Wasn't here, she had 4x6 space.
Not being able to dust bath could be an issue for broody,
dust her with permethrin as a deterrent.
Putting eggs under a broody
- Thread starter lutherpug
- Start date
Not being able to dust bath could be an issue for broody,
dust her with permethrin as a deterrent.
- Thread starter
- #12
Sounds like a plan. Thank you!
Did you say your eggs will be shipped? If so, it is recommended that you let them sit over night so the air cells can reattach. Sorry if someone already mentioned that in this thread, I did not see it if they did.
Good luck with your broody, it's always so fun to see the hen with her chicks!
Good luck with your broody, it's always so fun to see the hen with her chicks!
- Thread starter
- #14
Yes. Thank you for bringing this up. I’ve incubated eggs before, I’ve just never hatched under a broody. I’ll give them a rest overnight then set them in the nesting area then move her over. If the eggs show up this evening I will plan to get them under her early tomorrow morning. I’ll post a picture of the area I set up once I get it done. I’m excited!
Before you put those eggs under her make sure she has accepted the move. You could start them in the incubator while you are making sure she has accepted the move.
If you isolate the broody make sure she cannot go to her old nest and make sure no other hen can get to her nest.
I occasionally have a broody hen go to the wrong nest, I think typically another hen is in her nest laying an egg and the broody gets confused when she gets back from her daily constitutional. I just toss them back on the correct nest, not a big deal to me. Most of my broody hens don't do that, they crowd back into the right nest if another is there. But your hen has shown a tendency to do that so I think isolating her is a good idea. Don't give her the option to go to the wrong nest.
Also, with that rooster integration it is possible the flock can be unsettled for a while. I find that introducing chicks to a dominant flock master rooster early is a good thing, he tends to think they are his so he takes care of them or at least doesn't bother them. But with the uncertainty of him being an established flock master I consider that to be a good reason to isolate the broody while she is incubating.
Broody hens are more susceptible to roost mites than other hens since they are in the nest all day and night. If roost mites are in your coop dust baths wont stop them, all your chickens need to be treated. I don't treat my chickens with chemicals as a preventative, I wait until I see something to treat. if you can provide a dust bath area to a broody and she take advantage of it, fine. But if you can't I see that as a downside to isolating a broody hen. Sometimes you have to make trade-offs.
If you isolate her either during hatch or after, make sure a chick cannot get through your fencing and way from the broody hen's protection. I see this to be the biggest risk to trying to isolate a broody and her chicks from the flock. Another issue can be integration, think about that.
Good luck. It should be a fun adventure, though not without stress with your first broody. Once you see what a broody does your second broody should be a lot less stressful.
If you isolate the broody make sure she cannot go to her old nest and make sure no other hen can get to her nest.
I occasionally have a broody hen go to the wrong nest, I think typically another hen is in her nest laying an egg and the broody gets confused when she gets back from her daily constitutional. I just toss them back on the correct nest, not a big deal to me. Most of my broody hens don't do that, they crowd back into the right nest if another is there. But your hen has shown a tendency to do that so I think isolating her is a good idea. Don't give her the option to go to the wrong nest.
Also, with that rooster integration it is possible the flock can be unsettled for a while. I find that introducing chicks to a dominant flock master rooster early is a good thing, he tends to think they are his so he takes care of them or at least doesn't bother them. But with the uncertainty of him being an established flock master I consider that to be a good reason to isolate the broody while she is incubating.
Broody hens are more susceptible to roost mites than other hens since they are in the nest all day and night. If roost mites are in your coop dust baths wont stop them, all your chickens need to be treated. I don't treat my chickens with chemicals as a preventative, I wait until I see something to treat. if you can provide a dust bath area to a broody and she take advantage of it, fine. But if you can't I see that as a downside to isolating a broody hen. Sometimes you have to make trade-offs.
If you isolate her either during hatch or after, make sure a chick cannot get through your fencing and way from the broody hen's protection. I see this to be the biggest risk to trying to isolate a broody and her chicks from the flock. Another issue can be integration, think about that.
Good luck. It should be a fun adventure, though not without stress with your first broody. Once you see what a broody does your second broody should be a lot less stressful.
I've handled broody hens in multiple ways.
When I've had a broody partitioned off in a corner of the coop, but without access to the outdoors, I lifted her off the nest once a day and put her by the coop door. She would run around eat, drink, dustbath/groom and them come back into the coop clucking. I would then put her back in her area and she would head to the nest. It was a bit of a hassle, as I had to wait around 10-20 minutes while she did her thing, but I liked that she had her outside time.
I've also left a broody in place, and just checked at feeding times and before roosting to make sure she was on the right nest and to remove any new eggs. Some are really good at coming back to "their" nest and it works out OK. The hen in my avatar was one such broody.
Finally, when I've had hens who are poor about returning to the right nest, and I didn't want to do the partitiion and lift out daily routine, I incubated the eggs, and gave them newly hatched chicks. I would leave some golf balls it what seemed to be their preferred nest and clear out any real eggs each day. Almost all good broody hens will take newly hatched chicks (as long as they've been broody 2 or more weeks).
Good luck!
When I've had a broody partitioned off in a corner of the coop, but without access to the outdoors, I lifted her off the nest once a day and put her by the coop door. She would run around eat, drink, dustbath/groom and them come back into the coop clucking. I would then put her back in her area and she would head to the nest. It was a bit of a hassle, as I had to wait around 10-20 minutes while she did her thing, but I liked that she had her outside time.
I've also left a broody in place, and just checked at feeding times and before roosting to make sure she was on the right nest and to remove any new eggs. Some are really good at coming back to "their" nest and it works out OK. The hen in my avatar was one such broody.
Finally, when I've had hens who are poor about returning to the right nest, and I didn't want to do the partitiion and lift out daily routine, I incubated the eggs, and gave them newly hatched chicks. I would leave some golf balls it what seemed to be their preferred nest and clear out any real eggs each day. Almost all good broody hens will take newly hatched chicks (as long as they've been broody 2 or more weeks).
Good luck!
- Thread starter
- #17
So, here is the plan-
I'm going to isolate the broody (Astrid the Australorp/Leghorn mutt) in the coop with access to food, water, and a nest. She is definitely broody but inconsistent with the nest she returns to so I'll remove the availability of alternative options. I will proactively give her a permethrin dust bath. I do not have a mite issue in the coop. My rooster has/had a possible case of scaly leg mites but he is in quarantine nowhere near my coop and has been treated chemically. He will remain out there until there is visible healing on the few scabs on his legs or for at least 30 days, whatever happens first. I believe he has made progress, I'm going to check on him tonight. I like the idea of giving Astrid the option of outdoor time every day so I will try that and see if she's interested. I'm comfortable with this plan. As @Ridgerunner points out, nothing is completely fool proof and there are trade offs but I think this is a reasonable enough plan.
One final question-my egg seller shipped me extras (of course) so I have 15 speckled sussex eggs. I assume this is way too many to put under her but I'm really just guessing. They're resting now and my plan is to put her in her new broody area this evening and slip the eggs under her in the morning. Should I do all 15? If not, how many? If I do the remaining in my incubator my plan would be to give her the chicks immediately after hatching. Alternatively, I will just discard the extras. I have a way to re home roosters, If I get 2 sussex hens out of this ordeal, mission accomplished
I'm going to isolate the broody (Astrid the Australorp/Leghorn mutt) in the coop with access to food, water, and a nest. She is definitely broody but inconsistent with the nest she returns to so I'll remove the availability of alternative options. I will proactively give her a permethrin dust bath. I do not have a mite issue in the coop. My rooster has/had a possible case of scaly leg mites but he is in quarantine nowhere near my coop and has been treated chemically. He will remain out there until there is visible healing on the few scabs on his legs or for at least 30 days, whatever happens first. I believe he has made progress, I'm going to check on him tonight. I like the idea of giving Astrid the option of outdoor time every day so I will try that and see if she's interested. I'm comfortable with this plan. As @Ridgerunner points out, nothing is completely fool proof and there are trade offs but I think this is a reasonable enough plan.
One final question-my egg seller shipped me extras (of course) so I have 15 speckled sussex eggs. I assume this is way too many to put under her but I'm really just guessing. They're resting now and my plan is to put her in her new broody area this evening and slip the eggs under her in the morning. Should I do all 15? If not, how many? If I do the remaining in my incubator my plan would be to give her the chicks immediately after hatching. Alternatively, I will just discard the extras. I have a way to re home roosters, If I get 2 sussex hens out of this ordeal, mission accomplished
I hope she's sitting tight in the morning.
Hard to say how many to put under her, since you have a bator ready to go be conservative for how many will fit under her.
I often put some eggs under the broody and some in the incubator at the same time. When they hatch the broody gets all the chicks. You never know how many will hatch under the broody or in the incubator. In cold weather it could be an issue but it will be late April when they hatch, probably warm enough. The issue can be that the chicks grow so fast that they cannot all get under the broody. In warmer weather that's not much of an issue, I often see chicks sleeping on top of or next to the broody, not under her.
The hen needs to be able to comfortably cover all the eggs you give her. If she can't cover them all one can get pushed out, cool off and die, and then get pushed back under her while another gets pushed out to die. I've seen a broody hen hide a nest and bring off 18 chicks. I never found that nest so I don't now how many eggs she had to start with. I've had a broody hen have trouble covering more than ten eggs the size she laid. Broodies and eggs come in different sizes, the shape of the nest can make a difference. I don't know how many of those eggs that specific hen can cover.
If I were in your situation I'd put about half under the hen and half in the incubator. Cover all of your bases.
The hen needs to be able to comfortably cover all the eggs you give her. If she can't cover them all one can get pushed out, cool off and die, and then get pushed back under her while another gets pushed out to die. I've seen a broody hen hide a nest and bring off 18 chicks. I never found that nest so I don't now how many eggs she had to start with. I've had a broody hen have trouble covering more than ten eggs the size she laid. Broodies and eggs come in different sizes, the shape of the nest can make a difference. I don't know how many of those eggs that specific hen can cover.
If I were in your situation I'd put about half under the hen and half in the incubator. Cover all of your bases.
The other thing to consider is that shipped eggs often have poor hatch rates -- the rough and tumble of shipping can be rough on eggs!
For example, I put 15 eggs in my incubator last year and 5 hatched (I've previously had 90% to 100% hatch rates with non-shipped eggs).
So, I would do as Ridgerunner suggests. Put what is comfortable under your hen, and the rest in the bator. Then, candle everything at day 10 and remove any duds from under the hen or in the incubator. If there are several duds, you can transfer remaining viable eggs in the bator, to the hen, and let her do the rest.
For example, I put 15 eggs in my incubator last year and 5 hatched (I've previously had 90% to 100% hatch rates with non-shipped eggs).
So, I would do as Ridgerunner suggests. Put what is comfortable under your hen, and the rest in the bator. Then, candle everything at day 10 and remove any duds from under the hen or in the incubator. If there are several duds, you can transfer remaining viable eggs in the bator, to the hen, and let her do the rest.
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