Should I let my broody hatch?

[Chicks Galore3]

I just had an idea. Could I build a little pen around the box she is in within the coop? I Think I could do it with minimal disturbance.

 

[Kev]

I just had an idea. Could I build a little pen around the box she is in within the coop? I Think I could do it with minimal disturbance.

Yes, if you can and the other chickens can't move it by jumping on or... this will be excellent. All she needs is some room to get completely out of the nestbox and for food/water and you should be good.

I totally did not think to ask how many she is currently sitting on, because if she's on 10 and you don't see the eggs at all, then that is a good number.

It gets hard to answer about how many eggs because chickens vary so much in size and shape.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Is 8 square feet enough, do you think? I figure she'll be sitting on the nest most of the day so she doesn't need a ton of room. I have a little "infirmary" area in one corner of my barn that'll be easy to move. I'm not sure how many are under there. I haven't checked, but I'm about to go put the chickens away so I'll look.

 

[Kev]

Yes that's good enough and good luck!

 

[Chicks Galore3]

She had 2 eggs under her and I gave her 2 more. That's probably all that I'll have her hatch - it'll looked pretty "full" under there. I'll see if any got thrown out or broken tomorrow morning. I separated the 4 hens I that I want eggs from tonight so I can gather their eggs tomorrow and set them under her probably Wednesday. I am SOOOO excited!!!!!!! Thanks muchly for your help!

 

[TXchickenchick]

You can check for fertility in some of the eggs you don't plan to let her hatch by cracking them if you want to be sure. Look for the little white dot. A single dot is infertile. A dot with a ring around it that looks like a bullseye is fertile.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

The pen is now up! It's a good thing too...while I was out there (about an hour and a half) She got booted off at least 4 times! She always sat right outside screaming her head off until she could get back on. Don't mess with her!

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Oh, and I'm probably over thinking this, but should I give her all-flock or layer feed? I have both. She has been having all-flock because there is some littles in the flock who can't have layer yet.

 

[Gallina Sarda]

You could feed her either until the chicks hatch. Once the chicks hatch, you'll want to make sure chick food is available and not layer food (from what I've read chicks shouldn't have the extra calcium found in layer food). I did the same thing you're doing insofar as building a mini-coop around my broody when she decided to brood in the favorite nesting box; it worked perfectly. Good luck on your hatch!

 

[Kev]

Haha it is so nice to see you all excited about this.

I agree the feed doesn't matter, until the chicks hatch. If you get chick starter for chicks, she will be fine on it with her chicks- no harm. If you give all-flock, it will be great for the whole family. Pretty easy.