Topic of the Week - Broody hens

[ChickieChat]

I have two chickie girls, that are small and mix breeds, one has some silkie, the other is a white with black feather speckles. They continuously go in and out of brooding and hardly ever do I see an egg.
Would love to have no brooding and eggs instead, or brooding and egg laying would also be fine. Any thoughts about that?

 

[crealbilly]

I have two chickie girls, that are small and mix breeds, one has some silkie, the other is a white with black feather speckles. They continuously go in and out of brooding and hardly ever do I see an egg. 
Would love to have no brooding and eggs instead, or brooding and egg laying would also be fine. Any thoughts about that?

They sound like they are a bit confused... i mean shouldn't they only go broody when they are sitting on eggs? You dont have fake eggs or something in their nest boxes do you?

 

[ToriD26]

Just wanted to say I let my girls go through their broody phases and don't try to break them. Then my bantam Wyandottes (who spend most of spring and summer being broody) lay us eggs all winter long when everyone else is taking a break. My Old English Game bantams lay for longer too but any really cold weather seems to stop them. The Wyandottes and one OEGB are incubating me some quail eggs at the moment. It's been a warm, early spring where I am so I'm picking I'll have lots of broody bantams this season!

Do you let them sit on ceramic eggs while they're broody? I'm planning on getting chicks this spring and I'm just curious about letting hens be broody since so many people try to break them rather than let them be.

 

[JaeG]

Do you let them sit on ceramic eggs while they're broody? I'm planning on getting chicks this spring and I'm just curious about letting hens be broody since so many people try to break them rather than let them be.

They will happily sit on nothing or steal eggs other hens lay (or just move to that nestbox!). Some are really grouchy and will peck you when you retrieve the eggs they've collected and some will only grumble at you. Enjoy your chicks when you get them! They are adorable!

 

[ToriD26]

Thanks!

 

[ChickieChat]

At times there are eggs when one of the other chickens lay an egg, but I collect the eggs every afternoon. Mainly these two are sitting in empty nesting boxes. I do not have a rooster and am not hatching any eggs. I would love to connect personally with a chicken 'whisperer' to see whats possible for these two chickies to focus on laying eggs and enjoying an active chicken life in general. If they could both lay eggs and brood occasionally while continuing to lay eggs that would be great also.

 

[crealbilly]

At times there are eggs when one of the other chickens lay an egg, but I collect the eggs every afternoon. Mainly these two are sitting in empty nesting boxes. I do not have a rooster and am not hatching any eggs. I would love to connect personally with a chicken 'whisperer' to see whats possible for these two chickies to focus on laying eggs and enjoying an active chicken life in general. If they could both lay eggs and brood occasionally while continuing to lay eggs that would be great also.

I think you may be asking to much...

Hens will sit on the nest approx 21 days to hatch out chicks. My RIR momma has not started laying yet its been 10 weeks now since she hatched the chicks. So thats approx 13 weeks she has not laid a single egg. 3 weeks on the nest sitting, plus 10 weeks caring for her chicks. When she will start laying again is beyond me... I suspect when she is good and ready

It sounds like you need to get some more hens and a roo to make this work. But im no chicken whisperer thats for sure...

 

[HSMomma3]

I built a removable cage to fit over the nest box opening inside the coop for my broody. It has a removable sliding floor for easy cleaning and a door so i could give her food and water, it worked out very well... she had her own private water and feed and was totally protected from the rest of the flock.

It's totally reusable and fits over my nest box opening with two wood screws. I like to build once and reuse whenever possible.

This looks great crealbilly! I love the remove and reuse approach, that is perfect for us. My husband is a great DIY'er ... I know what I'm asking for at Christmas! Ha!


Our Momma did fine when I moved her to the floor, she didn't seem bothered by it. I candled all 19 eggs and found only 11 were developing... two had pipped and we heard one peeping from inside. SO EXCITING FOR US FIRST-TIMERS!!

First three were hatched and fluffy the next day, total of six were out by the third day. Whew, I moved them just in time. We only got 6 out chicks out of the 11 candled eggs... (not sure why?) but they are just precious and we're having a blast watching them with Momma. Thanks again for the help, all you BYC'ers!! Such a great place to come for advice! Hope I can help someone one day once I learn a little more.

Happy Chicken Lovin' everybody!!

 

[3Unicorns]

I have been asking for help advice for weeks. I had a brooding hen and gave her 4 babies. They have been in the coop and sleeping hut with the other chickens separated my mesh. The babies are 11 weeks old and I am trying to integrating the flock back together. Everytime I put the broody mom with the other old hens she starts fighting till blood. I do not know what to do HELP!!!! I need to co-mingle these birds back together. I am worried they will kill each other. Please help

 

[JaeG]

I have been asking for help advice for weeks. I had a brooding hen and gave her 4 babies. They have been in the coop and sleeping hut with the other chickens separated my mesh. The babies are 11 weeks old and I am trying to integrating the flock back together. Everytime I put the broody mom with the other old hens she starts fighting till blood. I do not know what to do HELP!!!! I need to co-mingle these birds back together. I am worried they will kill each other. Please help

Yikes! You may have to separate the Mum if you can for a day or two where she can't see the babies so her hormones start to settle. My broodies are usually over their mothering by 5 weeks! Otherwise you could try putting the Mum on the roost one night and maybe put a board up so she can't see the babies and hope by the time she wakes up she's remembered her place in the flock. I'm just guessing though. Sounds like she's a very dedicated Mum!