Anyone Have Broody Jersey Giant Experience? I Need Advice!

[suzettex5]

I was so excited to have my first Jersey Giant broody- till hatching time came around, that is...

My girl had 12 eggs under her, but one dissapeared, which was odd, but I just ignored it. The real problem is that my hen keeps squishing the chicks as they are hatching! I go out to check the eggs twice a day and yet somehow, between my checks, she keeps squishing them flat when they are about halfway hatched.

So far only 3 have made it,(one I rescued half flattened, but it is fine now) and four have been found flat and almost fully hatched, but still in the bottom half of the shell (all 4 dead). I took the rest of the eggs away and put them in the incubator.

Right now I think the problem could be the size of the nesting box. It is about 16 by 16 inches (tall, wide, and deep). She cant stand up in it, but she fits in it with her tail sticking out, and can get up and turn around. I have bigger boxes, but she refused to use them, even before she was broody. How big should the box be if mine are too small?

I'm wondering, is it common for such huge birds like Jersey Giants to just be ignorant of their size and accidentally squish chicks simply due to their weight and size, or is it the nesting box size?

Has anyone else had this kind of problem, (with any kind of hen, jersey or not)?

 

[Judy]

I wonder if this is just one of those things that happens because hatcheries have tried to breed broodiness out of them. I had one who set well for 3 weeks then pecked every one of her chicks to death, and just read another thread describing a similar experience. Since the "giant" was no doubt bred into them, they probably don't instinctively understand how big they are. Sorry.

 

[suzettex5]

Hmmm, maybe it is just a first time mom thing.... My Jerseys are not hatcherry stock though- I bought them all as eggs from reputable breeders.

Since I took her eggs, she has decided to move to a different spot out of the boxes and brood an egg she found on the ground in a private spot (its ok, there is plenty of room there and its fairly private.)

 

[The Tinman]

I had one hatch only to get chewed up. Then she abandoned the rest of the eggs,so I thought. When Chicken #1 got off the Nest#1,Chicken #2 sat on nest#1. So Chicken#1 started to nest on nest #2.Chicken #1 also took some eggs from nest#1 and brought them to nest #2. So I did not know what eggs were old and what eggs were from that day cause all the chickens sometimes share nest boxes. Befor If an egg was in box #2,3,4,5,6 I knew they were fresh but who knows now. So I took ALL the eggs away. Did a float test. What ever floated got tossed what ever was left I boiled and feed back to them. I still have 2 broodies but I`m am not going to let them sit on any eggs until maybe spring.