First hen is already broody....

[Sonya_6]

Well today it looks official, one of my bantam hens is broody! Nice surprise since she is about three years old and has never gone broody before.

Will have to check the feed store schedule to see what chick breeds will be available in about 3 weeks. I have an older bantam hen (7+ years) and she has raised one or two clutches a year for the last three years. I don't need more roosters so I just buy sexed chicks for them to raise instead of having them hatch out eggs.

Don't really want to add many new chicks this year, I guess I could try to break her but will have to think about it for a day or two.

 

[*Andi]

So is she sitting non fertile eggs, wooden eggs or golf balls ... just curious.

 

[Sonya_6]

So is she sitting non fertile eggs, wooden eggs or golf balls ... just curious.

Non-fertile egg. Will mark that egg with an X and today's date when I lock the hen house up later. Nice thing about dud eggs is she can stay in her nest box right up until a day before the chicks will arrive and I don't have to worry about hatching eggs getting cold etc...

I have two resident rat snakes that eat some of the eggs so I won't put artificial eggs out as it could harm them (they have lived there 3 years so they are practically pets these days).

 

[Meerkat]

We just take the eggs if we don't want them to hatch. Of course most of ours were without rooster so won't hatch anyway.

 

[Sonya_6]

We just take the eggs if we don't want them to hatch. Of course most of ours were without rooster so won't hatch anyway.

Well I don't want her to stay broody for 6 weeks so I either have to buy her a couple of chicks to raise at the 3 week mark or try to break her now. I had two broodies but sadly one passed on a couple of months ago so I am rather glad to see one of the other bantams is showing the trait. I am kind of afraid to break her seeing as how this is the first time I have seen her go broody in 3 years.

I never want to keep chicks in a brooder and go through flock integration again. With a broody all I have to do is buy the chicks and make sure they don't get eaten by snakes at night, the hen takes care of everything else.

Plus the babies are so happy and so cute when they run all over with the big birds and act like regular little chickens foraging and eating grass etc...

 

[Sonya_6]

Oh forgot to mention, I also have Marek's in the flock so I have to use broodies to add young birds.

Since stress is usually the trigger for a fatal Marek's flair up I can't risk introducing 10-12 week old chicks into the flock as the stress could easily be fatal, but in 3 years I have never had a broody raised chick show signs of it.

 

[Sonya_6]

Now the older bantam is broody too, and she has raised a few clutches so I know she is serious about this. Will pick up a feed store chick schedule by week to see what will be coming in around April 1st, I can probably push it 3 days forward or back so that gives me 2 shipments of chicks/breeds to choose from.

The last time I had two broodies on the same schedule I split a few newly hatched bantam chicks between both hens, but the chicks would sometimes group together and all go under the older hen while the younger hen called sadly with no babies.

Will get two different breeds this time, hopefully that will help. And if it doesn't help at least it will make it easier to divide the babies up at night.

Just fed them some rice with egg before bedtime and both are happy, some setting hens won't eat enough so I try to make sure they don't drop much weight as raising chicks is weeks of non-stop exhausting work. They deserve some perks for all of the effort.

 

[NannyPatty]

Sonya, how do you get the mom to take the store chicks? We disposed of our rat snake because it ate my chicks.

 

[Sonya_6]

Sonya, how do you get the mom to take the store chicks? We disposed of our rat snake because it ate my chicks.

Let them sit on eggs for about 3 weeks, if you offer chicks too soon they can reject them. Get really young chicks, 3 days or younger, if they are older they may not bond with the hen.

I move the broody with her nest/egg into a pet carrier before the chicks arrive and get her settled in there comfortably. Then when I get the chicks I slip them under her wings and butt at night in the dark, no bright flashlights etc.... You trying to mimic hatching eggs so you want her to feel them move under her all night and discover her "eggs hatched" in the morning.

The moment the chicks go under a hen they go silent, so I slide them under and just listen. If there is any "peeping" then that means a chick wandered out, find them and put them back under. Have them in a small carrier or box that the chicks CANNOT get out of so one can't wander away in the dark and die of cold.

First thing in the morning I bring them some scrambled egg or mush and check how it is going as sometimes a new mother will freak out when she actually SEES the chicks. I give them the food and make sure she is talking to them and everybody is eating. They stay penned off inside the hen house for a day or two to bond and so the other birds can see them too, then the mother/chicks are let loose and she can take them into the run or wherever she likes. I also pay attention when they are let loose with the flock the first time, most of my birds have seen babies before and are used to it, but if it is the first time for the flock you want to make sure there are no crazy/mean adult birds that pick on them.

At night they will all sleep in the locked cat carrier (they usually go in on their own) for a few weeks or more as it is warmer and provides extra protection from snakes etc...

Here is a video of my older broody the morning after I got her some store bought brown leghorn chicks. She is experienced so I don't have to keep a close eye on her.

 

[*Andi]

Congrats!

 

[NannyPatty]

That's pretty cool. I'll have to try that!

 

[Sonya_6]

Well I picked up the chick schedule, they are getting Americanas and Golden Laced Wyandottes the week of 4/1 which is perfect!

Knock on wood that the hatchery keeps to the schedule and ships the right breeds, but with 2 of the 3 scheduled breeds being good they will have something either way. After not really wanting to add more chicks I am getting jazzed about it.

I know "Americanas" aren't purebred, but does anyone know if they usually lay blue eggs? Or are they more of an easter egger that lays mostly green? Either way is fine but I would love a blue egg layer.

 

[Sonya_6]

So this coming week I need to wash the walls of the hen house and replace the shavings.

Took a short video of them last night, they are taking up both nest boxes. The other birds still lay in the boxes and I try to covertly collect the new eggs when they are busy eating.