Polish Has Gone Broody

[James Beller]

Hey my polish hen has gone broody. I was wondering when she would every time she laid and egg she would puff out when i touched her. She not only is a polish which is rare but also hatchery stock. I would have never suspected it. She has only polish eggs under her. IDK how many though. Alot and every day she get more i try to get them out but it is so hard to know. The only way i know most of them is because some other hens get in there and lay tinted eggs. I think she has about 14 or so. She fits them all though. She has hardley gotten up to eat either only the first day. I can't wait to see what she does.

 

[Pork Pie]

Thats great news - nothing nicer that seeing momma and chicks running around the place. Since other birds lay there, i would advise that you either move her to another area (which has its risks of spoiling her broody mood) or putting a structure around her to prevent other hens from laying there. Additional eggs will not hatch at the same time as the others (roughly speaking) and plus too many eggs can result in very few hatching, since she will have too many eggs to cover.

All the best
CT

 

[Ridgerunner]

Mark each egg you want her to hatch, I use a black Sharpie but some people use a soft-leaded pencil. Then every day take out any strange eggs that don’t belong. As long as you take them out every day they are still good to use. You will not find any surprises in them. As CT said, she needs to be able to cover all of them and the later eggs won’t have time to develop.

Before a hen even starts to lay she adds additional fat. This is what she mostly lives on when she goes broody. That’s why they don’t need to leave the nest that much to eat and drink, though extra food and drink is good for them. They also hold their poop until they leave the nest. You might see some huge stinky poops around. Not to worry, it’s normal.

I’ve seen hens leave a nest twice a day for over an hour each time in really hot weather. I’ve seen a hen leave her nest only once a day and for only about 15 minutes in cold weather. The hens generally do quite well on their own. That instinct is pretty strong when they do go broody.

A lot of people do isolate a broody hen from the flock, nothing wrong with that. But broody hens have been hatching eggs and raising chicks with the flock since there were chickens. There are risks, advantages, and disadvantages no matter which method you choose. It’s not that one is right and all others are wrong, just different ways to do it.

 

[James Beller]

Before a hen even starts to lay she adds additional fat. This is what she mostly lives on when she goes broody. That’s why they don’t need to leave the nest that much to eat and drink, though extra food and drink is good for them. They also hold their poop until they leave the nest. You might see some huge stinky poops around. Not to worry, it’s normal.

Most of all of our broodies get up every feed time and eat and drink.

 

[James Beller]

I did have her with 13 eggs. But the other hens just sit on her and lay there eggs. I did have a new one from November brooding with her but she quite on her about 1 and a half days in.

 

[James Beller]

I have one boody who wants my others broodies nest and will not take any other nest. So the original broody to that nest stays to the side. I do not want the new one thinking it only takes a week before they hatch. What should i do?

 

[aart]

I have one boody who wants my others broodies nest and will not take any other nest. So the original broody to that nest stays to the side. I do not want the new one thinking it only takes a week before they hatch. What should i do?

Put the second broody in a broody breaker crate, or seclude her some other way......so the first one can finish incubating her eggs unmolested.

 

[James Beller]

Put the second broody in a broody breaker crate, or seclude her some other way......so the first one can finish incubating her eggs unmolested.

the original moved to a different next that is due in 2 weeks and the one that was in the nest due in 2 weeks found a complete new one.