As you ’re amass egg , you make into anesting boxand the biddy within emits a loud , strident squawk and viciously pecks your paw . You peer inside , and she bollix up , fixing you with a beady spotlight . You reach in again — easy , this time — and she bollocks up even more and growls — yes , growling — at you . What ’s her trouble ? The solvent is simple : Her internal secretion are telling her it ’s time to set some eggs and raise a family . Whether you need her to or not , she ’s gone broody .
A Mood Fit For A Mama
Because a biddy contain laying while setting a clutch pedal of eggs and does n’t start again for six to eight weeks after her dame dream up , modern hybrid layers and even many heritage breeds have been selectively bred to discourage broodiness to increase eggs output . Occasionally , a biddy of these breed still might set up , but do n’t bet on it . Do n’t recall you could force a hen to go broody , either : She will have the urge or she wo n’t .
If you want to hatch chicks with mama hens , you ’re sound off with a broody stock . Silkies are note for their keen desire to set up and to mother chicks . Bantams of the setting breeds are good bet , too . Their one mistake is that their relatively minor bodies ca n’t cover a mess of full - sized eggs ; give them something to set on , though , and they persevere .
This is important because some hen of pensive stock are n’t good setters . Some individuals give up their nest before the eggs hatch or they are n’t good mothers once the chicks arrive . So once you have a prove broody hen , keep her ! She ’ll pay back you by put once or twice a year — now and then three times , if you ’re favorable — and she ’ll raise her chicks with very little assistance .
Keep in mind that you’re able to prove prolific , nonsetting breeds if you call for fortune of ball , but also keep a few setting - breed hens to hatch testicle and bring up chicks . If you keep duck , greaseball fowl or quail , you may incubate their eggs under broody chickens , too .
Why Brood?
Why would you choose to elevate chicks under a hen instead of in an incubator ? Some perks :
There are also disadvantages to consider , too .
Help Your Broody Hen Settle In
So let ’s imagine one of your hens has staked a title to a nesting corner , and she ’s go under down to raise a family . What next ? It take 21 days for a hen to hatch an testis ; in fact , some eggs will even cover a day or so before that . Your biddy will stay on on her nest for three week , leaving it once or twice a day to grab a bite to run through and relieve herself .
Don’t Bug Her
Because she ’s stationary most of the prison term , she ’s much more likely to pick uplice and mitesthan her out - and - about babe do . sprinkle her with a chicken - favorable parasite control condition product or diatomaceous ground and consider strewing fresh or dried bug - repellent herbs such as catmint , mint , lemon balm or lavender in and around her nest . These naturally calming herb will help her melt out a moment , too .
Scramble To Get Her Some Eggs
ensure you have productive ball for her to concoct . If your cock is an immature cockerel or you have only one rooster to serve dozens of hens , this may not be the case . To be on the safe side , compose an overworked rooster with a half a XII hens ; after a week or two , their eggs should be reliably prolific .
If you do n’t have a rooster , you ’ll involve to buy hatching eggs . If you have them delivered via the mail , it could be a hebdomad or more until they arrive . This is OK . Keep your mama hen happy by placing a few golf balls , smooth round stones , plastic Easter bollock or unfertile biddy ’ eggs under her until the fecund eggs arrive . If she ’s genuinely pensive , she ’ll be contented .
Move Her On Up
It is n’t a beneficial idea to rent her set in a communal nesting box , particularly if nesting box are in short supplying . The biggest hazards are bold , pushy biddy that stuff their elbow room in alongside her to lie their egg and hen that rest in the box while she ’s out for her daily constitutional . These new eggs wo n’t hatch when the others do , but they compete for space under the biddy .
If you do allow her to brood in a nesting box , practice a easy pencil to draw a big X on either side of her eggs and then transfer unmarked eggs as they materialize . Remember , setting hens often peck — hard — so doing this daily is n’t in your best sake . If you have to pull together new testis from a broody hen ’s nest , do it at dark by flashlight , so she ’s drowsy and less probable to pick at you .
Set The Mood For The Brood
Get your biddy out of the nesting box , and set her up in a safe pensiveness area before setting your egg . Mother hens opt semidark , out - of - the - way nesting spots , and you ’ll want to choose one where she and her chick will be dependable , so a temporary predator - resistive fencing is in order . When you build it , call back that she demand enough out - of - nest elbow room to stretch her legs , eat , drink and decimate .
set hen normally wo n’t dirty their nests , which is a good affair , as a blob of once - a - day , meditative nincompoop is huge and shitty . Place plenty of soft , chopped stalk or like bedding in her fresh , private nesting box and move her to it after nightfall , when she ’s less likely to stress and examine to return to her chosen nesting point . She may be fidgety for a day or two , so do n’t give her any eggs until she calms down .
Set It & Forget It
This ensures that all bollock hatch within 24 hour of each other . If you have to roll up eggs to do this , place them bombastic - destruction up in a clean , unopen carton at 55 to 70 degrees F and roughly 75 per centum humidness . Prop up one end of the cartonful by slipping a book or blocking of Ellen Price Wood under it . The next solar day , move the rule book to the other ending , understudy terminal until you have enough egg to set . This will keep the yolks from sticking to one side of the shells . Choose well - shape , clean , uncracked and unwashed testicle .
Nighttime Is The Right Time
localise the orchis under the mammy biddy at nighttime . Do n’t give her more egg than she can handle . heavy breed hens successfully brood 12 to 15 or so full - size eggs ; bantam , up to a dozen bantam egg or six to eight full - size of it egg , depending on the hen ’s size . She has to underwrite them completely , so design accordingly .
Caring For Your Broody Hen
As long as the hen is kept out of drafts , no supplemental heat in the incubation area is required . A broody hen plucks feathering from her breast to help line her nest , and in doing so , she exposes peel that helps warm her eggs . If she ’s set in raging , sultry weather , keep her reasonably nerveless . In uttermost case , a box fan set on scurvy and aimed at the broody box will help oneself .
Because she is n’t pose eggs , a broody hen does n’t call for Ca - deep layer provender . However , because she infrequently leaves her nest to eat , the feed you give her should pack a impact . Think 18 to 20 percent protein bird starter : It ’s alimental - plenteous , and it ’s what the chicks will exhaust when they hatch . A broody biddy tends to scant on feed and lose a wad of weight while setting , so a piece of high - carbohydrate scratch grain on the side is helpful , too . blank water should always be available .
Check the broody hen every day , but keep affair low-toned - key . It ’s wise to candle the eggs at day 7 and again around mean solar day 14 , removing any that do n’t moderate an embryo ; do it at nighttime when the biddy is less likely to object . If possible , enroll a assistant to entertain the hen . This way , you may move through the grip quickly before the eggs cool .
After 20 days or so , the eggs will set forth to hatch . You ’ll hear peeping as each chick mountain through its racing shell and joins its nest mates . Most broodys carry on setting until the last egg hatch , so after 21 days , check any remaining eggs for sign of the zodiac of life and discard any that are n’t workable .
Tinychickscuddle under their mother ’s wings and are easily dropped when you piece her up , so be careful when you do it .
The new female parent biddy will teach her chick everything a poulet needs to recognise , and she ’ll keep them quick under her feathers . you could keep her debate forth from the rest of the flock if you like , but if you do , expand the nursery fence so the chicks can move around . Many the great unwashed who free - range their chickens class the new family for a week or two and then permit the biddy rejoin her flock .
If you countenance her free - range , plaza shallow saucers of water or chick - drinking fonts in the arena they frequent , so the chicks can salute water whenever they want . Their mom will learn them to rub and find wild nutrient , and she ’ll bring them back to the coop to sleep at Nox .
The large hazards for free - ranging baby chicks are depredation and drowning . Chicks wish to hop-skip up onto thing , and body of water bucket maintain for stock are clean game . If a doll falls in , it ’ll drown , so if there are caboodle of water system hazards where babe chicks range , keep them penned until they ’re old .
A mama hen ’s maternal drive start up to decline when her chicks are 5 to 8 week old , then she ’ll bulge out spending more time with the balance of the plenty . In a few more week , she ’ll begin laying again . In the meantime , you ’ll have rear a clutch of happy , sound , homegrown dame .
This article in the beginning appear in the March / April 2017 issue ofChickens .
