Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

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Hello! I've been lurking and not posting but I'm hoping I can get some advice on a bunch of 1st time co-broodies. I have 1 mama with 5 week old chicks and now 2 (possibly 3) broodies all sharing the same nest area. I had built a "broody apartment" under my roosts & poop deck when the 1st one decided to sit in early November. Its roughly 2' deep by 6' long with nesting areas on either end and the door in the middle. Blue (LF Cochin) and her chicks (backyard LF/bantam mixes) have been out with the flock all day but still return to her nest at night to sleep. Roughly 2 weeks ago Storm (silkie/cochin) started sitting on Blues nest (no squabbles) so when I set a test batch from my banties I gave her 6 eggs. She has been sitting tight ever since except for a quick daily break to eat, etc. I swear the day I gave Storm eggs her sister Sky decided to go broody in one of the raised nesting boxes. After a couple of tries to discourage Sky I started moving her into the other broody nest She sits there until her daily break and then half the time will return to the nesting box/ half the time to the broody nest but since I had extra eggs in the bator I gave her a couple 2 days ago to see if she would stay put. Day 1 no problem; yesterday she was back in the nesting box (eggs were still warm though) and my Elsa (another silkie/cochin) who had been going in broody nest #1 to lay gave me the broody hiss and was egg-sitting Storms nest during her break. Storm came back in and settled right down next to Elsa and went back into broodytrance. All 3 new broodies came from a pen where the hens were allowed to co-brood and raised all the chicks in a community group.

So that the story - Can anyone give me an idea of possible problems or concerns? Any tips on how to make the brood more successful? Ideas of what to watch for? All the eggs are on the same day of development so I won't have a staggered hatch. But this is the first brood for all 3 banties and only my 2nd (Blue being the first 5 weeks ago). Thank you!
 
@Kaylish The problem I see is that the hens are not taking care of their own set of eggs. The hens talk to the eggs while they incubate, which forms the bond between chick and hen before they even hatch. When your chicks do hatch, they are going to be confused as to which hen to go to. If you have a more dominant hen, she is going to steal all the chicks after they hatch. If your hens won't pick one nest and stick with it, it would probably be better to separate them. My broodies were good about sitting on their nest, but I made the mistake of moving eggs around so they'd both have the same number. Live and learn I guess. The dominant hen took all the chicks eventually and the second hen was very upset. The chicks were confused and didn't know where to go. I eventually had to move one hen and half the chicks to a separate pen that was far enough away so they couldn't hear the first hen clucking for them.
 
This will be my 1st spring with Orpingtons. I've heard they can go broody. My question is, do hens typically go broody all at the same time? or Do they each go broody when the mood strikes them & maybe not every year? I've heard silkies & cochins make overall great moms. Do the large Orps make the list? (Size wise, I could fit a LOT of eggs under one! But they could also be clumsy due to their big feet.)

So far, it's my bantam Orp that has tried to go broody 2xs on me. I'm predicting she'll eventually get her way when the weather warms. Are there certain months of the year (or temp range or daylight hours) that start the hens stashing & hiding eggs?
 
ochochicas said:
@Kaylish The problem I see is that the hens are not taking care of their own set of eggs. The hens talk to the eggs while they incubate, which forms the bond between chick and hen before they even hatch. When your chicks do hatch, they are going to be confused as to which hen to go to. If you have a more dominant hen, she is going to steal all the chicks after they hatch. If your hens won't pick one nest and stick with it, it would probably be better to separate them. My broodies were good about sitting on their nest, but I made the mistake of moving eggs around so they'd both have the same number. Live and learn I guess. The dominant hen took all the chicks eventually and the second hen was very upset. The chicks were confused and didn't know where to go. I eventually had to move one hen and half the chicks to a separate pen that was far enough away so they couldn't hear the first hen clucking for them.
Click to expand...
Thank you for taking the time to read that novel!

So if I am understanding you; my issue would be with broody #1 and #3 sharing the same nest?

Just to clarify: Broody #1 and #3 are sharing Nest A with #1 only having eggs and Broody #2 is (was? she's in the right nest today) bouncing between Nest B (with #2s eggs) and the laying box (emptied 1-2 times a day)

Would it be better to remove all the eggs to the incubator (which is running and 1/2 full of eggs set the same day as the broodies); have them sit on fakes and then give them each some chicks at hatch? Or give #3 her own eggs (marked so that I can insure that each broody is sitting on her own) and hope that the shared nest isn't to confusing?

I am kind of hoping to make this a test run for the girls. My plan is (was?) to build my banties their own coop & run with a communal nest/broody box since it appeared to work with the lady I got the girls from...but... Am I nuts to think it could work?

Thanks again.
 
Faraday40 said:
This will be my 1st spring with Orpingtons. I've heard they can go broody. My question is, do hens typically go broody all at the same time? or Do they each go broody when the mood strikes them & maybe not every year? I've heard silkies & cochins make overall great moms. Do the large Orps make the list? (Size wise, I could fit a LOT of eggs under one! But they could also be clumsy due to their big feet.)

So far, it's my bantam Orp that has tried to go broody 2xs on me. I'm predicting she'll eventually get her way when the weather warms. Are there certain months of the year (or temp range or daylight hours) that start the hens stashing & hiding eggs?
Click to expand...
Really depends upon the line of Orpington. I had 3 hatchery quality Orpingtons (note that would be only a small sampling of the breed.) One went broody and stayed for a long time, however I did not use her as I was not doing broodies at the time. She never went broody again. The others never thought about it. Ever.

Orpingtons can be good broodies and mothers, but I think that more likely in the breeder quality Orpington...not that hatchery quality wouldn't, but many times commercial hatcheries select for egg producing which automatically deselects for broodiness.

Do they go broody at the same time? Or individually....That answer is yes. It really depends on the birds. Each bird is unique, but a lot of us notice that when one goes broody those so inclined soon follow suit. However, not the commercial non-broody types that would never think of brooding. They don't brood no matter who is sitting and generally disrupt the nest trying to get in and out to lay.

May/June is the high season of brooding...but some birds will brood year round. Silkies, Cochins and Games will brood throughout the year, generally 2 to 4 times each year, depending upon the bird. I have had LF hens brood in November and December. I do have the highest number of broodies in May/June though...I call those my seasonal broodies.

Lady of McCamley
 
I'll admit I got a little confused with the hens going back and forth. In my opinion, it is better to have the broodies hatch a set of eggs if you are willing to follow through with it. They will bond to chicks if you sneak them in later. My point earlier was that if you have 2 (or 3?) hens in one spot sharing a nest or two, the chicks are going to get confused when they hatch. Some hens will share parenting duties just fine. However, in my case, my one hen was a hoarder and wanted everything to herself. The submissive hen would lay next to her and wait for her chicks to come back, but the dominant one wouldn't allow it. I guess you'll have to wait and see what happens. I don't have Silkies or Cochins so I'm sure they could react differently.
 
ochochicas said:
I'll admit I got a little confused with the hens going back and forth. In my opinion, it is better to have the broodies hatch a set of eggs if you are willing to follow through with it. They will bond to chicks if you sneak them in later. My point earlier was that if you have 2 (or 3?) hens in one spot sharing a nest or two, the chicks are going to get confused when they hatch. Some hens will share parenting duties just fine. However, in my case, my one hen was a hoarder and wanted everything to herself. The submissive hen would lay next to her and wait for her chicks to come back, but the dominant one wouldn't allow it. I guess you'll have to wait and see what happens. I don't have Silkies or Cochins so I'm sure they could react differently.
Click to expand...
I reread my original post after some coffee and I think I confused myself.
hide.gif
Thank you very much for the imput; it's one of those things I wouldn't have even thought of.

I'll let them all have eggs and be ready to step in and brood the chicks myself if necessary. I will update as the hatch progresses!
fl.gif
 

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