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



## Emmetts Dairy (Nov 11, 2010)

So I know Im here for goats...but I have a broody hen...anyone deal with one..its cold here in NH and I just need some advice on heating them...when do I start heating her???  Can I move her?? Etc etc?? 

Anyone have a broody hen before?? I had em for years and no one ever went broody for me...sooo I just kept buying em...Not prepared!! LOL...If I can deal with goaties..I guess I could handle a chicken hatching...

Dec 1st will be 21 days...

Im gonna google to and see what I can come up with...Went on BYC and got lost...way tooo many people on there..and couldnt get a direct question answered...kinda disappointed.  We are much nicer here!!  Kudos to BYH!!!!


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## freemotion (Nov 11, 2010)

I had one in Feb and she raised a half dozen chicks with no supplemental heat.  You will want to separate her from the flock, though, at least while she is setting and for a few days after...which you can do right in the coop with a bit of creative fencing.  You don't want anyone sneaking into her nest when she gets up to poop, eat, and drink.

She will keep her chicks warm.  They'll scoot out to play during the warmer parts of the day, then run under her when they need to warm up.

What you really need is to be sure your camera is in good working order!  Relax, if she sticks with the nest, she will take good care of any chicks she hatches.

A good broody is worth her weight in gold, IMO.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Nov 12, 2010)

Thanks!! We are kinda excited about it.  We are hoping she is that diamond in the rough!!  We are moving her to her own place in the coop.  And will hope for the best!! And we will definatley get our camera ready!!  

I gotta fiqure out if we are to vacinate and what age??  I have no idea about chickens???  Anyone??


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## ohiofarmgirl (Nov 12, 2010)

hey!

best thing for a broody hen.. just leave her be. moving can be tricky - do it at night and in the dark so she doesnt get scared off the nest. put her somewhere that the other hens cant get to her - she'll get up once or so a day for a big poop and to get something to eat...while she is gone you dont want another hen to be sitting there - or to lay more eggs.  she'll go into a zen trance and look weird but its just her thing...she might just growl at you so watch your hands! 

you probably do not need any additional heat at all - she'll keep her babies warm better than anything. just make sure she has lots of fresh straw or bedding to build up her nest.

when the babies hatch, remove the shells and make sure you have chick food and a chick drinker....then just enjoy the show. she'll teach them everything they need to know so aside from taking lots of pictures, there's not much to do.

i keep my broodies and babies locked up for a couple days then move them to where they can have a bigger coop (think 8x8) for themselves during the day and then move them to their own brooder at night. the momma will get used to this routine and move the babies with just a little nudging from me. 

the best reference is Harvey Ussery's excellent site and this article:
http://themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

i love that he says, that little hen is smarter than you think... so true

good luck with the babies!


ps we dont vacinate our chickens and have never had a problem with naturally hatched/raised chicks.


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## freemotion (Nov 12, 2010)

I don't vaccinate either.  My broody-raised chicks are the strongest, hardiest birds I have.  (Except for the ones that are now in the pot!  )  Remember that these will be straight run chicks so you will need a plan for the roosters if you don't eat 'em yourself.  They will run your hens ragged.  Prepare now!  Buy a Dutch oven!


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## jhm47 (Nov 12, 2010)

Leave the hen where she is.  If you move her, she very likely will cease to set.  After the hatch, watch closely and you will see that a hen instinctively knows far more about how to raise chicks than the most educated human on earth.  Just be sure that they have chick starter and a source of water that the chicks can easily reach.  A chick waterer is best, so they can't get into it and drown or get wet.  Good luck!


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## aggieterpkatie (Nov 12, 2010)

I just leave my broodies where they are and don't bother them.  When I have one set a nest far from the coop I'll set a little feed and water near her so she doesn't have to go far.  That's it. They know what to do.


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## glenolam (Nov 12, 2010)

Congrats on the broody hen!  I hope you get lots of chicks!



I've had hens go broody for MONTHS on end....no matter what I did those darn hens just sat on hay. 

I agree with everyone else - don't do much for her, just watch her and leave her be.  As was said before, move her at night to a more secluded space (unless she's already in a good spot) where she and the chicks can be safe from everyone else.  When the chicks hatch, they have enough in them to last a few days (I think it's 3 days) without food so it would be your choice whether or not to give them grain - I'm not sure if your chickens are 100% free range as Free's are.  Mine are dependant on grain (which, boy do I wish they weren't!) so when I have chicks hatching I make sure there's grain and a little lid (not bowl!) full of water for them to venture in to feed/drink.  I had a bad hatching experience this past year, but found out the reason my chicks were dying was because I had a rat problem in the hen house.  I thought my hens were killing the chicks, but thankfully I was wrong.  Fixed that problem! (I love my cat!)

We keep a small heat lamp in the hen house during the winter, but that's really not necessary - in our years of having chickens this is only the 2nd year we've done the heat light.  All other years we just had a regular light to extend "daylight" hours to increase egg laying.  Can't really say I know why I put the heat lamp....just that I had them for chicks and those were the bulbs laying around...

ETA: I also don't vaccinate.  I like to keep them as natural as possible, IMO...


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## Emmetts Dairy (Nov 12, 2010)

Thank you guys!! We are excited..and I will definatley post pics.  Thanks on the vacination information.  We were thinking the same.  All my chickens are very healthy!! Thankfully!!  And I was thinking it would be kinda hard to vacinate.  So we will just let nature take its course...

The only issue is that she is in a small nesting box...we have 12 nesting boxes against the wall.  And they are about 1ftx1ft  its small...they usually lay and run!!  LOL  So I really wanna move her.  We have a "kaboose" is what we call it in the hen house...its a separated room in the hen house with wire walls..but access for us...its like the hosp or whatever..when we need separate quarters.  So I really wanna move her there??  But I really dont want to break her from her trance.  ????  I did here move her at night....  Quandry on moving her...?


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## glenolam (Nov 12, 2010)

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.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Nov 12, 2010)

glenolam said:
			
		

> 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!!!


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## patandchickens (Nov 12, 2010)

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


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## Emmetts Dairy (Nov 12, 2010)

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!


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## ohiofarmgirl (Nov 12, 2010)

oh no!

so sorry but good for you for springing to action. 

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


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## Greendecember (Nov 12, 2010)

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


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Nov 13, 2010)

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


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## freemotion (Nov 13, 2010)

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


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