Old Fashioned Broody Hen Hatch A Long and Informational Thread

[gg706]

For anyone who has children! You NEED to get the childrens book "The Perfect Nest" It is a very funny book about this very problem!

Has anyone else had problems of broodies fighting over nesting boxes? We have a whole row of nesting boxes, but our four broodies fight over the samenesting box! Everytime I walk into the chicken shed I end up having to pull out another hen that's squished herself into a nesting box with another hen! It'sthe worst when it's one of the big hens practically sitting on one of the silkie crosses-they pant like crazy after being sat on!
I've moved one of the broodies into a seperate nest with her eggs and I'm going to try and keep her in for a day before letting her go walkabout-will this be long enough to keep her from going back up to the main shed and sitting on nothing?

 

[Miss Lydia]

For anyone who has children! You NEED to get the childrens book "The Perfect Nest" It is a very funny book about this very problem!

I LOVE THIS POST! How hilarious! I have never really thought about trying to hatch eggs....giving it thought now! Yall make it sound SO FUN! What do yall do with all the roosters that hatch?

Oh you want to hatch eggs under a broody, it is the greatest. I have a pic of 4 hens in 1 nest box from last year just haven't been able to post my pics since we changed over. at least this box was big enough for all of them to get into. We eat our extra roos and give soem away to be eaten. I do have 2 roos I keep though, I love roos just can't have too many.

 

[perchie.girl]

Has anyone else had problems of broodies fighting over nesting boxes? We have a whole row of nesting boxes, but our four broodies fight over the samenesting box! Everytime I walk into the chicken shed I end up having to pull out another hen that's squished herself into a nesting box with another hen! It'sthe worst when it's one of the big hens practically sitting on one of the silkie crosses-they pant like crazy after being sat on!
I've moved one of the broodies into a seperate nest with her eggs and I'm going to try and keep her in for a day before letting her go walkabout-will this be long enough to keep her from going back up to the main shed and sitting on nothing?

You may have to build a broodie pen to keep things under control.

 

[joneus]

Apparently, my broody hens' calender is 3 days ahead of mine. I've been hearing muffled peeps since early afternoon and she's been acting restless over the last few hours. A couple of peeps have gotten loud enough that I *think* one or two are either hatched or nearly so.

She looks kinda confused. She keeps standing up just enough that I cant see anything (

), rearranging the eggs, wiggling around, sitting down, fluffing the edges of the nest, and craning her head to look at her chest and under her wings. This is her first brood- is this normal behavior? She's not gonna hurt the babies with all her moving around, is she? Also (prolly a silly question, I know)- she WILL come out of the broodiness, once the eggs are done hatching... I mean, broody hens "know" to take care of their chicks and dont just keep sitting there & leave the babies to fend for themselves, right?!?!?! It seems like she's been broody FOR-FREEKIN'-EVER (and its never gonna end!!!). She lays such pretty olive green eggs- I'm anxious for her to get back to work (which is why I gave her the eggs in the first place!)

 

[perchie.girl]

Patience Grashappa......

They are hatching and shes helping I betcha.

Apparently, my broody hens' calender is 3 days ahead of mine. I've been hearing muffled peeps since early afternoon and she's been acting restless over the last few hours. A couple of peeps have gotten loud enough that I *think* one or two are either hatched or nearly so.

She looks kinda confused. She keeps standing up just enough that I cant see anything (

), rearranging the eggs, wiggling around, sitting down, fluffing the edges of the nest, and craning her head to look at her chest and under her wings. This is her first brood- is this normal behavior? She's not gonna hurt the babies with all her moving around, is she? Also (prolly a silly question, I know)- she WILL come out of the broodiness, once the eggs are done hatching... I mean, broody hens "know" to take care of their chicks and dont just keep sitting there & leave the babies to fend for themselves, right?!?!?! It seems like she's been broody FOR-FREEKIN'-EVER (and its never gonna end!!!). She lays such pretty olive green eggs- I'm anxious for her to get back to work (which is why I gave her the eggs in the first place!)

 

[Haloclimb]

Well we've moved the broody hen down to a seperate little cage and she seems happy enough there, and there doesn't seem to be much nest fighting anymore without any eggs in the nest so hopefully there'll be no more difficulties!
And looking at that book, it looks so cute! I'll definetly have to look around for it

I feel kind of bad though, I went into this a bit haphazardly! I don't even know how long the eggs have been under...I'm just guessing they'll hatch soon by candling them! I need to be more organised with this, instead of just letting a hen sit on whatever eggs she finds xD

 

[lswatson111304]

Patience Grashappa......

They are hatching and shes helping I betcha.

Yes! Mine was moving around. I would go peek and she would be looking completely the opposite direction. She never stopped turning the eggs or anything. (like we do when incubating). LOL
Now she is up moving around and talking to the babies. Its been 4 days.


OK, so here is what I did. I moved the dog kennel that Mama bird and the 5 babies are in, outside to the run right next to the coop. (it is large, won't fit in the coop. I have a light on it, just so mama is able to see all her babies, and to provide a tiny bit of warmth. When I moved them outside I set her out in the run for a moment when I was putting the babies into the kennel. Well, the other chickens attacked her!!!!!!!!!! I had to run and grab her and put her in the kennel. So I of course closed the door, which I had planned to do anyway. SHe finally got up moving around and the babies were up walking around and looking out the door at the rest of the flock. Every time I checked on them there would be like 4 chickens just looking in there wondering why they were locked up. How long should I leave the door shut before I open it for Mama to venture out with the kiddo's? I've been pretty worried that mama wouldn't adjust well to being back outside the longer I had her in the house, so it was important for me to let them out. As much as I wanted to steal her babies and keep them in the house to raise I know she will do better, and I'm sure it would have broken her heart!

 

[artsyrobin]

they really are fun to watch together- and the serama sisters should have a couple soon, now that ought to be interesting, 2 mamas, 4 babies?

 

[Miss Lydia]

Yes! Mine was moving around. I would go peek and she would be looking completely the opposite direction. She never stopped turning the eggs or anything. (like we do when incubating). LOL
Now she is up moving around and talking to the babies. Its been 4 days.


OK, so here is what I did. I moved the dog kennel that Mama bird and the 5 babies are in, outside to the run right next to the coop. (it is large, won't fit in the coop. I have a light on it, just so mama is able to see all her babies, and to provide a tiny bit of warmth. When I moved them outside I set her out in the run for a moment when I was putting the babies into the kennel. Well, the other chickens attacked her!!!!!!!!!! I had to run and grab her and put her in the kennel. So I of course closed the door, which I had planned to do anyway. SHe finally got up moving around and the babies were up walking around and looking out the door at the rest of the flock. Every time I checked on them there would be like 4 chickens just looking in there wondering why they were locked up. How long should I leave the door shut before I open it for Mama to venture out with the kiddo's? I've been pretty worried that mama wouldn't adjust well to being back outside the longer I had her in the house, so it was important for me to let them out. As much as I wanted to steal her babies and keep them in the house to raise I know she will do better, and I'm sure it would have broken her heart!

Wait till you have a day where you don't have anywhere to go so you can supervise, then open the door and stand back and watch. when she brings them out there could be some pecking but hopefully it will be mimimal. But keep and eye on things for most of that day to make sure mama keeps her brood with her and the chicks don't get too close to the other hens, the roos will be fine with the chicks, it's the hens can can cause problems, but most likely everything will go smoothly.

Let us know how it all goes. She will be wanting to teach them to dust bathe and they will have to learn to stay out from behind her or they will get covered in dirt or even kicked across the yard, but it's all a learning process. Be ready for lots of laughs and pictures to take.

 

[artsyrobin]

i tried seperating the broody sisters, since they were fighting over the eggs, well, they went nuts, apparently they do this thing where they swap nests- even though they are next to each other, i'll hear growling, turn around and one or the other is trying to scoop her sisters eggs under her...