They’ve all gone broody!!

[Carlie59]

Alrighty... I’ve got three Australorp hens who’ve all decided to go broody. I’ve got seven hens total but only 3 nesting boxes lol (of which they all used to use one) Now I’ve got three puffy ladies in the boxes and four furious hens who want to lay their eggs. I gave the first one who went broody 8 eggs to sit on ‘cause I thought “why not?” But being broody seems to be catching on lol Part of me doesn’t have the heart to break their broodiness, but the other part is wondering if brood fever is rampant in my coop and pretty soon all my hens are going to want their own little chicks Soooo all this to say.... help! What should I do with the two new broody ladies? Should I set up new laying boxes in the coop so the others can continue on laying? I’m not worried about finding homes for the chicks, but do want to continue getting eggs for the house lol

 

[Ruthster55]

Do you have a rooster? Are the broody Australorps sitting on clutches of eggs?

 

[Carlie59]

Do you have a rooster? Are the broody Australorps sitting on clutches of eggs?

Yep we’ve got an Australorp rooster. The one who went broody first, I gave her 8 to sit on. The other two have one or two eggs under them each.

 

[Ruthster55]

You might want to break one of the second two in order to free up a nest box. Maybe break the hen with only one egg. You could put that egg in an incubator to finish incubating it.

To break a broody hen, put her in a raised wire cage with no bedding underneath her.

Or, if there is some lumber and a carpenter around, you could make a couple more nest boxes.

 

[Carlie59]

You might want to break one of the second two in order to free up a nest box. Maybe break the hen with only one egg. You could put that egg in an incubator to finish incubating it.

To break a broody hen, put her in a raised wire cage with no bedding underneath her.

I don’t have an incubator... new chicken mom here lol my ladies are only about 7 months old so didn’t expect broodiness so early lol

 

[Ruthster55]

I don’t have an incubator... new chicken mom here lol my ladies are only about 7 months old so didn’t expect broodiness so early lol

Wow! That's very early. How long had they been laying before they went broody?

You could probably just forget about the one egg. If you put it under the other hen, it would create a staggered hatch. Generally, hens will stay on their eggs for 1 or 2 days once the first chick has hatched. After that, the hen will usually fly down to the ground and cluck for the chicks to follow her. She won't attempt to hatch any eggs that don't hatch within a certain amount of time.

Where will you put the first hen and her babies once they hatch?

 

[Carlie59]

Wow! That's very early. How long had they been laying before they went broody?

You could probably just forget about the one egg. If you put it under the other hen, it would create a staggered hatch. Generally, hens will stay on their eggs for 1 or 2 days once the first chick has hatched. After that, the hen will usually fly down to the ground and cluck for the chicks to follow her. She won't attempt to hatch any eggs that don't hatch within a certain amount of time.

Where will you put the first hen and her babies once they hatch?

They started laying at the end of May. I can’t believe they’re already broody lol. The two new broody ones have only been sitting a day or two. I think I may add a couple new boxes and see if the others keep laying. My heart strings are pulled hard for the ones who want to be mamas lol (I wish I could have more babies) I’ve been researching and hoping to let them raise the chicks all together. My ladies are pretty laid back and the rooster is just ridiculously sweet so I’m hoping I can keep them together. I plan to watch them like a hawk at first just in case there are issues. If there are, I’ll put them in a separate run. I’m hoping that all goes to plan lol

 

[Ruthster55]

They started laying at the end of May. I can’t believe they’re already broody lol. The two new broody ones have only been sitting a day or two. I think I may add a couple new boxes and see if the others keep laying. My heart strings are pulled hard for the ones who want to be mamas lol (I wish I could have more babies) I’ve been researching and hoping to let them raise the chicks all together. My ladies are pretty laid back and the rooster is just ridiculously sweet so I’m hoping I can keep them together. I plan to watch them like a hawk at first just in case there are issues. If there are, I’ll put them in a separate run. I’m hoping that all goes to plan lol

So glad you have a nice rooster! That means the future babies will likely be nice, too.

 

[Carlie59]

So glad you have a nice rooster! That means the future babies will likely be nice, too.

I hope so!! We just introduced him to the ladies about a month ago. He’s just over a year old and was at the bottom of the pecking order in his last home. He’s fitting in beautifully here. Praying he stays just as sweet as he is. I love watching him dote over the ladies!

 

[aart]

I would break the other two broodies.

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, IMO it's best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.