Speckles Wants To Be a Mom

[GirlsHuntToo]

Hi all! So am asking for advice and thoughts on my first time broody hen plan. I've never let any of my hens be broody before, so this is all new to me.

My Speckled Sussex hen, Speckles, went broody 2 days ago. She has been setting steady since, only coming out a few times a day to eat, drink, and poop. She has a calm and docile temperament toward me and the other baby chicks that I have just had. She doesn't bite me when collecting the eggs from under her. She is almost 15 months old. Hatch date March 7th of last year.

I only have three adult roosters now, and the rest hens and babies... thought I would add that.

My plan is this:

Letting her set for three more days, making sure she really wants to be a mom. If she does, moving her into a 4ft. x 4ft. kiddie pool brooder, also about 4 feet tall, with cage around the sides and on the top, with perches, in my garage. Also, a heat lamp avaible for babies well mom is out. Also, hanging feeder and waterer about 2 inches off the floor in the kiddle pool brooder. When the babies get a bit older, I have a 10 ft x 10 ft pen outside with fencing over the top with a tarp attached on a 1/4 of the pen for shade and protection from the rain that they can be in during the day. When chicks are fully feathered moving them to a nice coop with fenced off/covered area, just for babies.
Since I only have 3 roosters, my last hatch was not successful with only about a 1/2 of the eggs being fertile and 1/4 of that not making it, so only ended up getting 16 babies - 9 being roosters. So I was thinking ordering in some chicks from Meyer Hatchery or getting some from Tractor Supply because I don't want her to waste her time setting on dud eggs and boys that I will end up butchering!

So my questions are: Will this work? Does this sound like a good plan? Will she except those chicks? I need advice and tips!

Thanks so much!

 

[DobieLover]

If she does, moving her into a 4ft. x 4ft. kiddie pool brooder, also about 4 feet tall, with cage around the sides and on the top, with perches, in my garage

She should be kept with the flock. She should be set up in a semi-private area in or near a corner of the coop to set her fake eggs for 3 weeks. It is important that she remain a part of the flock and the flock can watch what is going on. The chicks will be accepted into the flock this way and mom will not need to be re-integrated.

Also, a heat lamp avaible for babies well mom is out.

Not needed at all. The kids go where mom goes. You'll only need it for when the chicks arrive to keep them warm until you tuck them under mom that night.

Also, hanging feeder and waterer about 2 inches off the floor in the kiddle pool brooder.

Mom will feed the kids so provide un-medicated chick starter for her to feed to them. The entire flock should be converted over to this well before the chicks arrive. Put 1 or 2 containers of oyster shell out for free choice feeding by active layers.

I need advice and tips!

Please read this. I wrote up the grafting procedure for moving a broody hen.

Wait until well after full dark on the day the chicks arrive to remove the fake eggs and slip the chicks under her. Wear a headlamp so your hands are free to do the work. Be out to the coop before dawn to check on mom and babies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I understand this you have a broody hen and you want to get chicks for her to adopt instead of her hatching chicks. I can understand that, especially not wanting a bunch of boys.

I read most of Dobie's article. Dobie works too hard but as long as it works that's OK. I think you want to work too hard and don't give the hen her credit due. If you let her she will do most of the work. I'm pretty hands off and let the broody hen do the work.

Some people feel the hen needs to be broody for three weeks or more before she'll adopt chicks. From what I've seen each hen is different. Many if not most don't need to be broody that long, I don't think they can count that well. But go with three weeks of being broody to make a lot of people on this forum happy.

My test to see if a broody is actually a committed broody is what she does at night. If she spends two consecutive nights on the nest instead of sleeping elsewhere I consider her committed. I've had hens act broody during the day but not stay in the nest two consecutive nights. She can't hatch eggs or keep chicks warm if she won't stay on the nest at night.

When setting eggs I think you have two options, let her hatch with the flock or isolate her from the flock. You're not hatching eggs and I think you don't want her to stay with the flock anyway so I'll talk about isolating.

Like Dobie, I do not want her to be away from the flock. I want her locked in a cage with wire sides where she can see the other chickens and those chickens can see her. That makes integration so much easier. So put her in a cage or build something where you can lock her in and every other hen out. That may mean building a pen around her current nest or something else and moving her.

When I move them I move them at night using as little light and commotion as I can. Use fake eggs for her to sit on. I use golf balls, some people use wooden or ceramic eggs. Some people use those plastic Easter eggs you can fill with candy but I don't like those. Those are so light she can scratch them out of the nest when she is rearranging it or split them apart.

I use Dobie's method when giving her the chicks. Slip them under her at night and check the next morning to see how it is going. It does not work 100% of the time, you may need to brood them yourself if she doesn't accept them, but the vast majority of the time it works for me.

I let my broody hens decide when to bring her chicks off of the nest. I have food and water available where the chicks can get to them after she brings them off of the nest. I do not allow food or water in the nests, I don't want to make a mess or attract mice or rats. Some people like to keep the hen locked up with the chicks for a few days for them to become more mobile. Nothing wrong with that but I like the hen to start integrating her chicks as soon as possible. If you are not going to trust your broody hens and let them do the work why not just brood the chicks yourself?

It is dangerous for a chick to leave its mother's protection and mingle with the rest of the flock. Mama needs to be able to protect it. So if you lock up the hen make sure a baby chick cannot get out. Chicks can die that way.

I like the idea of a broody hen raising chicks with the flock and doing all of the work. It just seems so natural.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

The way I understand this you have a broody hen and you want to get chicks for her to adopt instead of her hatching chicks. I can understand that, especially not wanting a bunch of boys.

I read most of Dobie's article. Dobie works too hard but as long as it works that's OK. I think you want to work too hard and don't give the hen her credit due. If you let her she will do most of the work. I'm pretty hands off and let the broody hen do the work.

Some people feel the hen needs to be broody for three weeks or more before she'll adopt chicks. From what I've seen each hen is different. Many if not most don't need to be broody that long, I don't think they can count that well. But go with three weeks of being broody to make a lot of people on this forum happy.

My test to see if a broody is actually a committed broody is what she does at night. If she spends two consecutive nights on the nest instead of sleeping elsewhere I consider her committed. I've had hens act broody during the day but not stay in the nest two consecutive nights. She can't hatch eggs or keep chicks warm if she won't stay on the nest at night.

When setting eggs I think you have two options, let her hatch with the flock or isolate her from the flock. You're not hatching eggs and I think you don't want her to stay with the flock anyway so I'll talk about isolating.

Like Dobie, I do not want her to be away from the flock. I want her locked in a cage with wire sides where she can see the other chickens and those chickens can see her. That makes integration so much easier. So put her in a cage or build something where you can lock her in and every other hen out. That may mean building a pen around her current nest or something else and moving her.

When I move them I move them at night using as little light and commotion as I can. Use fake eggs for her to sit on. I use golf balls, some people use wooden or ceramic eggs. Some people use those plastic Easter eggs you can fill with candy but I don't like those. Those are so light she can scratch them out of the nest when she is rearranging it or split them apart.

I use Dobie's method when giving her the chicks. Slip them under her at night and check the next morning to see how it is going. It does not work 100% of the time, you may need to brood them yourself if she doesn't accept them, but the vast majority of the time it works for me.

I let my broody hens decide when to bring her chicks off of the nest. I have food and water available where the chicks can get to them after she brings them off of the nest. I do not allow food or water in the nests, I don't want to make a mess or attract mice or rats. Some people like to keep the hen locked up with the chicks for a few days for them to become more mobile. Nothing wrong with that but I like the hen to start integrating her chicks as soon as possible. If you are not going to trust your broody hens and let them do the work why not just brood the chicks yourself?

It is dangerous for a chick to leave its mother's protection and mingle with the rest of the flock. Mama needs to be able to protect it. So if you lock up the hen make sure a baby chick cannot get out. Chicks can die that way.

I like the idea of a broody hen raising chicks with the flock and doing all of the work. It just seems so natural.

Thank you so much for this information. It really helps!
The hen has been setting on the nest when I put them away and is still there when let out in the morning, and doesn't come out with the other chickens.