Serama rooster with two tiny hens

[georgia531]

Good Morning...

I have a Serama rooster who lost his mate last fall.. (actually she was his sister)... they were under a year... I kept him in the house all winter and a few months ago I bought him 2 tiny hens, not sure what kind to be honest.. he was just so lonely.. anyway, they have a nice big off the ground pen with large box attatched, and they get along wonderfully... the hens each lay an egg a day, but they wont sit!! they lay in the same nest, and it gets full to the point of stacking the eggs...sometimes there are a few eggs scattered from the nest. but I am not sure if it is one of the hens moving them or him... Question is: should I remove one of the hens? Would this encourage the other one to sit? He loves them both so much, I hate to separate them... But I really would like to try to hatch a nest... thank you for any info... I will post pictures of them, they are so sweet, the hens walk right onto my hand.

 

[teach1rusl]

There could be 100 eggs stacked, or you could remove a hen or add ten more, it won't make a difference. A hen going broody is hormonal/biological thing that us humans really have no control over. Many breeds never go broody - it's been bred out of them. Other breeds are known for broodiness (silkies are a high broody breed). Are your little girls seramas as well???

 

[muddyhorse]

some breeds don't go broody as often as others. some only go broody when the mood strikes them. It doesn't seem to mater how many hens are around.

 

[georgia531]

Thanks for the quick responses... I do understand about the broodiness, I guess I will leave them together... I was wondering if I added a second box on the opposite side of the run, if maybe it was too "busy" in the box, but I guess that wont make a difference either.. The hens aren't serama, really not sure what they are.. the one is the tiniest hen I ever saw.. she is so tame, when you open the box she walks right into your hand.. i just moved the picture of them from my camera to my computor so I will try to post it.. I also took a bunch of eggs and incubated them... got 3 tiny chicks, two I believe are Seabrights, but the one little white one I think might be from the little white hen in with the serama... I will post those as well.. thanks everybody!!

 

[georgia531]

Here they are

 

[chicmom]

I have Modern Game Bantams, and I've observed that they don't care how many hens are in the coop. They all lay their eggs in the same spot, and then I've actually had one broody try to set on them all, and at one time I had two broodies together, side by side. And I have several hens, probably 7.

What I would do is collect those eggs daily. When you notice a broody, then mark the eggs you want to let her hatch, and keep collecting the unmarked, new eggs after that.

Don't worry about adding another nesting box, because with just two hens, they will share one quite nicely.

Just my experience, wanted to share!

Sharon

 

[teach1rusl]

Awww...they're very pretty, especially the whitish one. I don't know bantams well, but I'd guess them both to be OEGBs??? If so, then they're supposed to be prone to broodiness. So it'll probably hit eventually - just give them time.

 

[georgia531]

Heres the baby i think might be theirs...

 

[georgia531]

Thanks for all the info... at the risk of sounding totally stupid, if i collect the eggs daily, how will I notice the hens going broody? Will they just sit in the empty nest? Should I try to find some tiny plastic eggs to replace the ones I take? Thanks for helping...

 

[teach1rusl]

Oh yeah...a true broody will sit on absolutely nothing...lol. Mine sat on a wooden egg, and when I removed that (because unlike you, I didn't appreciate a broody hen) she sat on invisible eggs I guess...

Sat there for over three weeks on diddly-squat until I finally had to break her out of it.