Psycho Broody

[yyz0yyz0]

Previously I had Wynndottes and dealt with broody hens, even let one hatch eggs last year.

All the Wynndottes are now gone and I've got a Speckled Sussex going broody. This bird is a complete psycho as a Broody hen, to steal eggs from under her I had to wear a heavy long sleeve shirt and leather gloves. Any time I even open the nest box she is going ballistic and of course that makes the rooster flip out as well. Any time I reach in there's a risk of bloodloss due to her attacking me.

Have others had Broodies that act this way? None of the Wynndottes acted like this when they were broody.

Will she make a more protective mother if she hatches eggs?



as a tangent, will a broody hen keep adding eggs to the nest once they starting brooding? I only have the one Sussex and would love to hatch some of her eggs as well as the rest of my flock. She is currently sitting on 4 fake eggs till I can collect a dozen for her to set. would there be a better chance of her adding to the nest if there were fewer or no eggs under her?

thanks

 

[chicklover 1998]

Previously I had Wynndottes and dealt with broody hens, even let one hatch eggs last year.

All the Wynndottes are now gone and I've got a Speckled Sussex going broody. This bird is a complete psycho as a Broody hen, to steal eggs from under her I had to wear a heavy long sleeve shirt and leather gloves. Any time I even open the nest box she is going ballistic and of course that makes the rooster flip out as well. Any time I reach in there's a risk of bloodloss due to her attacking me.

Have others had Broodies that act this way? None of the Wynndottes acted like this when they were broody.

Will she make a more protective mother if she hatches eggs?



as a tangent, will a broody hen keep adding eggs to the nest once they starting brooding? I only have the one Sussex and would love to hatch some of her eggs as well as the rest of my flock. She is currently sitting on 4 fake eggs till I can collect a dozen for her to set. would there be a better chance of her adding to the nest if there were fewer or no eggs under her?

thanks

Yes though wyandottes are know for their laid back nature so that is probably why they were calm, SS are also a fairly calm breed but all broodies are prone to turning into vicious beasts

but she will probably be a very protective mother, they will always want to keep adding more eggs, you have to mark the hatching eggs and remove any that are not he ones you want to hatch.

 

[azygous]

I've had both Wyandotte and Speckled Sussax broodies, and the Wyandottes were the most psycho-broodies of all. One destroyed the cage she was in and escaped.

Currently, I have my first broody of the season, a Speckled Sussex. Linda has laid no more than two eggs, only one I'm sure of, this season, and she's decided that's plenty, she's ready to go broody.

Linda goes broody three or four times a year, and last time, it took ten days to break her. She's on day one in the cage right now, so we're starting the count-down.

As for a broody adding to the eggs she's sitting on, usually by the time her broody hormones have kicked in, she's finished laying eggs. Once she begins incubating them, it's not wise to add to them since they might be staggered in hatching and you run the risk of her finishing her broody spell before all the eggs hatch.

 

[chicklover 1998]

whoops forgot to add that, or maybe be more specific, but she will stop laying as soon as she gets her clutch to the size she wants but other hens will still want to try to lay in that nest