~*Third Annual Cinco de Mayo Turkey Hatch-Athon*~ all poultry welcome!

[bantambury]

Mine never even need one egg - when they're broody, they'll sit on air

YES! for 2 weeks marshie went with NADA under her, then she received 3 rocks until I got eggs.

 

[Penny Hen]

Well it is time to empty the Easter HAL incubator of the eggs that aren't going to hatch. Sigh. None of them hatched.

Back to the drawing board on the homemade incubator.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Good analogies!! lol 

Great opportunity to learn about an embyo-- the proteins of the beak stay soft  beecause of the water content. Think about your fingernails after doing the dishes-- hopefully you do help out inthe kitchen . . . 

thanks! LOL

I thought the embryo was pretty cool! my mom told me before I dropped it to open it I may never eat an egg again.....but relly the baby didn't phase me. I find dead gross things to be cool....especially when it has to do with the growth and development of my favorite animal....its just life. things live and things die.....it just died a bit early which is too bad.
yes I do the dishes


ok thanks!

I just have her in the coop......there is two other hens and a rooster that she lives with. I don't relly want to move her because I cant guarantee she will keep sitting.

I think I will block the entry of the coop off until both hatch that way my rooster and hens cant get too curious. I have had a broody hatch and almost kill her babies so another hen couldn't get to them.

then my other 2 hens and rooster can sleep outside for the night.....it wont hurt them. they used to always do it when they were chicks and couldn't get up to the coop part.


what do you think?

Not sure I would block thee others out of the coop. Do you have a way to just block the others from getting into the nest, even if it's just turning a laundry basket upside down over her or tacking a towel across the nest box? Better to block her in the nest & offer her a chance to get out once or twice a day than put everyone else at risk.

As long as there's even 1 egg under her she will keep sitting.

Mine never even need one egg - when they're broody, they'll sit on air 


Since moving broodies can be really risky, I wouldn't try to move a broody hen when one of the eggs is internally pipped.  In all likelihood she will immediately get off the nest and pace, looking for a way back to her original nest.  Once the chicks have hatched, a hen will happily move anywhere, but as broodies, I've had limited success moving them.

I've moved several broodies & usually had it work, but there is always a chance she won't stay. I've never had 1 not stay this late in the process though. If there's an internal pip then she can hear the baby & should stay with it.

 

[HEChicken]

Not sure I would block thee others out of the coop. Do you have a way to just block the others from getting into the nest, even if it's just turning a laundry basket upside down over her or tacking a towel across the nest box? Better to block her in the nest & offer her a chance to get out once or twice a day than put everyone else at risk.
I've moved several broodies & usually had it work, but there is always a chance she won't stay. I've never had 1 not stay this late in the process though. If there's an internal pip then she can hear the baby & should stay with it.

I moved my first ever broody no issues - just put her in a small chick coop and pen, she grumbled a bit, but by next morning was sitting on the eggs and 3 weeks later hatched out most of them. So to me it seemed very simple….just move a broody to a separate area and let her be, and I advised several people to do it. Since then, I've had very little success moving broodies. Last year I had a dozen at a time taking up the next boxes and various other nests they'd made on the floor of the coop. And that was a revolving door for months at a time. As soon as I gave chicks to one to break her, 3 more would go broody. Out of probably 3 dozen broodies last spring, I only managed to successfully move a handful of them.

This year I have successfully moved exactly….none. And its not for lack of trying. I move them at night when they're sleepy and put them on a nest of dummy eggs (real eggs but I know they won't hatch). They settle down to sleep for the remainder of the night but by next morning are pacing looking for a way back to their chosen nest. I had one that I moved and she immediately decided she wasn't broody after all. Let her out…a few days later she was broody again. Moved her with another broody hen to the same coop and decided this time I'd wait them out. After a week of watching them pace, I finally got sick of watching and let them out. For about 10 days they remained unbroody but as of two days ago, they are broody again. Yup. In the nest boxes.

This week I've successfully broken 3 broody hens by giving them chicks to raise and flipping the switch from broody to mama. And I've had 6 new hens go broody. Sigh. So the next boxes are fuller than ever.

Once I give them chicks, they'll move anywhere, any time. But until then…in my experience it doesn't work.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I moved my first ever broody no issues - just put her in a small chick coop and pen, she grumbled a bit, but by next morning was sitting on the eggs and 3 weeks later hatched out most of them.  So to me it seemed very simple….just move a broody to a separate area and let her be, and I advised several people to do it.  Since then, I've had very little success moving broodies.  Last year I had a dozen at a time taking up the next boxes and various other nests they'd made on the floor of the coop.  And that was a revolving door for months at a time.  As soon as I gave chicks to one to break her, 3 more would go broody.  Out of probably 3 dozen broodies last spring, I only managed to successfully move a handful of them.

This year I have successfully moved exactly….none.  And its not for lack of trying.  I move them at night when they're sleepy and put them on a nest of dummy eggs (real eggs but I know they won't hatch).  They settle down to sleep for the remainder of the night but by next morning are pacing looking for a way back to their chosen nest.  I had one that I moved and she immediately decided she wasn't broody after all.  Let her out…a few days later she was broody again.  Moved her with another broody hen to the same coop and decided this time I'd wait them out.  After a week of watching them pace, I finally got sick of watching and let them out.  For about 10 days they remained unbroody but as of two days ago, they are broody again.  Yup.  In the nest boxes.

This week I've successfully broken 3 broody hens by giving them chicks to raise and flipping the switch from broody to mama.  And I've had 6 new hens go broody.  Sigh.  So the next boxes are fuller than ever.

Once I give them chicks, they'll move anywhere, any time.  But until then…in my experience it doesn't work.

I've only tried moving right at the beginning while giving her eggs, or after the first pip or hatch. I have moved several mid-hatch. Those are the least chancy times to move them. At the end, they rarely abandon chicks they can hear & at the beginning, if they don't sit there's no loss with fresh eggs that haven't started yet. I have only moved 1 mid way through incubation & she happened to nest in a box that could be moved, so she was easy. I just moved the whole thing into another cage.

I have had 1 refuse to sit when I moved her, but she wasn't truly broody yet. She laid an egg when I moved her & then wanted out. 2-3 weeks later she was at it again & I let her sit on air in the copp for 4 days before moving her to a cage & giving her eggs. Took her about 2 hours to settle in & she hasn't moved since except to eat, drink or poop. She hatched 12 for me last fall & I gave her another 10 to brood for me within a couple days after her hatch finished. She did really good. Only lost 1 out of the 22.

 

[yinepu]

Quote: I usually use just candle wax (unscented)... not much of a nail polish gal.. lol.. I own some.. but I would have to figure out what box it's sitting in... or did I throw it out?... grrr

 

[chicken pickin]

I agree with Silkie and wouldn't block the coop entry so the others cant get back in, rather block her in the nest with say a screen or hardware cloth or something and let her out once or twice. Once her babies hatch you can move her to a broody coop.

 

[chicken pickin]

I usually use just candle wax (unscented)... not much of a nail polish gal.. lol.. I own some.. but I would have to figure out what box it's sitting in... or did I throw it out?... grrr

I also have used white unscented candle wax with great success. I have never tried nail polish.

 

[chicken pickin]

Has anyone had success moving broody turkey hens. I hear that doesn't work well.

I have had much success moving broody chicken hens, they pace a little but have always continued to sit on the eggs.

I have yet to try to move broody turkeys. I need to figure something out soone because I have between 2-4 broody turkey hens they are always on the nest and I cant tell them apart so Im not sure which 2 are the 100% broodies and the 2 that are 1/2 time broodies lol. Then I have 2 that aren't broody and eggs keep getting added to the broody nest. Im feeling quite stressed about it.

I have considered moving my Toms the unoccupied turkey grow out pen and make a second nest in the turkey coop for the hens. Or I can try to move the 2 100% broodies and their eggs to the grow out pen and hope they continue to sit. Im not sure what to do.

Im not a big fan of broodies like most people are. They cause more issues more stress and more of a headache for me, while others say broodies take the work out of raising chicks, I don't feel less worked lol

 

[yinepu]

Has anyone had success moving broody turkey hens. I hear that doesn't work well.

I have had much success moving broody chicken hens, they pace a little but have always continued to sit on the eggs.

I have yet to try to move broody turkeys. I need to figure something out soone because I have between 2-4 broody turkey hens they are always on the nest and I cant tell them apart so Im not sure which 2 are the 100% broodies and the 2 that are 1/2 time broodies lol. Then I have 2 that aren't broody and eggs keep getting added to the broody nest. Im feeling quite stressed about it.

I have considered moving my Toms the unoccupied turkey grow out pen and make a second nest in the turkey coop for the hens. Or I can try to move the 2 100% broodies and their eggs to the grow out pen and hope they continue to sit. Im not sure what to do.

Im not a big fan of broodies like most people are. They cause more issues more stress and more of a headache for me, while others say broodies take the work out of raising chicks, I don't feel less worked lol

I'm not a fan of broodies either...
when they are broody they aren't laying... strike one
when they are broody I have to keep tossing them off the nest so others can use them... strike two
if they did a better job hatching eggs than I do it would be a plus.. but they don't.. strike three....