Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[A6chickenhome]

I would move them if the other hens remain aggressive.

While many on this list have no issues with communal brooding, it is very dependent on the momma hen, her pecking order, and general make up of the flock and the yard area.

I have had bottom of pecking order hens unable to protect their chicks, so if in doubt, I keep them safe...I actually built a designated broody hutch (or rather beloved husband did) with separate run so that momma and chicks are completely separate and safe...better since I use banties to brood predominately who get NO respect, and it keeps older chicken diseases away from the babies until their immune systems develop (from momma's good care and bacteria).

I integrate at various ages depending upon the batch and momma, but 4 to 6 weeks can be a good time as babies can't get trampled on so easily and often are often still kept an eye on by momma. Since my Silkie would brood the "babies" until they were much older, I often turned them lose in the general yard at 12 weeks as a sub-flock giving their immune systems longer amount of time to grow. (Ag literature recommends waiting until 12 to 18 weeks before integrating into the flock for disease protection.)

My 2 cents
Lady of McCamley

Thank you Lady of McCamley,

I am inclined to agree with you given my hens spot in the pecking order. Do you think it will stress her out being moved away from the flock or take the stress off of her? The barn is pretty far away from the coop that she's been used to living in.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Thank you Lady of McCamley,

I am inclined to agree with you given my hens spot in the pecking order. Do you think it will stress her out being moved away from the flock or take the stress off of her? The barn is pretty far away from the coop that she's been used to living in.

At this stage, probably take the stress off of her as most broodies are very stressed with the flock around their babies especially if they are on the low end of the pecking order and the other hens are being pushy with the babies.

I'd move and watch and see how she takes it. Then have a plan of re-integration so that she and babies can be integrated back into the main flock, often as a sub-flock within the main flock. That helps a lot with the lower on the pecking order reintegration...they go in as a group. I like to integrate with free range conditions in the yard (if you can)...with lots of elbow room. There will be some small skirmishes, but the subflock will stick together as a group making them more formidable to the more aggressive hens. Always have hiding places where a bird can duck and cover if she gets chased by an aggressive hen. Never allow an overly aggressive hen to draw blood or terrorize a more submissive hen...those meanies are best in soup!

Lady of McCamley

 

[fisherlady]

At this stage, probably take the stress off of her as most broodies are very stressed with the flock around their babies especially if they are on the low end of the pecking order and the other hens are being pushy with the babies.

I'd move and watch and see how she takes it. Then have a plan of re-integration so that she and babies can be integrated back into the main flock, often as a sub-flock within the main flock. That helps a lot with the lower on the pecking order reintegration...they go in as a group. I like to integrate with free range conditions in the yard (if you can)...with lots of elbow room. There will be some small skirmishes, but the subflock will stick together as a group making them more formidable to the more aggressive hens. Always have hiding places where a bird can duck and cover if she gets chased by an aggressive hen. Never allow an overly aggressive hen to draw blood or terrorize a more submissive hen...those meanies are best in soup!

Lady of McCamley

x2... move her and see how she acts. Most of my hens don't care much about where they go once they have their chicks with them. If the new site is very far away from the main coop then you could set up a safe day spot where the mama and chicks can be within sight of the flock or allow them to free range with the flock for a while each day (when you can supervise for bully behavior). This will help ease the reintegration process later.

 

[vpatt]

I could hear an occassional peep from under Olivia! I set up the chick feed and water and shut the other big girls out of the coop. Olivia took some turkey out of my hand. I will check again soon. No touching involved, lol.

 

[vpatt]

Olivia has three little chicks!! The last egg has a cracked area, but that is all I can tell. She has been off the nest and calling them to eat. I don't know if they followed her out of the nest or not. I am so happy, now if only they stay warm!

 

[Kaylish]

Have our first little hatchling! and Mama got some warm breakfast.

 

[TeaChick]

I just wanted to say THANK YOU! to everyone again. I came home this morning to a happy broody and even heard some peeping in the nest a few minutes ago when I went to check on her.

I so want to go in and look but I'm going to (try

) and wait until the little fuzzies poke their heads out.

 

[TeaChick]

(Double post warning)

My hen seems to be taking to brooding alright.

If she just gets on and off of the nest throughout the day and she doesn't really stay there, then how long should I give her of doing that before I just let her out?
I mean, she's spending time on the nest, and she's getting off more than a few times a day for food and water, and the looks around.
She laid yesterday, but that was her first egg after not laying for three days (she had been laying one every other day before I put her in the brooder, sometimes two days in a row; and everyone else is picking up from the sky having been overcast here for over a week).

I don't want to keep her confined any longer than necessary to find out whether she wants to brood these eggs. I also don't want to let her out too soon and end up losing the eggs.

(Just so everyone knows, I wouldn't keep her in there if she seems like she really didn't want to be in there, and I wouldn't keep her in there if it seemed like it was getting unhealthy for her.)

 

[vpatt]

[qu ote name="Kaylish" url="/t/457488/old-fashioned-broody-hen-hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread/23360#post_14411225"]Have our first little hatchling! and Mama got some warm breakfast. [/quote] They are so cute!

 

[Lady of McCamley]

(Double post warning)

My hen seems to be taking to brooding alright.

If she just gets on and off of the nest throughout the day and she doesn't really stay there, then how long should I give her of doing that before I just let her out?
I mean, she's spending time on the nest, and she's getting off more than a few times a day for food and water, and the looks around.
She laid yesterday, but that was her first egg after not laying for three days (she had been laying one every other day before I put her in the brooder, sometimes two days in a row; and everyone else is picking up from the sky having been overcast here for over a week).

I don't want to keep her confined any longer than necessary to find out whether she wants to brood these eggs. I also don't want to let her out too soon and end up losing the eggs.

(Just so everyone knows, I wouldn't keep her in there if she seems like she really didn't want to be in there, and I wouldn't keep her in there if it seemed like it was getting unhealthy for her.)

If she is laying, then she is not in a deep brood. Bummer. BUT, she is infrequently laying, and willing to sit for extended periods, so she could still be contemplating it as hens do "pre-brood" by laying a few to the clutch, while collecting eggs, sitting for a period, then out and about, then finally settling into a deep brood to get down to business.

How long? I guess it depends on the viability of the eggs and the mood of the hen. You've had to use fresh eggs, and typically 2 weeks is the cut off point of fertility in the egg under ideal conditions. Since you've started, I'd let it run its course if the hen is semi-cooperating and not getting really frustrated or annoyed at being coaxed to brood. She may settle and you may get some chicks yet. I would not expect a high percentage rate with this hatch as the eggs have been sat on, then off, but then again I've been amazed that any hatched when I had some non-ideal conditions...they can be amazingly hardy.

So...when to give up? When the hen does and no longer wants to play along or the eggs are clearly going bad. I'd probably pack it in after 2 weeks with these eggs as it is highly unlikely anything will develop even if she sits steadily at that point (but it HAS happened).

My 2 cents
Lady of McCamley