Do I have a broody hen??

[grubbysoles]

Hi, I've had my 4 chickens for just over a year - bought them point-of-lay, so they are still quite young and I've not yet experienced one go broody. However!!... one of them has started acting strangely - she is very grumpy all the time and squawks at anyone who goes anywhere near her. She also seems to have got a lot bigger in the last couple of weeks. She is still laying, her comb and wattle still look nice, and she goes back to the hen-house as per normal when she has been out in the garden. She is still very lively so I don't think she's ill, she's just gone really really grumpy and unapproachable.

Is this a sign of broodiness? What should I do with her if she IS broody? And is it a realistic idea to borrow a cockeral from somewhere for a week or so so that she can have some babies? As a female who has had babies I feel really bad for her if she's feeling broody and can't have chicks. It must be awful for a hen!! I know I shouldn't be so sentimental, but hey...

Any thoughts appreciated!

[red]

most obvious sign of broodiness is staying sat on eggs.. or even on no eggs, just sat in a nest box complainign at anyone coming near.

if she is not doing that.. then i would not have thought she was broody no.

if she does go broody - you could always buy some fertilized eggs to slip under her.. easier than borrowing a cockerel.. but you have to be sure you know what you will do with the resulting offspring

[grubbysoles]

Thanks Red,

She was making a terrible racket yesterday after she laid - she normally squawks for a couple of minutes, but she sat in there for about 20 minutes going crazy. She doesn't sit on them constantly though, so perhaps she's just a grump.

I didn't realise you can buy fertilised eggs. But what about the chicken who laid them? Surely she's feeling really upset somewhere because someone took her eggs away :-( Am I taking it all too seriously?! And what do people do with baby cockerels? Everyone wants hens but no-one wants the boys, do they? Not sure I could do the 'slaughter at 1 day old' thing.

I would actually really LOVE for one of my hens to have chicks, I just don't know what to do with the boys. I have a lot of neighbours who would be none-too-pleased with the arrival of some cock-a-doodle-doos.

[JulieSherris]

They don't usually understand that the eggs they are laying are fertile or not fertile, so no, they don't get upset when you collect the eggs
I'm hatching chicks & ducks at the moment, I've lost count of how many we have... hang on... I have 32 chicks of varying ages - between POL & 6 that are just 3 days old. Then there's the 23 ducklings, but a further 4 eggs are pipping now, so that'll make 27... then the muscovy duck is sitting on 13 eggs, due next week & another muscovy is hoarding eggs & plucking feathers, so she's due to go broody later this week too - phew!!

Usually when they go broody, they will sit tight on an egg & try to peck at you if you disturb them... they also start to pluck their feathers as well - 'lining the nest'.... when they decide that they have enough eggs to sit on, that's it, they won't be moved.... I drag mine off the eggs once each day so they can have a drink, a bit to eat & a poo - holding my nose!

Depending on what hen the chick has come from, I can't tell which are hens & which are roosters - I have to wait a while until they grow up a little bit, but our rooster boys will get one shot at the bird sales, then it's into the pot for them. The hens also will have a shot at the bird sales but they might well get 2 chances before heading to the kitchen!

Out of the young ones, I have to say it's the muscovy ducklings that are the cutest! And they love cuddles too

[Millymollymandy]

I've come home to my light sussex being broody again. I quite enjoy the growling and general grumpiness of a broody especially as I can stroke them and they don't seem to mind. She pecks my husband but doesn't me and I hand feed her wheat. Mine usually get up off the nest themselves once a day and lay an enormous poo!

[red]

yeh i never take the m off the nest - they usually get off themselves and do a days worth of poo in one go, take a snack and a drink and head back to bed :)

one broody didn't get off the nest much at all -b ut she was fine, and hatched fine, so as i said, i dont lift them

I have two broodies today. we are collecting eggs :)

[grubbysoles]

Well Speckles definitely IS broody now - she has sat down on the eggs today and is not budging. She's all fluffed up - just an enormous lump plonked in the nest box and squawking at me when I go anywhere near her.

Do I need to separate her from the other hens? We've just finished building a new hen house so perhaps I should stick the others in there and leave Speckles where she is?

Is it possible to put fake eggs under her? Will she just naturally give up on them after a while when she realises they're not hatching?

[JulieSherris]

If she's truly broody now & you want her to hatch some chicks, leave her alone & let her sit on eggs for a few days while you get some fertile eggs in - there's some nice breeds on ebay at the moment - then swap the eggs underneath her when it's dark - she'll be half asleep & won't realise that you've swapped them!

Wait 3 weeks, keeping her nice & quiet & separate from the others, & you should be a proud chick owner!!

[JulieSherris]

Ooo.... sorry, forgot to say.... if you pop fake eggs under her, she'll just sit until they DO hatch, so don't use those!!

[red]

I would separate them yes - as she will want to sit on real eggs and steal them if necessary.. and will only make the go bad if you missed them.. and I find broodies tend to put the others off laying. I'd take her away and settle her on some fake eggs.. or just some real eggs for a while.

if you want to hatch eggs, you need to get some fert eggs from somewhere - however.. be sure you will be prepared to kill of the cockerels.. and there will be cockerels!

if you dont want to hatch any yet, you can break her by putting her in solitary.. in a cage with no nest etc and she should cool down and go off the idea. TBH i never do get on well with breaking a broody, so instead i let them brood for a bit.. either let them raise chicks or let them sit for about 10 days (or even longer), then lift them off and dont let them back to the nest.. and the cluck and fuss, and then accept its all over

[Millymollymandy]

As I don't need the eggs I leave mine be and she sits for about 4 weeks then takes another couple of weeks to come back into lay. The other laying hen of course keeps laying in the same nest box as her so I am collecting my daily egg out from under Snowy.

[bonniethomas06]

I am really glad this question has come about now - as I have just put 12 fertile sasso meat hen eggs under a light sussex bantam. It is funny to watch as she is only tiny, but as she is the only broody hen, she gets the lot!

We have her in a separate run from the others, in her own henhouse, but I had two questions:
1. I have read somewhere that you should use a broody coop for hatching which doesn't have a bottom - so that the eggs are in contact with the damp earth and get the correct levels of humidity. Is this a real concern do you think?

2. We have bought a heat lamp (as the hatching guide that came with the eggs said we should do this). But it is warming up - is it really necessary? I thought that once they are nearly ready to hatch I would put the bantam and eggs in a large box in the garage so that they are safe and warm. But then part of me thinks that they hatch in the wild without heat lamps and the disruption would be a bad thing.

If you have any views, pleae let me know. I could murder my boyf, he has put these eggs under our bantam and then bu**ered off to Tunisia for a fortnight with work to leave me to hatch them!

(Oh, and has gone off to get three piglets today which he is leaving in the garage!)

[red]

1. I have read somewhere that you should use a broody coop for hatching which doesn't have a bottom - so that the eggs are in contact with the damp earth and get the correct levels of humidity. Is this a real concern do you think?

never heard of it. done ok without doing so

2. We have bought a heat lamp (as the hatching guide that came with the eggs said we should do this). But it is warming up - is it really necessary? I thought that once they are nearly ready to hatch I would put the bantam and eggs in a large box in the garage so that they are safe and warm. But then part of me thinks that they hatch in the wild without heat lamps and the disruption would be a bad thing.

not if you are using a broody... she will keep the resulting chicks warm etc. so i would stash it away. but a bantam might struggle to cover 12 full sized eggs.

[JulieSherris]

Bonnie, if your bantam has taken to the eggs & she's comfy where she is, then back away.......

For the humidity, hens will pluck their tummies bare - this puts their skin directly on the eggs & if they 'sweat', that takes care of the humidity. I know that our broody girl is very clammy when you touch her on her tum.

As for the heat lamp & moving them to the garage & such - well, I would just leave well alone there - they won't need a heat lamp if they have a 'mum', they'll all be underneath her anyway, so you will just be cooking the bantam! Once she thinks they are big enough for a wander, she will take them into the run & teach them about feeding/drinking, etc.

Just make sure that she's feeding at least once a day & wait for 3 weeks.... she'll know what to do!

[bonniethomas06]

Thanks for the swift reassurance there Red and Julie.

I should have followed my instincts and saved the £35 on the heat lamp. Oh well, it may come in useful for something else.

I think I may still move them to the garage until the chicks are a little bigger as our coop doesn't have any overhead protection (and we have a few sparrowhawks nearby) but thankfully the whole henhouse is not difficult to move, so shouldn't have to disrupt the mummy.

Poor little thing, she has been broody for about two months now, we couldn't resist giving her the chance to hatch. I have taken her off the nest to stretch her legs once or twice a day, but she just runs back to the nest again - we have resorted to leaving a little pot of food and water near the nest in the henhouse.

Thanks again.