update on broody situation and egg production

[fiddlebanshee]

So, yesterday, I moved the 5 week olds to their new forever home (still separate from the juvenile chickens in that coop) and I put the two 2 y/o broody chickens into the brooder. They are sitting on pdz, no straw, no shavings, just nice cool sand, Enough I hope to cool them down some and break them from the boodiness they've been in since 3 weeks.

In those 3 weeks I got about 4 to 5 eggs a day from the remaining 14 chickens and was starting to think the remaining chickens all of a sudden all started to molt, but I didn't see any feathers being shed. Yesterday after I moved the broodies in the morning, I got 8 eggs. Coincidence? I don't know, but it is striking. We'll see how many we get today.

Question for all you folks who have dealt with broodies, how long should I keep them in the brooder? I was thinking 2 to 3 days or should I keep them in there until they lay an egg? Them being 2 y/o that might actually not be coming soon. But I don't know. What do you all think?

 

[Whittni]

Broodies usually quit their job after they've raised their chicks for a few weeks. When the chicks are independent, the mom kinda rejects them and moves on with life.

 

[fiddlebanshee]

Broodies usually quit their job after they've raised their chicks for a few weeks. When the chicks are independent, the mom kinda rejects them and moves on with life.

Oh sorry, I should have clarified, they were not sitting on eggs. I have no adult roosters at this point in time and thus no fertile eggs, besides I didn't want to deal with another age group at this point in the game. So they've been hatching straw for the last 3 weeks and we've been collecting eggs from under them that they managed to steal from other hens.