Putting Weight on a Broody Hen?

[Bleenie]

does anyone have any experience with this? I have a first time broody that has gotten pretty light and doesnt get off the nest that often. I am going to put her food on her box so she'll eat & drink but is there somehting i can give her to fatten her back up?

 

[untamed_spirit]

When our hens are broody, we give them fresh soaked layers pellet mash every day in a wee dish and a a dish of water. It seems to go down fine, and we havent had any die of emaciation as of yet!

 

[Heidi]

I found giving them scrambled eggs daily helps along with hand feeding them all the hen feed they will take.

 

[Bleenie]

I am going to zip tie some dishes to her box(its plastic)..i think her big problem is that she's new and doesnt wanna get off her eggs almost at all. one of the others just went broody so i might switch em out and fatten the blue hen up.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i put scrambled eggs down in front of my broodies every day when they are setting. They will tend to get off at least once a day to poop and eat, until the last few days. At that point, i will hold the waterer and feeder up to their beaks to make sure they get something in them.

 

[purpletree23]

I gave my broody scrambled eggs and little bits of cooked meat or chicken. What ever protein we had left over from dinner. Make sure she has pellets and water close by so she doesn't have to get up to eat. I made a mistake by giving her some halved grapes. The fruit must have gone through her too fast and she pooped in the nest box. Poor girl. I felt so bad. No fruit or anything that might loosen her stool.

I don't know if you have experienced it yet but when she does get off the nest to eat and stretch and poop her poop will be one of the most foul things you've ever experienced and it will be 1/2 the size of a base ball. It would stick up the whole coop! Just scoop it up and throw it in your compost pile or fling it into the woods.

My broody hatched her babies some time ago and she still isn't as full and beautiful as she was before going broody so it must be very hard on them. I know her 'kids' are just rotten (kidding) she tries to rest and they climb all over her and one clamped down on one of her waddles and just hung there! I laughed so hard I almost wet myself and she just looked at me like she was saying "wait until this summer when you're weeding the garden and I bite you in the butt"!

She's the best mommy in the world and I love her to death. I've always said nature is amazing and this is another example.

 

[fowler_chick]

try soyebean oil from your local co-op, we use it on our horses and chickens