making a hen go broody

[LukeyLux]

Now, I have done some looking, but most of the posts are about making a hen or wishing a hen would go broody that has never gone broody before. That is not my case.

I am basically in a do over mode, I have 5 hens, 3 of which went broody for me last summer, but of course in July and August - when I could not get either the chicks I wanted or a good source of fertilized eggs. I currently have a chicks on order for late March or first of April. What I would like, is for two hens to be setting when those chicks arrive. If I don't, I can easily brood them myself, if this doesn't work.

I think I read a post here where the person said, with a known broody hen, they could get them broody in a few days, but I will be danged if I can find it. I wish I had pinned it or copied it. I think it went like this:

• Take a crate, and a clutch of eggs (fake) and a nest, and add the hen that has been broody before.
• Lock her in there, letting her out once a day
• within a few days - she is suppose to be broody

I won't lose anything to try it. And if it doesn't work, I can still raise the chicks.

Do any of you remember this post - or where it is? Or tried something similar. I know they will go broody, and they were good mothers. I would just like to try it on my time frame.

Any advice?

Mrs K

oh I'm gonna try this! I have a load of exhibition quality eggs from my SC White Leghorn flock and a cochin hen that went broody last May. It's warm where I live so a March hatch would be perfect!

 

[Mrs. K]

LukeyLux - let me know how it goes. I just got word, I am suppose to have chicks coming April 4th. I am going to try for two weeks before that to see if I can get one or two to go broody.

You try too, and report back.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

I strongly encourage as many people that want to try any method to try and come back here to report the results. The more people that try the more fun it is. But also report failures, not just successes.

The way I read article 235 they are talking more about how to move a broody hen than about how to make or encourage a hen go broody. But it is kind of ambiguous.

@Mrs. K probably around 10 years go I read on here a method where somebody locked a hen up in a dark nest, pitch black, for two or three days. They didn't even let them out enough to eat or drink. They said it always worked. The chickens should live through that but I couldn't bring myself to go to that extreme. I think dark could help but I'd at least let her out once or twice a day to eat and drink. I think dark helps when you are moving a broody.

I've tried letting eggs build up in a nest a few times, usually golf balls but I marked real eggs a time or two. My flock did have hens that would go broody. I got a broody hen once when I did that, but she went broody on a different nest. I don't think that counted.

One time a chicken sitter did not gather eggs while I was visiting the grandkids. The eggs piled up and when I got back late at night two different hens were on two different nests acting broody. I collected all the eggs so I could start over with all the eggs started together. The next day neither were acting the least bit broody. Maybe if I'd left the eggs piled up another day or two one would have gone truly broody.

 

[Silkie Princess]

I'll probably try this a 2 or so weeks before the set date fpr the Easter HAL. With various hens. And of course I'll report everything! Lol

 

[Mrs. K]

Mine need to get laying steady first. But yesterday I had my first 60% day. Course completely cloudy today and snowing, bitter cold this week-end. But spring is coming.

This is how I plan to set it up. My chickens have always loved a new nest. So at three weeks before my chicks arrive in the mail, I am going to set up a new nest in a box with a curtain, in the corner with one egg. Hoping to entice someone to check it out.

Next day, I will replace any eggs with fakes, and/or add another 'egg'. Pray hard. Watch carefully for interest. Keep adding more 'eggs' each day.

At the beginning of the second week, I am going to try locking up one, if I don't have a taker. I will let them outside, when I get home from school just a bit before dark. I will do that for a week. If I don't get a taker, well then, I will brood in the garage.

I have ordered 25 chicks. With the idea of splitting the order, but they are straight run, and of course now I am getting chicken math. Can a single hen set on 25? Should I try and set two hens? I might try that, then I would increase my odds that something would go broody if I try and set 2.

It will be a fun experiment. If it does not go, we will all learn something. I hope others will also report back.

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

Can a single hen set on 25?

You're talking chicks, not eggs, since you are getting chicks.

Probably not, but it depends some on the weather or the hen and chicks. If the nights are cool enough that she needs to cover them all to keep them warm, well it won't take long for them to grow big enough that she can't do that, if she can cover them all to start with. In the heat of summer I've had baby chicks from a really young age sleep on or next to the hen instead of under her. I figure if they get cold they'll force their way under her, maybe pushing another already warm chick out.

Not all hens are the same size. Not all eggs or baby chicks are the same size. Some hens can cover more than others. When I was a kid we had a hen hide a nest and bring 18 chicks off of the nest. I never found that nest so I don't know how many eggs she started with. She managed all 18.

When I set eggs under a broody hen I often start some eggs in the incubator, planning on letting her raise all of them. Stuff can happen under a broody or in an incubator, this way she should be able to raise some chicks at least. Once I wound up with 15 chicks, another hen got 16. In the heat of summer they raised all of them.

I typically give a broody hen 12 eggs of the size she lays. One time the hen had problems covering all of them so I took 2 away. She could handle ten. In cold weather I once gave a hen 8 eggs to hatch to make sure she could cover all the chicks. Only five hatched, she had no problems raising that few even when it was below freezing.

I would want two broody hens for 25 chicks.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

This is going to be interesting!

 

[Mrs. K]

Well, when I ordered them, I was keeping 12... Dang chicken math. But you just don't know what you are going to get with straight run, AND I think the people who said they would take part might be backing out.

So I will try and get two hens to go broody. I had two go last summer at the same time, and they truly bonded with their single chick. It was a poor hatch, but I think it was the eggs not the chickens.

I might try that pair again... this will be fun.

 

[Chikenux]

I saw an article from 10 years ago about how someone put a chicken on a bucket for a couple of days and it worked for them. I tried it and didn't work on one of my Australorp that went broody last year, I would not recommend it because the chicken poop on the golf balls on her feathers and bucket which is very unsanitary to the point that I would highly recommend not trying that method. What I am doing is I have a couple of small coops from tractor supply https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-mini-defender-coop-mdc001?cm_vc=-10005 and made sure that they are dark and have fresh bedding a tons of eggs for the hen to sit in. I already have one hen that is broody a Black Star sex-link which are not known to go broody but when I was collecting the eggs I heard her hissing and puffing up then I immediately prepared one of the coops and transferred her. A couple of days later she is very broody to the point she pecks me when I try to check on the eggs. The secret was that I made sure that coop was closed off and dark so she went full on brood, this was only on March 2nd and she is sitting on Black Autralorp Eggs. I still have another coop (same one) that I just prepared today and will move the Australorp that went broody last year with a dozen of eggs and wait for a couple of days if she goes broody.

Basically you need a Dark place with a lot of golf balls or eggs, make sure there is water and food. You can try your old brooder and place it in a dark place, or an old small coop which I tried and work for my first broody chicken. If you want to build one a 2 feet high x 3 feet x 3 feet wide should be big enough for a small feed and small waterer also this can double as a safe place for the newly hatched chicks and make sure there's a ventilation.

The chicken on the bucket was cleaned and fed high protein feed and Vinegar water and in a warm place for a couple of days before being reintroduce to the flock she is good and healthy now and wished I never put her on that bucket.

NEVER PUT CHICKENS IN BUCKET. Try on your own risk.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am not understanding the bucket thing.

I do have a smaller dog crate. I think I could set it up so that, she would have a nest in the back, and a bit of space for food and water in the front. I thought about making it pretty dark, so that is good to know. I have the chicks coming in early April, so I am going to try getting her to go next week.

My chickens have always loved a new nest, and sometimes for no apparent reason, they will begin to lay in a new spot. So my plan is to set this up, and see if I can get them to lay there, and let the 'eggs' pile up by adding a golf ball a day to the pile. If I don't get a natural taker, I am going to lock a known broody hen in there. I have three hens that went broody last year.

I have twenty five chicks coming. So I really need two birds to go, or I need to sell half of them. Still debating.

Thanks for the input, I will report back to you also. I love a broody hen and chicks. I think you get healthier chicks, and none of the work.

Mrs K