Placement of broody hen

[Newfarmer36]

You didn’t offend anyone. As you say you are new to keeping birds. We all learn from our mistakes. You bought that hen because she was broody ? Right ?
If you did then the only mistake you made was to put her in with your original flock. If she’s been sitting on those fertile eggs then you should keep her on them. Move her to that crate you have, put lots of fresh hay on the floor and she should be fine.

I did buy her bc she was broody. I didn't do research about broody hens and moving them either before I paid the lady like I should've done. she's no longer broody. I promise I've learned a valuable lesson.

 

[Newfarmer36]

I also don’t agree with that post that states to let your new hens integrate with your original flock. You bought this hen because she was broody. Let her hatch some eggs. Put her in that crate with fresh hay and wait three weeks till they hatch. In my opinion you did absolutely nothing wrong. Just know from now on to have your broodies in a separate place, even if one of your original flock hens go broody. Always keep broodies separate.
Good luck and keep us posted.
I have a broody at the moment too, just three weeks left. Hope everything goes good with yours

She's not broody anymore. It wasn't meant to be until she goes broody again and I have a proper place to put her.

 

[dunnmom]

If you have floor space in the coop, she could probably sit there. I ended up putting one of those cat litter box covers over my hen in the floor, and it's working out well so far. Of course, I'll have to put up a partition when the eggs are due to hatch, and move her and chicks to a better place after the hatch, but it was the best solution for us at the time.

 

[Newfarmer36]

I understand what it's like to be new so please don't take these questions personal or harsh. You have to learn somewhere sometime.

1st - you say the black one is broody? How long have those eggs been beside her? Where did they come from? Are they the fertile ones that were previously sat on? If so how long has she been off them? I ask because most broody hens would not let eggs sit so temptingly close without stealing them. Is she really broody? Or is she breaking due to stress?

Also- if she's been broody for a month and moved to your setup - is she really still sitting? Whats the significance of the eggs you are putting under her? Can you give her day old chicks instead? - if you try that you MUST do more research before you act.

Broody hens are a different animal. They are fierce but they are also taxing their system from not eating, drinking and exercising as normal. They will lose their reserves and it isn't healthy for them to stay in that state longer than necessary

There was a comment about letting the hens integrate into your flock first to settle pecking order - but I will respectfully disagree. I do not think it is all that important as long as when she does integrate you put effort into learning how to facilitate it - look but no touch for a while. One of my hen was almost at the top of the pecking order before she went broody. When she went broody she dropped to the very bottom and was ostracized for her new behavior. So in my experience- which will not always be everyone's- pecking order changes when you add or subtract birds and when existing birds go broody.

The eggs were beside her maybe 10 mins or so.
The eggs came from my hens that i already had.
The eggs were fertile I believe . The ones I collect and eat are.
I've never had a broody hen so I'm not sure if she was just sitting there or what . After about 15 mins or so I went back out and she had pulled all of those eggs under her.
She's not broody anymore so I assume the stress broke her of it.
I put them under her so she'd have some to sit on and hatch them out.
I can probably get day old chicks but if she doesn't take them in, then...
I did buy her bc she was broody but she's also one of my favorite breeds so I would've bought her either way.

 

[bobbi-j]

I honestly think it's best that she's not broody at the moment. If she was truly broody for a month before you bought her, she had already lost a lot of condition just sitting, even though she didn't have eggs to sit on at that time. The move, the timing or both could have broken her broodiness. The last broody I tried to break without a broody buster cage took three weeks. The incubation period of a chicken. I think their hormones start to wane after that amount of time. Be patient. She could become broody again this summer. I would suggest you get an incubator, though, if you want to hatch eggs at a certain time. That's the only way to guarantee you'll get chicks when you want them.

 

[Newfarmer36]

I honestly think it's best that she's not broody at the moment. If she was truly broody for a month before you bought her, she had already lost a lot of condition just sitting, even though she didn't have eggs to sit on at that time. The move, the timing or both could have broken her broodiness. The last broody I tried to break without a broody buster cage took three weeks. The incubation period of a chicken. I think their hormones start to wane after that amount of time. Be patient. She could become broody again this summer. I would suggest you get an incubator, though, if you want to hatch eggs at a certain time. That's the only way to guarantee you'll get chicks when you want them.

Thank you for responding! I don't do the incubator thing. It's not necessarily that I want chicks. I was just thinking that it would be neat to watch a hen and her chicks. Plus, my hubby said I couldn't buy anymore chickens. So if a hen hatched out her own then I wouldn't be buying any.

 

[bobbi-j]

Thank you for responding! I don't do the incubator thing. It's not necessarily that I want chicks. I was just thinking that it would be neat to watch a hen and her chicks. Plus, my hubby said I couldn't buy anymore chickens. So if a hen hatched out her own then I wouldn't be buying any.

I like the way you think!

 

[Newfarmer36]

I like the way you think!

Lol. Women can always find a way around things.. or at least I can!