[Mays]

Right, I now have a very broody hen!

so, what do I do next?? the problem is I have only two hens, and they normally sit in the same nest to lay their egg, however since one of them has gone broody & stopped laying, the other hen sits on top of her and lays her egg that the broody then sits on. So I have been removing the egg ever day & have shooed the broody hen out of the nest and shut it up, however its a losing battle so should I just get some for her to hatch?

if I get her eggs, do I need to put her in a seperate hutch?

[darkbrowneggs]

Hi there - it might be worth checking hatching with a broody  If you are still stuck post again or pm me

All the best
Sue

[OhLaLa]

Two options; If you don't want chicks, block off the nest so neither can get to it. Give them another nest.

OR

Give your broody some eggs to incubate. Mark them with an X on one side and an O on the other so you can clearly identify them.. Remove any unmarked egg each day.

When the time is near for them to hatch (28 days) put the whole nest and broody (late in the evening pref) into a large cat/dog cage (large enough to take food/water, keeping it in the same place). Then the broody will hatch her eggs without the other hen getting in to lay.

You could of course give the broody eggs and keep the other girl out of the nest area altogether if you have other nests.

Look after the broody and her chicks accordingly. Your other girl will lay in a new place if she can't access the usual nest.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Mays]

thank you very much for the replies. I have spent the whole evening reading up on the subject, so I am going to "hatch" a plan! I am sure I will be back for a little support, but we are in no way short of room so I think its just a matter of implementing a well thought out plan 

[OhLaLa]

I should have mentioned - in order for the eggs to hatch - you have two hens AND a cockerel?

    

[bamford6]

i put the green tomarto boxes in the coop on sheves as 1 goes dawn i move to a pen on there own iv had 10 in and all goes ok some mothers share the chicks.

[Mays]

ok, I have a plan 

I do have a safe shed to move her to, so the plan is to move her tommorrow night into it by moving the eggs she is sat on and the straw into an apple box, then move the apple box and her into the new shed. My question is, will placing the eggs into the apple box be enough for her to understand or will she just try and go back to the original nesting box?

Yes I need to buy eggs for her to sat on, she is currently sat on some spare unfertiled eggs

[OhLaLa]

Chances are she will get off and go back to the other nest, but as the eggs are not fertile and no good for anything now anyway you are losing nothing by trying. She may stay put, in which case you need to get some fertile eggs under her pronto.

 

[goosepimple]

I've found in the past that once they go broody they are pretty much quite far down the line of being determined to sit - she probably will go back to her original site so I would just shut her in to the new area with the live eggs (we have been semi-successful with ebay eggs) and eventually she will sit on them and decide she's quite happy.  Don't pussy foot around the whole moving her thing - we used to wait until the hens were off or a break then sneak in with the live eggs etc - now we just pick the hen up, stick the new eggs in with some of her warm ones and stick the hen back on - quick and its over before they know what's going on - its never been a problem - our ducks are the same.  They go into a kind of zombified heated state when sitting and once they've decided that's what they want to do they'll keep on trying.  Good luck - but remember you almost always get twice as many cockerels as hens.  Alternatively you can dunk the hen in a bucket of cold water - sounds drastic but it takes the heat out and shocks them out of their hormonal state. 
PS Just re-read this and I sound brutal (just busy that's all!)  Good luck.

[OhLaLa]

Alternatively you can dunk the hen in a bucket of cold water - sounds drastic but it takes the heat out and shocks them out of their hormonal state. 

In all my years I've never heard of or done this. I wouldn't put the hen through that, unnecessary.

 

[jaykay]

You don't have to drown her. You stand her in the water, so that it cools down her legs and, more to the point, her chest. Hold her there for a while - she will object, but hens are not noted for their water habits.

 It's the fastest way to break a broody, and therefore the kindest in the long-run - much nicer than keeping her isolated with little food, which is often recommended.

[goosepimple]

Thanks jaykay - that's what I meant - it is quickest and best, you just prolong the agony for them otherwise as they just go broody again - I didn't mean to drown the poor things!

[Mays]

thanks for all the advice, she is still sitting on my Tescos Finest! but the real mccoys arrive tomorrow, but now th eother hen is getting broody & starting to sit on the tescos eggs... & they are moving them from nest to nest. The nests are next to each other, as they used to share a nest but since the brooding started they started sitting on top of each other.

[Helencus]

I have 2 broodys. 1 has been sat on her eggs 4 weeks but no hatch so they must be no good the other 2 days. I have some eBay eggs coming probably tomorrow so I'm going to take the duds out and pop thereby ones under her. The thing that worries me is she eats and drinks so little.
Any tips for keeping her strength up?

[goosepimple]

The sitting on top of each other wasn't a problem for us last year - once the eggs were hatched they just all went about in a group with a mum and an aunty, all quite happily.  All happy hippy sharing and chicks didn't mind either.
Hens can dehydrate if the weather gets really hot and this can be a problem - if they're inside or in semi-shade they should be ok but keep clean water and grain nearby (I always use mixed corn with some black sunflower seeds in which they love) but you don't really want the other hens coming in and eating it all so best to put a free-for-all bowl nearby.  I often put a lump of wet bread just in front of them (within pecking distance) each morning too as its easy for them to eat and it makes sure they get liquid.  We used to fuss and worry a lot, then we came to a place where we inherited some wild hens that just sat under bushes and in workshop cupboards and had all their chicks - they didn't want attention and they all had their chicks and lived quite happily, teaching their wee ones how to clamber up to roost in the trees when they were about 4 weeks old - it stopped us fussing.  They can take care of themselves quite easily. 
By the way, ebay eggs - we used to let them sit for 24 hours tried not to move them etc - now we just stick them under the hen/duck straight away - we've done it many times and it didn't make any difference to the number we got - get a good supplier though - a couple of times we have had surprises (not what we ordered).
Also, just for the record, the cooling of the hen in a bucket of water to take her out of her broody state was something we learnt from watching River Cottage - pressumably Hugh got that from chicken whisperer Pammy Riggs (its not something I made up)!  Happy chicking!