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  • We have a broody - a few q's

    Hello. We've kept hens for about eight years and never run into quite this situation. We've had mild and brief broodiness before, but since Saturday Goldie, our Golden Speckledy, has taken herself off to a tree trunk nest and begun to sit on eggs.

    We're assuming that she's got the wrong end of the stick and the eggs aren't fertile as we don't have a cockerel, but there is one in the next field. I can't see clearly from our house/garden, but I think all their hens are in a protected enclosure, so I don't think she would have been able to bring shame on our house that way DH is prepared to lamp the eggs to see if there's anything doing inside - if there is, we're happy to let them develop and hatch.

    Our biggest concern is Goldie losing condition and conking out or becoming ill. If I go out in the road and look upwards I can see her. she's about 6' up a tree, well tucked away in a nook; she's chosen her spot well. When we first noticed she'd gone we thought it most likely she'd been shut in somewhere and when she appeared at 7.00 the next morning trying to get *in* to the hen house, I was sure that's what had happened. She then disappeared again, reappearing on Monday when I got home from school with the children. She fed, hung out with her flock-mates briefly, behaved very oddly making a strange noise and fluffing out a lot, then went back to the nest - hilarious to realise she'd been hiding right next to the hen house all along while we went all over the place nearby trying to find her! Now we know where she is we're putting an oat and pea porridge out for her near her nest. It's going, but we can't be sure it's her eating it.

    I've got a hen crate on order, but on the basis that the eggs are duds is the best thing to do to crate her til she gets over it? It feels cruel - she was frantic for the 10 mins I shut her in on Monday afternoon while I prepared (as I expected) to track her under hedge and over ditch - but I don't want her to kill or damage herself brooding pointlessly. The other hens seem completely fine - they're behaving normally and laying well.

    Any advice? Thank you
    Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

  • #2
    Hens will sit on eggs if they are fertile or not. I think it's highly unlikely that the cockeral from down the road has been coming to do his business with your flock. Though she sounds pretty determined. (You could purchase some eggs for her to sit on ?) some hens get very broody and will sit on nothing , they don't eat, their health does suffer and they can become a target for red mite.
    Either, get her some eggs or do something to stop it large dog crate off the floor, get the cold air on her belly. I had a maran that insisted on being broody pretty much all summer, she lost weight and continued to sit at any opportunity right up to Autumn. In hindsight I should have let her sit on some fertile eggs and just let her get on with it.
    Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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    • #3
      Thanks Scarlet. It hadn't occurred to me to put fertile eggs under her - if I'm honest we aren't set up for chicks and would prefer not to get involved with them at the moment, though we would like to in the future. I want to discourage the broodiness so I think it will be a crating for poor Goldie
      Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

      Comment


      • #4
        Be cruel to be kind then..don't let her out early or she may well go and find another cosy spot. I know its not easy.

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        • #5
          Horrible isn't it?
          My wyandotte is the broodiest bird I ever met and she is an outstanding mother when we get her fertile eggs.

          On the other hand, when we have let her stay broody without eggs...she didn't quit at the three week mark. She carried on, and on untill eventually we had to go ahead and crate her anyway. By this time she was getting really thin and unhappy.
          So, for a really determined hen, you have to stop the brood or give her eggs that will hatch in three weeks and stop it that way.
          Best to do it before she sends the rest of the flock broody too.
          http://goneplotterin.blogspot.co.uk/

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          • #6
            Thanks Muddled. Fertile eggs aren't an option atm (we aren't meant to have hens at all where we are, never mind six, never mind six plus chicks!) so we'll just have to put the old girl behind bars. Is there a clear way of telling when they've got over it?
            Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

            Comment


            • #7
              One of ours (Pepperpot) went broody last summer. Making a broody breaker and sticking her in it solved the problem within 24 hours. Much nicer to do that for one day than see her act like a complete plonker for days in end!

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              • #8
                I always seem to end up with a determined broody - awful isn't it? I don't mind them sitting for 3 weeks sometimes, but not for longer. If I decide to let them sit, I lift them off the nest 2 or 3 times a day and put them by food and water and somewhere to dust bathe, preferably not too close to the rest of the flock. They'll mingle if they want to, but are more likely to get pecked and bullied so they'll probably stay clear. If they don't stop sitting I put them in a dog crate like Scarlet says. Try to attach water to the side if possible because I can guarantee they'll tread in it and tip over a bowl. Also I protect one end from the weather so they have shade and are dry if it rains. I've always put them back to roost with the others at night too-not sure if this is normal/recommended or not, but it's worked for me so far (I've probably just jinxed things and it won't happen again ), and stops them becoming too detached from the rest of the flock - re-integrating can be hard for them at first, like with a new bird. Normally The Cage cures them within a couple of days or so - but as Scarlet says, you have to be hard! I've had to fetch birds back from a broody nest more than once because they 'pretend' they're fine, sneaky things! Listen for that gurgling sound - even the slightest one of those mixed in with normal chatty noises and you know they're stringing you along! Good luck, keep us informed xx
                sigpicGardening in France rocks!

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                • #9
                  Thanks Stan. The crate gets here tomorrow, so once we have it we'll have to launch operation 'get hen out of secret nook six foot up tree right next to busy main road'
                  Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    At least you'll know where to find her
                    Updates would be interesting!

                    Hope you've taken a piccie of her up the tree?
                    "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                    Location....Normandy France

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                    • #11
                      She's so well hidden Nicos! She's chosen her spot very well. I'll try to get a photo but the tree overhangs the road and there is literally about a 6" depth of pavement under it. DH reckons he can put a ladder on our side of the fence and reach round, but he'd have to be Mr Tickle to achieve that, and I'd rather not scrape him up off the road when he topples off the ladder into the path of a crop sprayer...
                      Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Kathy that's a really good point you make about the gurgling - it was so obvious when Goldie was out on Monday. Her spot is so in accessible that lifting her off it will be a once-only exercise - she'll have to be crated after that. Honestly it's times like this I wish we had them in a run, rather than 100% free range, but for various reasons that's not practical.

                        Any sugg how we attach the water? Can you get dishes designed to clip on, or do we have to rig something up? We have a pretty good hen supplies place locallyish and I'm going on Saturday.
                        Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          If you look in the centre of this image you'll see a little patch of gold - that's Goldie!



                          This is the tree from across the road - you can see how DH would have no hope of reaching round to her from our side as she's more or less in the middle



                          Just while I was out there two big grain tankers and a logging lorry went by, so it's not a road you want to stumble into. We're in the lap of the countryside, but right by the main artery from Herefordshire into Wales.
                          Attached Files
                          Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Good grief...I see what you mean!

                            I have visions of day old chicks tumbling out of the nest onto the road..and the obvious outcome.
                            I suppose the nest site is fox proof though!...Time will tell if it's human proof too!

                            Sounds like it's a parked car and flashing lights etc situation for your safety????
                            Can you borrow any cones from anywhere????

                            As far as water is concerned I put a heavy cat bowl with stones in and top it up with water and change it twice a day- but yes, it does get mucky...the bunny drinker is a good idea.
                            We use twisted wire to attach our bunny drinkers through the hutch bars.
                            "Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

                            Location....Normandy France

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Yes, she's done a good job of hiding away! I thought of cones too but we have none and I don't know where we'd get any, although the rugby club across the road might lend us a few. Parking the car there is a really good idea. The other option is to stake out the hen house and pounce if/when she comes down to feed, but we could be there for hours and then miss her. Maybe DH, DD and I should take shifts over the weekend! I don't think my 6yo DS has the sticking power...
                              Is there anything that isn't made better by half an hour pottering in the veg patch?

                              Comment

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