Partially broody hen? How do I keep her broody constantly? Help!

[Kearaaaa23]

Hi everyone!
I have a pekin bantam hen who has currently been broody. She was sitting on the fake eggs I have in with her for a day and was growling, screeching and fluffing up if she was bothered in the nest box. When I moved her from there she just laid on her floor and fluffed up and kept growling. Outside the nesting box and coop she makes clucking sounds and will growl at any hens (and me) going near the coop. She puts her wings down and fluffs herself up and will sometimes screech and surveil the coop. Yesterday I put fertilised eggs under her and she accepted them. The only problem is that she'll sit on the eggs for 4-5 hours at a time and overnight but then in the morning she'll ditch them for quite a while and we have to put her back in the coop and then she'll go sit on them again. Like she knows the coop is where her eggs are and will defend it but still ditches them? Is there a way I can fix that and make her fully commited to them? Any tips on making a partially broody hen very broody? any advice and tips will be appreciated. Many thanks!!

 

[DobieLover]

She sounds full on broody to me.

How old is she? Has she ever set before?

How long is she off the nest in the morning? They can be off the nest for up to an hour (or more in warmer weather) taking care of themselves without any worry at all. They actually really do know how to hatch eggs.

 

[Kearaaaa23]

She sounds full on broody to me.

How old is she? Has she ever set before?

How long is she off the nest in the morning? They can be off the nest for up to an hour (or more in warmer weather) taking care of themselves without any worry at all. They actually really do know how to hatch eggs.

I was thinking so too. I haven't quite checked how long she leaves for since if have to leave for work basically right after I let everyone out. She is around a year old and its her first time being broody. I will check over the weekend since it has been warmer but I'm still concerned. Thanks!

 

[DowntownWings]

I agree with the above. She needs to get up and eat and dust bathe, etc. I wouldn’t worry. It sounds like she is committed to her clutch. I’ve had hens that wouldn’t get off the nest and had to be physically taken off just so they wouldn’t poop on the eggs. Yours might get to that point before the eggs hatch but for now she is doing just what she needs to do

 

[Shadrach]

Hi everyone!
I have a pekin bantam hen who has currently been broody. She was sitting on the fake eggs I have in with her for a day and was growling, screeching and fluffing up if she was bothered in the nest box. When I moved her from there she just laid on her floor and fluffed up and kept growling. Outside the nesting box and coop she makes clucking sounds and will growl at any hens (and me) going near the coop. She puts her wings down and fluffs herself up and will sometimes screech and surveil the coop. Yesterday I put fertilised eggs under her and she accepted them. The only problem is that she'll sit on the eggs for 4-5 hours at a time and overnight but then in the morning she'll ditch them for quite a while and we have to put her back in the coop and then she'll go sit on them again. Like she knows the coop is where her eggs are and will defend it but still ditches them? Is there a way I can fix that and make her fully commited to them? Any tips on making a partially broody hen very broody? any advice and tips will be appreciated. Many thanks!!

How old is the Pekin Bantam hen?
How long is she off the nest for, an hour, more?

 

[DobieLover]

I’ve had hens that wouldn’t get off the nest and had to be physically taken off just so they wouldn’t poop on the eggs.

They were probably leaving briefly and you just missed it. But I just add broody management to my normal chicken routine when go out to do chores. I remove my broody from her nest before I even open up the run for the rest of the flock to come out into their pen. I give the broody a couple of finger pokes to get her to break out of her trance and get moving then open the run door and the flock comes out. Sometimes a scuffle breaks out because of the broody behavior. Otherwise, the broody will very frantically preen, scratch, eat and drink and possibly take a quick dust bath. All this after her ginormous broody poop. Then she takes her clucking, ticking time-bomb self back to her nest. I am there feeding the birds, cleaning and refilling the waterer and scooping the poop boards so I can monitor her and make sure she gets back to her nest okay before I leave.

I also inspect her nest when I remove her to ensure there are no errant eggs in with the clutch because I leave my hen with full access to the flock/facilities and the flock to her during the first 20 days of incubation.

Two eggs laid next to Astrid on the hatch nest:

Then I slide the door to the maternity ward closed for show time. Once the chicks are highly mobile, I open the door and let mom determine when she is comfortable enough to bring them out into the flock. She never stops visitors from coming in unless I have younger pullets/cockerels already in the flock.

The ward:

The arrow is pointing to one of the chicks hatched out by the PBR on the right. The black hen, Astrid, is her bestie and the current head hen of my flock.

Having a built-in maternity ward with it's own sheltered run is very handy indeed for letting my broodies do their thing. I have let at least one broody hatch every year. I have one ticking away now that I will start grafting to the hatch nest this weekend after I get the room cleaned out.

This is the lucky lady that will hatch out my $150/dozen fertile eggs.

 

[DowntownWings]

@DobieLover no I didn’t miss it she was just a very dedicated first-time mother. I should have worded that as “I had one hen” lol although I have moved hens because I was worried and wasn’t sure if they were eating. I’ve only had one poop the nest. I didn’t have her separated from the flock so she might have been afraid one of the more dominant hens was going to swoop in and steal her eggs or something. After she pooped in the nest (thankfully it didn't get the eggs) I started putting her outside for a bit every other day. I finally moved her and the eggs to a dedicated broody coop and she did great. Now I separate my broodies but it is a learning process. Definitely beats a brooder box in the house/garage/porch haha