Broody Hen..1st one...HELP!

[Emmetts Dairy]

What about moving her after the chicks hatch? They will prolly hatch over a span of a few days, so you could monitor her closely for the first day or two after the first chick hatches, then move her after that. As I mentioned, they won't die if they don't have food for the first few days - but you would need to watch them to make sure they don't fall out of the nesting box.

That a great idea...my husband mentioned that too. (But I ignored him for some reason??) Funny how we do that!!

He said we should somehow secure the nesting box so no one can fall out...and when everythings said and done..move em??? A good thought for sure..! Thanks!

We have plenty of wood and chicken wire..rabbit wire..all kinds of stuff..so Im sure we could make it a little better for her and keeps the others out of her way! And just move em when they are ready for the "Big house"

Our chickens are free all day and go into the house at night..and we close the doors for safety. And yes they get grain too...

I cant say enough how exciting it will be to have some of our own!! This is fun!!! And I agree with you all...she knows much more about raising them as I could ever imagine!! Anyone who gets into that kinda dedicated trance and wont poop for days for her kids is okay in my book!!!

 

[patandchickens]

I have only had a few broody hens so far but with the first one I was in the exact same position as you, and had about as much luck extracting advice from BYC on it as you have <g>, so for whatever it's worth I will pass on the main things that I wish I had known:

1) if at all possible, once you're sure the hen is broody REPLACE THE EGGS with fresh ones that have been correctly stored/handled. Obviously this is not an option if you only want to hatch the hen's own eggs or if you HAVE no correctly stored/handled eggs but if you can do it, it will save you a lot of headache with potentially pathologically-staggered clutches. I know they SAY that hens don't set til they "mean it" and then they stop laying and so you won't get more than a couple days spread on when they hatch... but my chickens and turkey hen did not get that memo and I have had *big* problems when I did not swap in fresh eggs. The problem is, she will either stay on the eggs too long and let the hatched chicks die of thirst and hunger, or she will bail to take care of them and the remaining soon-to-hatch eggs will die (unless you have an incubator warmed up to swoop them off into). Much better to KNOW that all the eggs started being incubated at the same time.

2) MARK THE EGGS (if you can without getting too pecked -- nighttime is good) so that you can recognize any additional ones that are laid later on. I know hens are not supposed to do that, but I have had both a chicken hen and a turkey hen continue laying at least 6 days into truly setting on the clutch, and yes I know it was their own eggs. These belated eggs need to be removed, b/c see above about excessively-staggered hatches.

3) It's a coin-toss whether to move the broody. Probably the best arrangement, if you can manage it, is to put a cage or partition around her where she is. But that's not always possible. YOu have to just guess what's best in your situation, and cross fingers.

4) If she goes several days LITERALLY without ever leaving the clutch to eat or drink, you can try taking her off and putting her down by the (relatively nearby) food and water so she can refresh herself and remember why it would be a good idea to do that on her own. When she is having her meal and beverage she will likely poo as well (enormously and nastily), so it is better not to put the food/water SO close she doesn't need to ever get off the nest as that can lead to massive poo contamination of the eggs.

5) If you happen to own an incubator, it is worth warming it up to hatching temp/humidity when the first chicks start hatching under the hen, in case she abandons some eggs or actually starts eating/destroying chicks or eggs (which I had one hen do, several times, and she is now officially No Longer Trusted With Children although she does seem to *set* okay).

I am sure there are other things I'd wish I'd have known that I just don't know yet, LOL

Good luck, have fun, enjoy your "not having to turn eggs or watch humidity" LOL

Pat

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

I wanna thank everyone for thier help! But I have some bad news. We had some unwelcomed visiting dogs at the farm today...and Sophia was traumatized as she was in one of the dogs mouth.

She did surrive..thankfully...but she is now off the eggs. The got to my goats and Elias was shaking like a bumble bee. He was all wet in the hind..but I could find no punture wounds!! I did hit the doggie in the head and he dropped the chicken...So needless to say..it was'nt a good day...

Im really not sure who those dogs belonged to?? It was the dogs day today becuase if my husband was'nt working it probally would of been much worse than getting hit in the head with a stick....

She had a bakers dozen (13) under her...and we discarded the poor things today. I kinda think they were someones bird dogs cuz they did'nt puncture ...cuz family dogs would of punctured I would think. Bird dogs are trained to carry...soooo...thats that....

I must of looked like a crazy women in an apron and swinging a stick running down my dirt road chasing those dog off my property!!

But again..I learned alot..and really appreciate all Ive learned..so lets hope she does it again soon!!!

Damn dogs Never had this issue before... Grrrr!! Maybe we need some guard dogs!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

oh no!

so sorry but good for you for springing to action.

hope the goaties are ok...and that the dog doesnt come back.
:-(

 

[Greendecember]

I'm so sorry ! I was looking forward to hearing about the chicks. I have a LGD and a locked up hen house. I hope that will be enough to save mine cuse we are just far enough out in the countrybut close enough to a main hwy that people dump poor animals all the time. I think my husband is glad for the goats cuse otherwise I might taken in every stray!
*hugs* good luck with your new flocks

 

[Dreaming Of Goats]

Sorry about that........ who are you on BYC? I'm chicken boy sam. It can get very confusing, because you have to decipher the opinions from the facts

 

[freemotion]

Keep track of that hen. She'll probably volunteer again in the spring, so be ready (at least in your head!)