Opinions & Exp Needed w/ Broody Hen - Hatch Date Dec. 1

[dospuercos]

So at 7 months, my Silkie went broody & although I really don't want to hatch any baby chicks right now, I gave in because nothing was going to change her mind. She is sitting on 4 eggs with a hatch date of Dec. 1. I decided to put her in a rabbit cage so if it gets really cold here in Northern Utah, I can move her into the garage easily. I am letting her out to eat & drink about 4 to 5 times a day. But I don't want to let the eggs get too cold. Does anyone have any recommendations on how long I should let her stay off the nest? Right now I am only letting her stay off for about 5 minutes at a time. It has been cold & rainy the last few days with a high temp of around 45 to 50. Also I would just let her come & go as she pleases, but last night when I went to check to see if she had gotten back on her eggs she was sitting in another nesting box. So I decided to lock her in the rabbit cage. She is young & I know instinct should kick in, but because it is cold I think I need to help her out a little.

 

[Southernbelle]

I have 4 broodies right now, too. All mine are also 7 month old Silkies.

I don't interfere with my girls at all. Moving them too much messes with their concentration. They usually only get off the nest 1x/day to eat, drink and poop. They don't eat much because they're not expending much energy. As long as she has access to her food and water - I'd just let her decide when it's time to get up. Mine only get off the nest for a few minutes in this weather.

Whether I move my broodies or not depends if they're getting bothered or not. 2 of my broodies are still in the main coop. No one has bothered them or their nests, so I left them in there - they're expected to hatch 11/30. The other 2 girls took over the favorite nests, so they were getting dragged off their nests for the other hens to lay in. My nests are 5 gal buckets and empty cat litter buckets, so I just picked up the broody, nest and all and moved them to my old chick brooder. My brooder is 4x4x2 with solid walls and wire top. I thought it might keep it warmer, too. They hatched their eggs last week - 8 out of 9 hatched. It's funny because they each stayed on their own nests when they were incubating the eggs, but as soon as they hatched - one broody moved in with the other one and they've been sharing parenting duties ever since.

Some people like to keep the food and water right next to their broodies, so they don't have to get up, but I like to put the food and water just far enough away that they have to get off the nest, so that they're off the nest when they poop. I didn't want to have to try to clean up broody poo out of the nest, I didn't think that would be good for my eggs. Also, seeing the poo let me know they were getting off the nest.

I only reached into the nest to candle the eggs - which was a waste of time because I stink at candling!

Whew! I can ramble on, can't I? Hope that helps!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Other than the rambling part, I second all of that! But since you've already moved her, it is best to keep her locked up for a while so she gets re-oriented to where her nest is.

 

[dospuercos]

Thank you both for your replies. And I don't mind the rambling. Everything you mentioned was very helpful. I am also glad to hear that I am not "mad" & that there are others who have successfully let their broodies hatch eggs in this cold weather. Your reply about your broodies only getting off the nest once a day makes sense. Most of the time when I get her out of the cage to eat, she just goes running around the yard.