Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[bumpercarr]

How does one know if their hen is broody? One of my RIR was in a nest (the secluded corner under the nest boxes where I don't like them laying, but they all do anyway!) when I went to check the nest boxes around 5:30 pm. She was very upset at my presence, got up but didn't leave the coop, and sqawked VERY loudly at me until I moved away. She them promptly returned to her nest. Does this seem like broody behavior to you? It does not seem normal to me!

Usually I wait to call them broody until I'm sure that they are going to stick (well, as much as you can be sure). I had a RIR two years ago that went broody, it is unusual but not unheard of for RIRs to brood. Unfortunately, she left the nest at day 15 and then never brooded again. Her behavior is certainly broody-like.

 

[rebrascora]

My bantam cochin/silkie cross(Frances) has just gone broody again. She hatched a clutch of 8 last summer. I have been really keen for one of my broodies to get the "itch" so that I can have "Easter chicks" but I also really wanted to hatch some more Cream legbar/RIR crosses because the previous 2 are lovely friendly birds and laying beautiful olive green eggs. Unfortunately my RIR has not come back into lay yet, so I'm torn between letting her hatch some Marans and Welsummer eggs or let her have some of my barnyard mixes or break her in the hope that she goes broody later when I have the RIR eggs (hopefully). Difficult decisions to let her follow her natural instinct and just allow her to hatch anything or wait and hatch what I would actually like.

 

[venymae]

Sounds like my girls when they go broody.

Usually I wait to call them broody until I'm sure that they are going to stick (well, as much as you can be sure). I had a RIR two years ago that went broody, it is unusual but not unheard of for RIRs to brood. Unfortunately, she left the nest at day 15 and then never brooded again. Her behavior is certainly broody-like.

Ok. so if this hen IS broody what do I do? I'd love for her to hatch some eggs. The nest she's on is a local favorite and this is the only coop we have. (20 hens total in flock) I will take all the advice I can get!

 

[bramblefir]

We sectioned off the nest from the rest of the coop when ours went broody. It was the favorite nest box too. The other hens ended up using the second favorite nest box or one (there's always one) would lay on the floor as close to the nest box as she could get.

 

[vpatt]

Ok. so if this hen IS broody what do I do?  I'd love for her to hatch some eggs.  The nest she's on is a local favorite and this is the only coop we have. (20 hens total in flock)  I will take all the advice I can get!

I'm sure someone can explain better than me. I think you need to come up with a way to have a separate place for her and try moving her at night......best if you can move her whole nest with her on it after dark.....then see if she accepts the move. If so, you can then put golf balls or extra eggs under her until you are sure she will stick with the eggs.....then switch them out with the eggs you want her to hatch. Watch her to be sure does not leave them. You could end up with eggs that need an incubator or you could lose them unless you have someone else go broody who might accept her eggs.

Do you have a way to separate her nest in your coop? I did have a broody who hatched her eggs in the coop....so the chicks were in at night and in the mornings with the whole flock....but when the flock left the coop each morning I would latch the door so mama and babies were in there alone thru the day....after a week or so I left the coop door open and she began taking them out to free range with the flock. It worked for me without any problems but I am not sure others would recommend it.

 

[Kaylish]

Ok. so if this hen IS broody what do I do? I'd love for her to hatch some eggs. The nest she's on is a local favorite and this is the only coop we have. (20 hens total in flock) I will take all the advice I can get!

I had good luck sectioning off a small area in my coop with chicken wire (the 2' x 6' space under my poop tray). I ended up putting her in a dog kennel in the garage for the hatch since I was out of town, but as soon as everyone was out and fluffy I moved Blue and her babies into the "broody apartment" so that the flock could see/hear/smell her and the babies but couldn't interact. After a few days, once all the chicks were mobile and eating well, I opened the apartment up during the day so that Mom could take the littles out to forage and mingle but locked them back up at night untill they were about 3 weeks old. This method worked very well for me even though my broody was low on the pecking order to begin with.

Things I learned were not to move the broody during the day (she just ran back to the nesting box she was in) and when I did move her a night I had to keep her locked in for severals days since she kept wanting to go back to the nesting box where she started her brood.

Keep us posted! I'm sure others will chime in with more good info.

 

[Hayduke27]

Ugh! So it's day 18 for me, and I have 6 eggs developing nicely, and another that might be ok but was questionable. Over the past 2 days, my 2 broody hens have taken turns sitting on the 7 eggs, which are all in one nest box at this point. I don't know why they are doing this, but it has been happening. Well, tonight I went for dinner at a friend's house, and when I got home to check on things, neither broody was sitting on the eggs. They were on the wrong nests. The coop was probably about 40 degrees, and the eggs were cooled all of the way down. I put them back under the broodies, and they are warming back up now, but what are the chances I am going to still be able to hatch them out now that they've lost all their warmth so late in the process?? I can't believe it... I just candled on Monday and things were looking so good...

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Ugh! So it's day 18 for me, and I have 6 eggs developing nicely, and another that might be ok but was questionable. Over the past 2 days, my 2 broody hens have taken turns sitting on the 7 eggs, which are all in one nest box at this point. I don't know why they are doing this, but it has been happening. Well, tonight I went for dinner at a friend's house, and when I got home to check on things, neither broody was sitting on the eggs. They were on the wrong nests. The coop was probably about 40 degrees, and the eggs were cooled all of the way down. I put them back under the broodies, and they are warming back up now, but what are the chances I am going to still be able to hatch them out now that they've lost all their warmth so late in the process?? I can't believe it... I just candled on Monday and things were looking so good...

There's always hope. One breeder (on another forum I'm on) announced it is not uncommon for the "late eggs" she tosses into the garbage can to have a chick or two hatch the next day.

So, while definitely not ideal, all hope is not lost.

I do recommend you rig something up to keep those girls where they ought to be so that no more mishaps occur.

LofMc

 

[Hayduke27]

I am pretty disheartened after last night. It's so close to the end, I can't believe this would happen now. The eggs were not frozen, but they were all the way chilled, like refrigerator cold, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if it was hard on the chicks.

Anyway, I'm trying to now find the motivation to continue to tend the eggs as though they are alive... I had this whole weekend centered around the hatch, but hopefully either they all hatch or none do. It would be terrible to have just one egg hatch.

Anyway, if somehow the eggs did live, there are still 7 of them developing. I was trying to decide when the best time to move them under their respective mothers would be? Should I wait until hatch day to minimize the chances of a repeat wandering mom? Should I just go ahead and give them their eggs now and begin barricading them into their respective nest areas?

Also, if these eggs all died, I wouldn't be against trying again, but these poor girls have been sitting for about 5 weeks now. I imagine it's time to break them and just hatch in the incubator, as another 3 weeks of sitting seems like too long for the poor girls?? That's a shame, as I had hoped to have the ladies raise chicks themselves...

Thanks again for any and all advice.

 

[bumpercarr]

There's always hope. One breeder (on another forum I'm on) announced it is not uncommon for the "late eggs" she tosses into the garbage can to have a chick or two hatch the next day.

So, while definitely not ideal, all hope is not lost.

I do recommend you rig something up to keep those girls where they ought to be so that no more mishaps occur.

LofMc

I did that once except when I threw them in the trash I cracked the eggs then heard the chirping. I was horrified!