Using a broody hen to hatch eggs

[kathyd]

Hi. I have a young hen who's been broody twice this year so far, sticking it for the full 3 weeks on an empty nest, being lifted off to eat and drink and go outside for short periods before racing back in. She's just started being broody again, and someone's offered to put some eggs under her to see how it goes.

Yesterday I moved her into a separate place where she could brood to her heart's content without annoying the others by blocking the coop and nest boxes, and after a couple of minutes she settled nicely into the box on top of 2 eggs I'm letting her practice on. She spent all night there, and I lifted her out this morning to feed her, she trotted off outside for a while and then she went back in again. But at lunchtime she's not showing any sign of wanting to go back at all! Have I made a mistake by letting her out with the others? Should I keep her separate? Not let her outside? Or is this just a sign she's not interested on this occasion?

If I do put her back and keep her separate, how many times a day should I be lifting her and feeding her? Normally I'd do it 3 times - is that too many?

What should I be feeding her? She has no interest in layer's pellets naturally enough, so she's getting grain and porridge and access to any treats the others get at midday. Is this OK?

Thx

[RichmondHens]

I don't bother lifting at all, most of mine get off when they want to, sometimes not for several days. It does them no harm. Unless she is soiling the nest I would not interfere as it can put them off. If she does soil the nest then a lift off once a day is enough.

If she is not wanting to sit too much at the moment she may not be properly broody. Some hens do "pretend" and hog the nestboxes all the time, but when you actually set them they lose interest. You may have one of these but I would give her a bit more time and shut her in if you want to, although this may have the opposite effect and put her off completely! A properly broody hen will sit just about anywhere, often whether there are eggs under her or not. I presume the broody coop does not have its own attached run which is why she is running about with the others. I don't find it matters whether or not they are in a run although once the chicks hatch you will need mum and babies in some sort of covered run to protect them from predators.

Feedwise, my broodies get a bowl of wheat and grit and that's all, I park it in the run and they have to go and find it. Ditto water. She won't eat as much as normal so don't worry if you don't see her eating, she will be fine. I've got one sitting in the undergrowth at the moment who I haven't moved yet. She just comes and finds me when she's hungry (every couple of days or so) and shouts at me to provide. I give her a handful of whatever is to hand, she gobbles it up and returns to the nest.

[kathyd]

Thx RH. I'd read somewhere that birds can die brooding if they don't eat or drink, so I thought I'd best lift her!

I'm going to try shutting her in tonight and tomorrow and see what happens. No problem if it puts her off, I'm just being opportunistic! The last twice she's sat in various places, without eggs, for the full 3 weeks. But then I've not tried returning her after her lunchtime break of 20 mins either, she's just gone back when ready.

The broody coop is inside the outbuilding with the main coop (but at the opposite end), in quite a decent sized space, so there's plenty of room for her to stroll around if she wants, although all indoors at present. We're in the process of providing access to outdoors over the next couple of days. It was my choice to let her out with the others - I thought it might help reduce the problems of re-introducing her later... but it's had an unexpected result instead I think!

I was intending to buy some mixed grain for her, but if wheat on its own is fine that's even easier . She's been pampered so far really, eating treats on my knee and loving all the attention . You're right, I was a bit worried because she didn't seem to be eating much at all, but it's obviously quite normal and she's just stringing me along, cheeky thing.

Thanks for all your reassurances as usual.