[in the hills]

We give our broodies corn .... read somewhere that they poo less when on corn and so less chance of dirty eggs.

Some of our broodies get off the eggs to feed and drink themselves but others don't. We lift off once a day. They then empty themselves and again less chance of mucky eggs.

[in the hills]

Oh ..... and give ours a quick dust of diatomous earth to keep crawlies away while they are sitting and a sprinkle in the coop. Red mite can kill broodies while they sit.

[bloomer]

i'll diatamous her tomorrow as a precaution but as yet this year no red mite after last years infestation and the ceremonial burning of the old chook house...


she was obviously hungry as when i moved her i put a bowl of food in the new run where she could see it from her nest site, went out to check she had settled ok about half an hour ago (she's sitting tight on the eggs) and the food bowl was almost empty!!!


i'll refill it tomorrow for her...

[HappyHippy]

Sorry to hijack your thread Bloomer but I have a question and it seems sensible to post it here 

Do hens stop laying when they go broody ?

I have a silkie bantam sitting tight but she doesn't appear to have laid today  (she's not a daily layer anyway though, so I might be fretting for no reason) Should I be concerned ?

Thanks 

[HesterF]

Yes, once their batch is complete they start to sit and stop laying. If you've got a hen sitting but still laying, that would be odd because all her eggs would hatch at different times.

[Womble]

No need to fret HH - she'll either continue to sit or get bored and go back to being a hen.
 
If you want her to sit, just leave her be.  If you want her to quit, try the dog cage trick explained earlier. HTH!

[HappyHippy]

Thanks guys 
I'm going to let her sit.........she gave me such a hard time last time I took her eggs (all squawky and sad looking for a couple of days) away so now the weather's a bit milder I'll let her have her own way