Possible Broody and question

[Chicken poppy]

Yes, we have a rooster, attached is Stormy! A rooster question, when a hen is broody does it make the rooster a little more aggressive? Yesterday Stormy went after my son (which is also a new behavior for him).

Very handsome! No, it normally shouldn’t, but i believe it can.

How old is stormy? Keep in mind, once they get older they get more ”aggressive“ because they are learning new rooster things.

Also keep in mind, the younger the roo, the less fertility chances you will have with the eggs.

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

Very handsome! No, it normally shouldn’t, but i believe it can.

How old is stormy? Keep in mind, once they get older they get more ”aggressive“ because they are learning new rooster things.

Also keep in mind, the younger the roo, the less fertility chances you will have with the eggs.

He'll be 2 years old May 1st. I thought he would be mellowing out a bit after his first year. I think it might be that he's hormonal because it's spring, and Lady Bird was out there with him. My son is 12 now, and hasn't been spending as much time with the chickens as he used too? I don't know...I'll keep an eye on him.

 

[Shadrach]

It makes sense. I was thinking it could possibly be related. She wasn't in the nesting box at the time he went after my kid. In fact she was out there with him, so it very well could have been related. I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

Do you have other hens that the rooster mates with?
I have a very different view of situations like these. I was brought up with potentially dangerous creatures. You got told which ones you should be wary off and essentially if you got injured then it was likely to be deemed your own fault.
That's on a farm though and there was plenty of room for everyone to avoid each other if necessary. The ducks tended to avoid the free range chicken tribes. Dogs that worried live stock got shot. The chickens would visit the sheep and ram, but avoid the cattle. Everyone learns how to work around each other.
This just isn't possible for many people, particulalry those who keep chickens, ducks, geese and other fowl with the amount of room they have.
On the other hand you obviously need to protect your child.

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

Do you have other hens that the rooster mates with?
I have a very different view of situations like these. I was brought up with potentially dangerous creatures. You got told which ones you should be wary off and essentially if you got injured then it was likely to be deemed your own fault.
That's on a farm though and there was plenty of room for everyone to avoid each other if necessary. The ducks tended to avoid the free range chicken tribes. Dogs that worried live stock got shot. The chickens would visit the sheep and ram, but avoid the cattle. Everyone learns how to work around each other.
This just isn't possible for many people, particulalry those who keep chickens, ducks, geese and other fowl with the amount of room they have.
On the other hand you obviously need to protect your child.

Yes, I have 7 hens and one rooster. They have a fairly large fenced in area near our house where they free range all day, and I have a coop with an enclosed run. I put them in their enclosed run at dusk and they go to sleep in the coop with an automatic door at night. It opens again in the morning. I let them out into their yard to free range from the enclosed run mid morning. I spend a lot of time with them. They're my pets. They're all tame, and like human attention. I hold and give attention to Stormy (the rooster) all the time. He doesn't show aggression towards me. He doesn't like my husband very much. He doesn't spend time with them, and Stormy is bothered when he does yard work...He's good with the girls, and he's always been good around my son. We hand raised him. This is new behavior for him to go after my son. I'm not looking to get rid of him. I understand this could be a result of my broody hen, and maybe a combination of my son not spending much time with the flock anymore (he's a pre teen...would rather be playing video games). I'm not too concerned. Obviously I'm going to keep my eye on him when my son is around...I have to protect my kid of course.

 

[Shadrach]

Yes, I have 7 hens and one rooster. They have a fairly large fenced in area near our house where they free range all day, and I have a coop with an enclosed run. I put them in their enclosed run at dusk and they go to sleep in the coop with an automatic door at night. It opens again in the morning. I let them out into their yard to free range from the enclosed run mid morning. I spend a lot of time with them. They're my pets. They're all tame, and like human attention. I hold and give attention to Stormy (the rooster) all the time. He doesn't show aggression towards me. He doesn't like my husband very much. He doesn't spend time with them, and Stormy is bothered when he does yard work...He's good with the girls, and he's always been good around my son. We hand raised him. This is new behavior for him to go after my son. I'm not looking to get rid of him. I understand this could be a result of my broody hen, and maybe a combination of my son not spending much time with the flock anymore (he's a pre teen...would rather be playing video games). I'm not too concerned. Obviously I'm going to keep my eye on him when my son is around...I have to protect my kid of course.

Seems like you're taking a rational and long term view of the situation.
Pre teen is old enough to understand the problem and any warnings you feel you may need to drive the point home. I take it your son is a fit young man and can run.

Rooster tend to be one person creatures ime. You're part of his tribe or your not kind of thing.
If you are planning on persevering with a mixed sex group and having some reproduce then this might be worth a read for you.

ttps://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

I just wanted to give a little Lady Bird update. She got off the nest and joined the flock from 3-5pm. She dust bathed, and foraged, and ate seeds like she was starving. She was bossy to the other girls. She wanted me to hold her and pet her for a few mins, and then around 5pm she was back on the nest. I was concerned that she took such a long break, but the temperature was pretty mild. I checked on her at dusk when the rest of the flock went to bed and were on the roosts, she was still in the nesting box on the eggs, and she yelled at me when I opened the door to take a peek. I think she may be committed so far. We'll see. I'm not sure if I should move her to my separate little coop and run. I am afraid that she'll give up and leave the eggs. I think I'm going to let her stay in this box for now. My thought is if I don't move her while she's sitting on the eggs, I'll move her and the babies once they hatch.

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

She's still sitting on the eggs. She's committing to it. I have a Speckled Sussex who is just a year old now. She would really like to sit on Lady Bird's eggs. When Lady Bird takes her once a day break, and leaves the nest to eat, drink and take a quick dust bath. Horus immediately wants to go and sit on her eggs. She also is starting to growl at me when I open the door to the coop. On one hand, I figure she's keeping the eggs warm while Lady Bird takes her much needed break. On the other hand, she's not willingly getting up off the eggs when Lady Bird returns. I've had to physically move her off to give it back to Lady Bird a few times. Could this turn into an issue? Lady Bird is the top queen bird...so I figured as far as pecking orders go, it wasn't going to be an issue. Is this a normal thing to happen? Should I try to move Lady Bird and her clutch into a separate coop? I'm afraid it'll upset her and she'll give up on the eggs if I do it. Or is this a non issue and I shouldn't worry about it. Maybe I'm fussing too much about it? I don't know.

 

[cece_chickens]

Hi All,

Lady Bird is my queen of the flock girl. We went out of town for a few days and when we came back there was a dozen eggs from our 7 girls in a nesting box along with my Lady Bird screaming at me. We haven't had a broody hen yet in our flock. Lady Bird will be two on May 1st. She didn't stay too long after we returned, but since then she keeps returning to the box off and on like she's trying to decide if she wants to commit. Another different than her usual behavior when I go out to visit and hang out with the flock, and she's out there, she puffs up and clucks a lot. She still wants me to hold her and cuddle her (she's my cuddly chicken), but she's acting very different. I'm pretty sure she's showing broody behavior, but I don't know for sure since I'm new at this. I went out there today on my lunch break to clean the poop boards, my daily lunch break chore. She was in the box again, puffing up and screaming at me. I attached photos of her that I just took. Does this all seem like typical broody behavior? I wonder what the odds are that she'll actually commit? I'll let her if she wants to do it.

She’s broody! Just give her some extra supplements because she’ll lose a lot of weight

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

I went out this morning to check on the broody girls. Lady bird was acting a little different, then I peeked under her (as much as I could anyway) and I saw two babies!!! I don't know if there are any more yet, but I wasn't expecting them unitil tomorrow or the next day, so I was surprised to see them this morning. The one that I could see clearly was a little fluffy grey/blue looking baby, all dried off and fluffy, so must have hatched last night. It wasn't afraid of me, and let me pet it's cute little fluffy head. The other I only saw little legs and wet feathers as it was trying to burrow deep under Lady Bird's wings. I wonder how many more are under there. She's been sitting on seven eggs. I'll go out on my lunch break and try to get a picture and see if she'll let me see if she has any more.

I never got a chance to move her and the eggs. I was hoping to do it later tonight after work. I have been working on closing in a separate space, and I needed one more afternoon to finish up. So she had them a day earlier then I expected. She's still in the main coop. I'm crossing my fingers nothing happens to the littles while I work on her separate area. So far the other chickens and Stormy (rooster) seem to be leaving her alone.

 

[Spaeth-chicks]

So far the only baby I can take a picture of. This little one has been out front and center each time I look.