think one went broody???!!!

[nicoletm24]

went to check on my chickens tonight...and i have a hen settin' in a nest. not sure if there are eggs under here. but it was way too late for her to just be laying an egg... i'm gonna see if shes there in the am, and if she is...I'm gonna stick some eggs under her

any tips for IF she is broody??????????????? this would be the first time w/ me dealing w/ a broody hen.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
Are you sure she's not sleeping in the nest box? That would not be good.
If she is broody, she'll do all the heavy lifting, you just have to make sure she has access to food and water. She'll get off the nest once a day or so and take care of business and then return. You'll want to be certain she's broody before putting eggs under her though. I've had girls that ACT broody but then don't commit to the task and leave the nest for protracted periods of time, eventually giving up after a week or so of on-again, off-again behavior.

 

[pgpoultry]

Hi Nicole,
I agree with the last posting, make sure she is really broody before giving her eggs to hatch. maybe give her dummy eggs or golf balls or a couple of eggs which may waste for 2-3 days. If she starts to seriously sit, then swap for fertile eggs.
If she is broody she will eat, drink and eliminate little. She will fluff up, maybe make a 'growling' noise when you approach her, or even try to peck you. She will pull out or moult the breast/belly feathers so her skin contacts the eggs directly.
Try to give her some separation from other chickens if possible, to prevent interference and others continuing to lay in her box.
The hatching will take about 21 days, possibly a little longer.

Good Luck,

Sandie

 

[nicoletm24]

i'll watch her. i've never seen her sleep in there before. i have some brown leghorns that roost in the nests....how can i stop them from doing that????

 

[ADozenGirlz]

Quote:
I have some bantam Frizzles that like to sleep in the nest boxes, so I have to close off the nest boxes at night to prevent it. It's a pain, but they're persistent!

 

[nicoletm24]

clearly she was just resting in the nest.....she wasn't on there yesterday when i checked. I haven't looked today....

but i might have to make some sort of door system, to kick the brown leghorns (think thats there name) out of the nests at night.

 

[justtoni44]

HI, I read on a different thread to put plasitc milk jugs in the nesting box at night to stop them from sleeping in the nests......suppose to retrain them use thier roosts.
Have not had the problem since I switched my 2x2's to 2x4's for roosts.They love them.
Good luck.

 

[kindir]

I had my first hen go broody a couple of weeks ago. The way I was able to tell was that she was as flat as a pancake on those eggs - VERY different from the way she looked when just resting or laying an egg. Of course, I'm not sure if that is specific to just my hen or if that is what all of them do since this was my first one, but thought i'd mention it. I knew right away I had a broody!!