UPDATE on super-broody hen...

[araucanasmom]

Sorry, I sold all but 2 of my chickens and my 1 hen stopped laying for the winter.

 

[JestersEye]

I know what you mean... I had hoped to get a few eggs from other hens, but sadly no one is laying right now either.

I finally decided to go ahead and order some chicks from eFowl in the hopes that she will adopt them as hers. She's been very quiet lately, still patiently waiting for motherhood. I really hope these chicks will satisfy her instincts and make her happy. I'll keep updating this post with more information and pictures of the (hopefully) happy event!

Thank you to everyone who responded to this post and/or my PMs. I'm glad to have found a few BYC users in my area.

We should stay in touch and maybe get together to share our love of chickens, once the weather gets better. If any of you have kids, I'd like to invite them (and you) to join the Atlantic County 4-H Livestock and Poultry Club. We meet at the Fairgrounds from 7:30-8:30pm on the first Monday, and the third Tuesday of each month. It would great to get more poultry members.

 

[DutchChicky]

Hopefully it will work for you with the shipped chicks!!
Especially with all this snow.
Call your local postoffice, so you can pick them up yourself in the morning or afternoon when they arrive there. That way they don't sit any longer than needed.
She should accept them fine. I've put a couple of times chicks that I hatched in the incubator under broody hens, and worked like a charm.
Am thinking of putting some eggs in the Bator myself next week, even though I think it's a little on the early side.
My Barnevelders started laying and I want more of those, so am SOOO tempted!! Plus my little one keeps asking for babies, how to say NO to that

Where is Mullica twp?
I live close to Mullica Hill, but am not familair with Mullica TWP. With the fact that you are active in Atlantic county 4H, I'm assuming there somewhere

Duh, kinda answered my own question!!!
Well I think it's a great idea to meet up one day with some chicken friends, already met a couple of lovely ladies last year ( by chance) that where also members of BYC
Let me know if you set it up!!
Keep us updated!
Greetings and good luck,
Michella

 

[Chickenaddict]

If she has been sitting since december 8th I wouldn't reccomend giving her eggs to hatch. It's not healthy for hens to sit that long, they loose weight from not eating like they should. I know how hard it can be to break them of it tho as I had a broody last winter for 3 months she was in a state of broodiness. I finally broke down and gave her eggs to hatch. She hatched 2 chicks and had a coop all to herself with her babies. She did great the first week. The second week she tried killing one of the chicks, she had tossed it out of the coop and it had gotten wedged between the coop and the house where it was butted up against. Luckily I found it, warmed it up and took both babies away from her and gave them to a broody serama who only hatched out 1 baby. The serama hen gladly took in the other 2. Just in case your hen doesn't accept the chicks you are planning on getting her make sure you have a backup plan (brooder ready). Best of luck to you.

 

[JestersEye]

I will keep her and her chicks in the house for a while and will have some brooders set up in case of any problems. She's been in the house for a month now, so we've been able to make sure she continues to eat and drink. We keep some food right up to her nest, so she can reach the food without even leaving the nest. Before we brought her inside, she was losing a lot of weight. I can't believe she's still sitting this long! I guess the only cure is to get her some peeps. At this point, I don't even care if she raises them completely on her own, just so long as they get her over her broodiness.

 

[JestersEye]

Finally... a happy ending!!!

Well, it wasn't easy, but Sky is finally a Mommy! It took her countless tries over the course of THREE MONTHS, but she eventually succeeded in hatching out only ONE chick. For some reason, most of her eggs wound up turning rotten and smelly... or dying near the end of incubation. We had one heartbreaking disaster after another, but that hen just refused to give up on her dreams of motherhood! Hen and chick have bonded beautifully. They spent their first day outside today, foraging protectively among the rest of the flock. I just love how devoted she seems to her baby, constantly clucking and cooing to it.