Separating Broody Hen & Chicks

[Winchikn]

Hello BYC,

I have only hatched chicks once before (result was 5 roosters) in 2021 - and my same Buff Orpington hen (bless her) has gone broody again this year. Her name is Honey, and I gave her eggs in the nesting box 2 days ago.

My pickle:
1. Honey is bottom of the pecking order and got bullied off her eggs yesterday and today (and moving to another, egg-free nesting box when the perps kick her off - fine for her but no good for the eggs after the bullies leave). Last time Honey brooded, my big Light Sussex was doing the same thing to her and came into the box and broke a couple of eggs.
2. my nesting boxes (3 in a bump-out on the side of the coop) are small and about 20 inches off the ground and I'm not sure Honey will find a good place to settle with her chicks in the coop once they hatch.
3. I want to give the chicks medicated feed to start and I'm not sure if the whole flock should be eating that.
4. Because Honey is bottom of the pecking order and my roo is a little bit unpredictable (I can snuggle him, but he's anxious and a bit, well, weird), I'm worried the chicks are going to get picked on.

I'm wondering about moving Honey to a separate small coop that we've used for new pullets and where she raised her chicks the last time - but last time I moved her AFTER the chicks had hatched (and regretted separating her because of the complications of reintegration). My plan this time had been to get her to sit in a mini-mobile nesting box inside a dog crate in the coop, but she was not interested in being in there, so I'm back in the same predicament as last go round.

My flock is 7 in total, including one rooster. They are all now getting up there at 6 years old. They sleep and lay eggs in a coop that is about 5x8 with no real 'safe spots' because most of the floor area is under the roosts or a landing pad between roosts and nesting box wall, and their food and water is in a separate coop (so they don't have access at night - maybe also an issue for the chicks). Honey is in one of 3 nesting boxes in the sleeping coop, but I have put some food and water in there for her.

Thoughts?

 

[wrathsfarm]

Hello BYC,

I have only hatched chicks once before (result was 5 roosters) in 2021 - and my same Buff Orpington hen (bless her) has gone broody again this year. Her name is Honey, and I gave her eggs in the nesting box 2 days ago.

My pickle:
1. Honey is bottom of the pecking order and got bullied off her eggs yesterday and today (and moving to another, egg-free nesting box when the perps kick her off - fine for her but no good for the eggs after the bullies leave). Last time Honey brooded, my big Light Sussex was doing the same thing to her and came into the box and broke a couple of eggs.
2. my nesting boxes (3 in a bump-out on the side of the coop) are small and about 20 inches off the ground and I'm not sure Honey will find a good place to settle with her chicks in the coop once they hatch.
3. I want to give the chicks medicated feed to start and I'm not sure if the whole flock should be eating that.
4. Because Honey is bottom of the pecking order and my roo is a little bit unpredictable (I can snuggle him, but he's anxious and a bit, well, weird), I'm worried the chicks are going to get picked on.

I'm wondering about moving Honey to a separate small coop that we've used for new pullets and where she raised her chicks the last time - but last time I moved her AFTER the chicks had hatched (and regretted separating her because of the complications of reintegration). My plan this time had been to get her to sit in a mini-mobile nesting box inside a dog crate in the coop, but she was not interested in being in there, so I'm back in the same predicament as last go round.

My flock is 7 in total, including one rooster. They are all now getting up there at 6 years old. They sleep and lay eggs in a coop that is about 5x8 with no real 'safe spots' because most of the floor area is under the roosts or a landing pad between roosts and nesting box wall, and their food and water is in a separate coop (so they don't have access at night - maybe also an issue for the chicks). Honey is in one of 3 nesting boxes in the sleeping coop, but I have put some food and water in there for her.

Thoughts?

Do you have a temporary nest box you can attach to a dog crate like this?

I set these up when I have not enough brooders under the poop boards. I wait til she comes off the nest for her daily, and either move the nest box or move the eggs. When she comes back I direct her where I want her to go and lock her in, she will settle down and find the eggs and it's done.
I feed all 3 of my flocks with multiple roos non medicated chick starter/grower with no issues.

 

[ChurchGirl]

I would separate her, especially after the chicks hatch.

 

[Winchikn]

Thank you!

I think some degree of separation is probably in order. She's off her eggs again today (the big Light Sussex is on them again...she's not a committed broody, tho).

I might separate Honey and also see if the Light Sussex wants to hatch a couple eggs too.

Hopefully we get at least a couple of hens out of it all this year!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Thank you!

I think some degree of separation is probably in order. She's off her eggs again today (the big Light Sussex is on them again...she's not a committed broody, tho).

I might separate Honey and also see if the Light Sussex wants to hatch a couple eggs too.

Hopefully we get at least a couple of hens out of it all this year!

I would caution separating her from the flock unless there's no other option. Reintegration becomes that much harder as you already found out. Momma and babies are instantly integrated if she's kept within the flock.

 

[hollandhens24]

Do you have a temporary nest box you can attach to a dog crate like this?

View attachment 4165077
I set these up when I have not enough brooders under the poop boards. I wait til she comes off the nest for her daily, and either move the nest box or move the eggs. When she comes back I direct her where I want her to go and lock her in, she will settle down and find the eggs and it's done.
I feed all 3 of my flocks with multiple roos non medicated chick starter/grower with no issues.

I second this setup and just did something very similar. I would suggest leaving a door on the dog crate open so that she can get up, eat, drink, poop, etc. I don’t *think* your other hens will kick her off of this nest to lay their eggs, but that is something you may have to monitor and assess. We were going out of town for a few days and I had seen my hen kicked off of her nest once and didn’t want to deal with the disappointment of 18 day eggs being abandoned, so I placed them in the incubator. I put her in this setup (though I just used a big cardboard box for the back) and moved her in there when it was time to stick the chick under her. She has food and water in this photo because the chick was already hatched and I left them in there for the first two days. Today I opened the door to the dog crate and they made their way outside with the rest of the flock and can return to this setup whenever they’d like. I’ll be making sure mama and baby are safely in this spot tonight before I lock up. When your chicks hatch you can lock the kennel up and add a feeder and waterer to the setup so mama can still eat and drink while tending to her littles without your other chickens getting to it. I am far from an expert, but this has worked perfectly for us just this week. Best of luck to you and Honey

 

[Winchikn]

Unfortunately my coop is quite small for this kind of set up. I can barely fit a dog crate in and then the other hens are pooping all over the plastic insert that I flip over on top, making a real mess.

Our shenanigans are ongoing with the hen that was kicking Honey off her nest now having gone broody (after laying a soft-shelled egg this morning).

I can cordon off a segment of my run where I have a mini-coop that will still share a fenceline with the others, and I think I'm going to try moving Honey in there tomorrow night as I can't keep monitoring the hens hourly to make sure she hasn't been kicked off her nest, only to have Rosie, the big Light Sussex, wander off after an hour of sitting and leaving eggs to get cool. I lost one egg yesterday and I'm not even sure this hatch will be viable anymore but I'm 99% sure the eggs haven't been uncovered for more than 30 mins or so.

I swore I was going to keep things simpler this try at hatching but that isn't working out just yet. I think I'll try to move Honey to the new nest tomorrow night and lock her in there with her eggs after dinner. Wish me luck - I hope she doesn't abandon (and that big Rosie gives up her broodiness!)

 

[hollandhens24]

Unfortunately my coop is quite small for this kind of set up. I can barely fit a dog crate in and then the other hens are pooping all over the plastic insert that I flip over on top, making a real mess.

Our shenanigans are ongoing with the hen that was kicking Honey off her nest now having gone broody (after laying a soft-shelled egg this morning).

I can cordon off a segment of my run where I have a mini-coop that will still share a fenceline with the others, and I think I'm going to try moving Honey in there tomorrow night as I can't keep monitoring the hens hourly to make sure she hasn't been kicked off her nest, only to have Rosie, the big Light Sussex, wander off after an hour of sitting and leaving eggs to get cool. I lost one egg yesterday and I'm not even sure this hatch will be viable anymore but I'm 99% sure the eggs haven't been uncovered for more than 30 mins or so.

I swore I was going to keep things simpler this try at hatching but that isn't working out just yet. I think I'll try to move Honey to the new nest tomorrow night and lock her in there with her eggs after dinner. Wish me luck - I hope she doesn't abandon (and that big Rosie gives up her broodiness!)

Having her next to and in sight of the others should be great for reintegration. I would candle the eggs before placing them under her to check for viability since broodiness can be hard on a hen and for her to sit for another 2+ weeks and ultimately not hatch any chicks might take a toll on her health. This way you can determine if you're setting up a maternity ward or broody jail. If none are viable, I would break her of the broodiness and discard the eggs. Eggs can be very resilient, so I am hoping that you and Honey both get some chicks as a reward at the end of this!

 

[Winchikn]

After another 2 days of rotating broody hen shenanigans, we moved Honey to our little broody coop and adjacent run tonight. I had the other broody nest thief in there all day to keep her off the nest but she went right back to the nesting box this evening when we let her into the coop. Broodiness truly is contagious!

I've never candled eggs before but we looked at all 6 while moving them, and couldn't see a thing in any of them (in a dark coop with a toilet paper roll and a very bright flashlight). We're either on day 8 or 9, so I assume we should have seen something.

Question 1 - if she takes to her relocated nest, should we check again in another 3-4-5 days to see if anything looks different?

If these eggs do not look viable, I want to order some day olds to get under Honey. Can I push her out to 4 weeks for this? I have to drive 7 hours to a hatchery and I can't do that until the 4 week mark...

 

[PennyWars]

If they're dark eggs and you're not accustomed to candling, it can be very difficult to see into them. I've made a small hole with a sewing needle in the middle of the big end of super dark eggs to allow the light to penetrate and see what's going on inside. Then, if veins are detected, use a fingernail to scrape off a tiny piece of a nontoxic glue stick, and press over the hole. Give it a few seconds to dry and put it back. If that one is fertile, assume they all are.

I've never had any issues with hatching of eggs I did this to, but it's still a risk. It did save me from potentially bursting rotten eggs in the incubator .