box that she'll stay broody where ever it is, so I should be able to put eggs under her late tonight or tomorrow, even though the broody area won't be available for several more days.

Disclaimer: Obviously, this is a very tame, calm hen with excellent broody instincts. This would probably not work with a high strung hen, a hen with borderline broody tendencies, a hen that is not handled regularly, a hen who doesn't like being around or handled by people, or in a busy, noisy household.

So overall, thank you so much for the nestbox recommendation. It gave me an option that I would not have had otherwise, and is a nice upgrade from what I used with my last broody. Definitely well worth the trip to the pet store.

 

[Sydney Acres]

Johnn,
You always have the most beautiful pictures to share. I love the stone wall -- not something that we see in the U.S. Your hens are gorgeous -- how many do you have, and what other breeds other than the Buff Orpingtons?

 

[fisherlady]

Sydney Acres... I believe it is Lady of McCamley who lines her nests that way... so glad it worked for you!

 

[Johnn]

Johnn,
You always have the most beautiful pictures to share. I love the stone wall -- not something that we see in the U.S. Your hens are gorgeous -- how many do you have, and what other breeds other than the Buff Orpingtons?

Thank you! I have 15 all together.
1 Black Jersey Giant cockerel
3 Buff orps
1 Speckled Sussex
1 Light Sussex
3 mixed breeds
1 Ancona Bantam
An ex battery hen
1 Welsummer

3 chicks:
1 Ancona Bantam x Jersey Giant (all are jersey giant crosses)
Speckled Sussex x
Light sussex x

 

[saltandpepper2]

Thank you! Hope your eggs hatching goes well

So far one has hatched, and the others should hatch tomorrow, or on Thursday.... I hope she sticks it out!. I would set up a brooder for the early chicks, but I only have enough stuff for one batch ( which is being used) and I don't know how to use the incubator.... So I'm chalking it off to luck... I hope she's patient, and waits for them all to hatch!

 

[LoreleiS]

The Silkies are for sure top notch. Very calm docile. Fun Chickens

 

[LoreleiS]

These are Beautiful pictures, Enjoyed every one of them