Brooding Hen - what to do

trotter_inc

Hello!

I got 3 hens about 5 months ago and 1 of them has started brooding, well at least I think it's brooding She has resigned herself to sitting on the eggs for the past 3 days now and is making some really strange sounds.

I presume that she is hoping that one of them will hatch, I find this instinctive behaviour fascinating. We don't have a cock, so is removing the nesting boxes after I collect the eggs in the morning the right way to go? I don't plan on getting a cock so I don't want to be giving the poor animal false hope.

Thanks for the help!

tipseymcT

You could get a few fertile eggs if you know anyone that has a cock & put them under her.
If you do not want her to stay broody take the eggs away & keep her locked out of the chicken house during the day,she should get over it in a few days.

Jelly2

I'm interested in this because one of our hens is also broody - but it seems to be going on for a very long time. I read that she should get over it within about three weeks, but our hen has been trying to sit now for over a month. I'm not particularly worried about it, but I have been trying to discourage her as much as possible so that she gets some exercise and comes out to eat. I normally take her out in the morning to the feed. Then I have to leave the door of the hen house open so that the other hens can go in to lay, so by the time that I come out to collect the eggs around 1pm my broody hen is always firmly positioned on top of eggs. She's quite placid thankfully so off I take her off again and send her outside. Then I close the door of the house until the evening. She wanders around with the others, but is already dying to get back into the house when I open the door around 7pm.
Does anyone have any experience of a hen whose broodiness goes on for a very long time please?

trotter_inc

Interesting stuff, our hens are so placid and friendly too, I feel so guilty taking her off the egg and she just goes straight back on to it. There is a house up the road from us who have lots of hens and a cock, I might pop in later and ask them for some fertile eggs. We've a 2 year old who loves collecting the eggs with me, he'd be amazed to see a chick hatching

Jelly2

trotter_inc wrote: »

Interesting stuff, our hens are so placid and friendly too, I feel so guilty taking her off the egg and she just goes straight back on to it. There is a house up the road from us who have lots of hens and a cock, I might pop in later and ask them for some fertile eggs. We've a 2 year old who loves collecting the eggs with me, he'd be amazed to see a chick hatching

Yeah, we've been toying with that idea too, since our hen clearly would love to hatch some chicks! The only reason we haven't done it is because we are going to be coming and going a lot in the next few weeks and i would like to be around constantly to check out progress (spot the obsessed hen owner!). I think it's a great idea in principle though!

BengaLover

What type of hen is it? The hybrids arent great sitters, but will get broody and tend not to follow through.

Themadhouse

Our silkies are a broody nightmare. They stay broody for 3 weeks. We just leave them to it and make sure they come down at least once a day for water and food. If not we put some in with them. If you are able to the best thing is to lock them out of the house, hard to do if you have other layers tho.

trotter_inc

Update to my original post...

Since our hen went broody we got 8 fertilised eggs from a friend and she has been sitting on them for just over 2 weeks now. I have her separated from her other hens and I have been checking her regularly to make sure she's getting out for a feed and poo. I was out with her a while back and thought it was the birds outside chirping but as I listened closer the cheeps were actually coming from under her....one of the eggs have hatched!!!

I attempted to lift her off to have a look at the chick but she's gotten fierce defensive and tried to peck at me, she's never done this before so I thought I better leave well alone for now.

So, what do I do now? Do I leave her alone to do her own thing with the chick? Do I take the chick away from the hen after a few days and put her under one of those heat lamps?

Thanks for the help

Jelly2

trotter_inc wrote: »

Update to my original post...

Since our hen went broody we got 8 fertilised eggs from a friend and she has been sitting on them for just over 2 weeks now. I have her separated from her other hens and I have been checking her regularly to make sure she's getting out for a feed and poo. I was out with her a while back and thought it was the birds outside chirping but as I listened closer the cheeps were actually coming from under her....one of the eggs have hatched!!!

I attempted to lift her off to have a look at the chick but she's gotten fierce defensive and tried to peck at me, she's never done this before so I thought I better leave well alone for now.

So, what do I do now? Do I leave her alone to do her own thing with the chick? Do I take the chick away from the hen after a few days and put her under one of those heat lamps?

Thanks for the help

I'm no expert but I think that you usually leave the hen alone, and she will manage perfectly well to deal with the chicks. She will keep them warm, and bring them out when she is ready.
I am envious!;)

trotter_inc

Jelly2 wrote: »

I am envious!;)

Yeah, I hid my childish excitement very well from my post above...when I heard the chirping I almost fell over myself while running up to the house to tell my wife :pac: It's amazing how such natural things can cause excitement in a house. We told our toddler son that our hen had chicks this morning, major mistake...he's making it his mission to lift the hen and have a peek

CardBordWindow

There's no need to put the chicks under a heat lamp. That's normally only needed if the chicks have been hatched in an incubator, and have no mother hen to keep them warm.

trotter_inc

CardBordWindow wrote: »

There's no need to put the chicks under a heat lamp. That's normally only needed if the chicks have been hatched in an incubator, and have no mother hen to keep them warm.

Thanks for that info I've actually just bought the Haynes Chicken Manual and there's loads of information in there, would highly recommend it for any novice interested in keeping chickens.

boxerly

cant wait for pictures

Jelly2

That's great.
On another note, one of our Fenton Blues finally stopped being broody yesterday - after seven weeks! Must be a record...

Themadhouse

OT: Jelly2 where did you source your Fentons? We were looking for some last yr but the breeder was having difficulty hatching them. They are supposed to be great layers!

Jelly2

Themadhouse wrote: »

OT: Jelly2 where did you source your Fentons? We were looking for some last yr but the breeder was having difficulty hatching them. They are supposed to be great layers!

We got two from a seller called Tamara who used to sell at Glanbia in Ashford every Saturday. She doesn't do this any more, although she is apparently working in Glanbia itself now...I don't know if she still sells hens at all in fact, although she definitely still keeps them.

Our Fentons are good layers (when they're not broody!), as they lay maybe six eggs a week each. The eggs are a nice pale blue colour, although they are on the small side normally. Our birds are good-tempered and fairly placid, although we were told that the breed can be flighty. And they're pretty, as you no doubt know - lovely golden feathers, with 'salt n pepper' flecks of grey and black on their backs and tails. Probably my favourites of the breeds that we have.:)

trotter_inc

Update on our chicks...

We thought that only 2 or 3 out of the 8 eggs we placed under our hen would hatch, but this morning 6 little chicks emerged from under the hens wings. They're gorgeous little things, 4 yellow and 2 black. They're drinking well and we'll sort them with some crumb soon. The hen isn't as protective anymore, she let me pick them up this morning so that I could give them a look over...all is well

Any tips on how best to look after them over the coming weeks are well appreciated!

CardBordWindow

I think the only fair way to trade tips is for a few pics of the chicks!

trotter_inc

CardBordWindow wrote: »

I think the only fair way to trade tips is for a few pics of the chicks!

Give me a hour or two, you're lucky I'm working from home today

trotter_inc

Here you go

JustAThought

#:o
aaaaaaaawh

That so made my day : )

gomamochi1

trotter_inc wrote: »

Update on our chicks...

We thought that only 2 or 3 out of the 8 eggs we placed under our hen would hatch, but this morning 6 little chicks emerged from under the hens wings. They're gorgeous little things, 4 yellow and 2 black. They're drinking well and we'll sort them with some crumb soon. The hen isn't as protective anymore, she let me pick them up this morning so that I could give them a look over...all is well

Any tips on how best to look after them over the coming weeks are well appreciated!

We have one brooding hen at de mo. any ideas? She is sitting there in the coop on the laying box for the last few days not laying anything. Someone suggested to get a cockerel and fertilise her? Any suggestions? I would love to get new chicks as the wee daughter would love to see chicks being layed! Where could I borrow a cock for purposes? Cheers