Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Perris]

Talking of broodies, Fez is clucking quietly... I think we're go for launch...

 

[Perris]

How did Round 2 go?

much better thank you; two old guys, quietly competent, done by lunchtime, and it's holding...

 

[ChaosMom]

much better thank you; two old guys, quietly competent, done by lunchtime, and it's holding...

Hooray! A win for us old farts!

 

[RoyalChick]

I don't know about hens specifically, but with wild birds, if the nest is predated then the pair try again if they have the strength, or give up for the year if not. Typically most if not all wild bird eggs in a nest are fertile; there are no 'all-hen' flocks in the wild.

I have come to think that breaking is at least as bad for their health as letting them sit until they give up themselves. I have no reading to support that, it's just my gut feeling now. But I will still break a broody if I think it's necessary for the good of the flock. Majority rules here.

I hate the whole breaking thing, though I think it probably stresses me more than it stresses the hen.
Last year I let Tassels sit (on nothing) until she started losing body condition and then it still took almost a week to break her - but at least she was eating.
This year I plan on giving her chicks if I can resolve how to do so given Marek's. I am hoping that will stop her spending the entire summer being broody.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Caught this little booger crowing earlier.

Don't worry, they are moving out of the chick coop within the next couple days.

 

[fuzzi]

Caught this little booger crowing earlier.
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Don't worry, they are moving out of the chick coop within the next couple days.

Is that his new name, "Booger"?

 

[MaryJanet]

Two hours today. Warmish for a while with mostly sunshine.

This picture shows how Henry is getting on.
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He did come out though. He hardly ate anything, a prawn and a few blueberries while I was there.
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This picture of Sylph tucked up tight to Henry and the roosting order with Sylph quite determined to roost next to Henry is hard to watch.
I expected Fret to more concern for Henry. She and Henry have their moments but Sylph is the one who tries to stay with him.
Watching Fret though I've come to the conclusion it's not so much a lack of cocern, it's deliberate and she's prioritizing her daughters invovement with their father. I can't explain this any better.
View attachment 4087693

Henry went to roost an hour ahead of the hens. I cleaned up while he was in the coop. It's odd that C and another person who tried to care for the chickens for a few weeks both report that when they tried to clean out the coop, Henry would come in and try to peck them. It didn't get any more violent than that apparently but it's plain he is sensitive about who does what In his space. Some roosters and a couple of cockerels I've known were sensitive about egg collecting. I've had full attempted strikes from a couple.
View attachment 4087695

The hens going to roost.
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I hope his final hours are not too painful.

 

[MaryJanet]

I guess, in light of the other thread (plus other posts, which I just didn't put together in my head), my concern is that they appear to be under-eating while broody. It doesn't kill them then and there, but it might affect them long-term. Similarly to humans who are malnourished at varying points in their life due to lack of food or terrible eating habits whose lives are weakened or shortened.

Maybe, as with your example of a breeding pair of wild birds, just don't let them have eggs (or golf balls) to sit on in hopes that the lack of stimulus will trigger a change in hormones.

(note that I am dreaming up things to ponder that won't happen for another 6-8 months at the earliest when I'm supposed to be studying for my conservation biology exam tomorrow)

I keep a hen-only flock in conditions that are as close to 'natural' as I can manage in a suburban backyard, albeit a large one.

The following paragraphs are not my advice, but the advice of one of the avian vets I take the hens to. My own suggestions are in brackets.

It's important to remember they don't use as much energy when sitting as usual. So they don't need to eat as much.

Let the hen develop her own routine for getting up. (Look for broody poops if you need reassurance that she did indeed get up.) It's normal if she doesn't get up for the first few days.

But it is wise to discourage an extended sit. (3 weeks is long enough in my view. Start with very gentle discouragements, like lifting the curtain or opening the lid of the next box. I have known hens for whom that was enough. Move gradually along to the 'harsher' discouragements. Start putting her on the roost after dark, I have known hens to give up on being broody after 3-4 nights of being put on the roost. I have never needed to go as far as broody jail, but that says more about the hens than my methods.)

 

[ChaosMom]

I keep a hen-only flock in conditions that are as close to 'natural' as I can manage in a suburban backyard, albeit a large one.

The following paragraphs are not my advice, but the advice of one of the avian vets I take the hens to. My own suggestions are in brackets.

It's important to remember they don't use as much energy when sitting as usual. So they don't need to eat as much.

Let the hen develop her own routine for getting up. (Look for broody poops if you need reassurance that she did indeed get up.) It's normal if she doesn't get up for the first few days.

But it is wise to discourage an extended sit. (3 weeks is long enough in my view. Start with very gentle discouragements, like lifting the curtain or opening the lid of the next box. I have known hens for whom that was enough. Move gradually along to the 'harsher' discouragements. Start putting her on the roost after dark, I have known hens to give up on being broody after 3-4 nights of being put on the roost. I have never needed to go as far as broody jail, but that says more about the hens than my methods.)

Thank you; I really appreciate this!

I have a Buff Orpington, so I am Braced. She already plops herself down in a sunny spot, looking like a slightly melted marshmallow.

 

[MrsNorthie]

For those of you who have years of observing chickens - and believe in the importance of letting chickens be chickens - what do you think about broody hens in all-hen flocks? I realize that all-hen flocks are unnatural, but it’s what many of us have.

Is there any benefit to the hen in letting her sit on golf balls or whatever for three weeks? I understand that there is an instinct, an imperative to do so, but is it beneficial to her overall physical and mental health? And is “breaking” the broody therefore harmful to some degree?

I know that broodies can be disruptive to the flock, in terms of hogging the favorite nest box, growling, etc.

Also, I realize that they’re not laying eggs during this time, but I’m asking from the hen side, not the human.


Edit: aaaand of course, I just now found Wild Iris’s thread in the Chicken Behaviors subforum. So I see that broody spells do involve living off stored fat to some degree.

So what happens with wild hens who go broody and for whatever reason, aren’t on fertilized eggs?

When one of the girls went broody the first time last summer, I let her sit, (they were fertilized eggs.) but she wouldn't leave them even for a few minutes to eat or drink, so I would take her off and to the food, she would eat drink and race back. This was the first time though, for both of us..lol

Since we don't want any more babies this year, we nick the eggs and they normally give up in a day or so. Want is a bad word, because I would have way more chickens if space and money were not an object, but I think we have reached the perfect number for their comfort and happiness. LOL

I will let some sit on a few again, in a few years, just to be sure that we keep their bloodline going, but they are still pretty young, so no rush.