# Tips for Successful Broody Chicken



## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

My younger sisters have decided to let one of their hens go broody and raise a couple chicks on her own. We have never let a hen go broody, only ever had incubated eggs before, so we are looking for any tips or tricks you might know to make this go smoothly. They are currently getting her set up in our chick brooder in our garage so the other hens don't mess with her. It's a fairly large cage three by seven feet maybe? She will have food and water available and she should be safe from predators out there. Any sort of tips and advice would be appreciated!

Her name is "The Brains". I'm not sure why. 😅 They are going to let her set eight eggs which they've collected all from today. Here she is in her nest which my sisters brought in the house while setting up her maternity suite.


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Make sure she has access to a dust bath. Don't put food and water right by the nest. She needs to get up and move around for them. Watch her to make sure she gets off the nest once a day. She may not get off the nest during the first and last 3 days of incubation. She'll need deep enough bedding for her to scrape out a bowl for a nest. 

She's beautiful! I hope she does well.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

We put her in the brooder in the nest box she's in. Would you recommend taking her out and having her nest on the ground instead?


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

On dirt is best if you can manage it but I've had hens do just fine nesting in a deep bed of hay. The nest she's in looks fine enough. If she doesn't have access to any ground I would fill a shallow box or tote with dirt so that she can bathe when she gets off the nest.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Dirt's not going to be possible, but we can definitely do deep hay. So just to clarify, if we want to move her out of her blue nest crate, she won't mind? We are a little worried about new chicks getting stuck in the holes in the sides of it. I'll let them know about a dust bath. Man, sounds like this maternity suite needs all the luxuries. 😙


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

I would leave her in the crate but put hay down over the shavings. That should help cover the holes as well. I would pull the nest box then once the chicks hatch. Moving nests completely is really hit or miss. She might abandon the nest.

It's a lot of work setting up all the things they need! I don't separate at all but my hens will often make nests away from the coop. The favorite spots are in the coop I have in the goat pasture which I line with hay and in the barn which is dirt floor.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Okay thanks, Rancho! I'll tell them all the advice you gave! 😊


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Any time! Let me know if there are any more questions!


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

How exciting!
Your sisters probably already know this, but once the chicks have hatched, mom will want to take them everywhere and teach them how to hunt. They won’t be needing the brooder after hatching.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Okay that's good to know! I'm not sure they knew that. 🙂


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

@Rancho Draco, The Brains has not left her nest yet. It's been since about mid Sunday since she was last off the nest. Should we be concerned yet that she hasn't gotten off? My sisters are thinking they should maybe give her some food and water on the nest, but I was worried that if she wasn't hungry, she definitely wouldn't get off. What should we do? Give her some more time to get up or feed her on the nest?


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

If you are worried about her, take her off the nest and set her by the food and water. You may have to poke and prod a bit to get her out of her trance. Once she "wakes up" make sure she goes to eat and drink rather than running back to the nest. They usually will sit for the first three days without getting off but it won't hurt for her to get off for an hour or so.


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

There will be a huge, extremely smelly poo.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

We are prepared for the giant momma poop! 😄💩 

My sisters got her up off the nest and she ate a little, but didn't drink anything and then she went back to the nest. No poop yet. 🙃


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Sounds like everyone has given you all the advice I would have thought of. We have a large brooder that my husband built to be big enough for a hen to set. It has been years but it always worked very well.
Hopefully she will start leaving the nest once a day to eat, drink and poop.
We do put ours in a plywood nest box full of straw. They have seemed pretty happy with that.


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

ours go in the chicken tractor. They sit their eggs there and stay until the younglings are ready for the coop. When the mamas are at the door to the tractor when i go to feed i start letting them out in public. Mama will keep others away from her babies and protect them from amy threat. When mama goes back to the coop (this usually means she is done being mama) we start putting the littles in the coop too.

while mama is broody all she is coming off that nest for is once a day to feed and water. We put that pretty close to her.ours usually do not worry about a dust bath during brooding. All that is in the tractor is food, water and a big pile of straw for her. We tried putting straw in partly open boxes for them but they always pull it all out a d make their own. So we just quit the box. Once the chicks hatch mama will do everything. No need for a heat lamp or plate or anything like that. We have a mama that has month and half old chicks right now. We have had some crazy cold weather, a little snow, freezing rain and sleet, rain… the chicks just go up under her when they are chilly.

i LOVE BROODY HENS! They do everything and i just feed, water and make sure everyone is alive. Lol. It is great! The tractor has plenty of room for them and they get fresh grass and bugs from the get go. And i do not have to clean out a stinkin brooder. Win!


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Something odd has happened now twice. A few days apart we have had her break an egg in the nest, eat the contents and carry the shell to the other side of her enclosure. We're not sure if she's breaking them on purpose or if it's accidental. Could she be doing this because of the motherly instinct that is telling her a certain egg is bad? Or is this some foolish thing she's started doing to get nutrition because her body is depleted? Yesterday she got off the nest, pooped, ate, and drank a little and then got back on. If this egg breaking thing had happened only once we wouldn't have been so concerned, but now it's happened again. 😕


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## Mike at Capra Vista (Nov 30, 2017)

Are the eggs and nest still clean? Often a broken egg can make a bit of a mess in the nest. Also, are you sure the egg shell was carried away from the nest? I have found whole eggs far from the nest. I speculate that occasionally an egg gets stuck under the hen's wing and she accidentally carries it with her when she leaves the nest. If it then drops, it may break and then be eaten by the hen. I have had broken eggs in the nest and it is a mess. The nest gets sticky, the other eggs get dirty and the feathers under the hen get matted. I have not had a hen carry the shell away, but obviously Brain is smarter than my hens. I have also seen no indication that hens - my hens anyway - can tell a bad egg from a good one, much less do anything about it.

At worst, if she is cannibalizing her own eggs, there is not much you can do about it.

I do not know how tame Brain is, but my only advice is leave her alone as much as possible.


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

It's hard to know for sure since this is her first time. Yes, hens will discard and sometimes eat eggs that aren't developing but without knowing her personally I can't say for sure if that's what going on. They actually can see the difference between healthy and thriving chicks and those that aren't doing well by the amount of UV light coming off their feathers but I'm not sure if that's the same way they gauge eggs.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

The dreaded egg eater.  

Get a fake egg 🥚 they are made for this reason.
Or, ping pong, golf balls, put some in the nests. 
The egg eater will peck at it thinking it will break and when it doesn’t, she will walk off and not bother doing it again. Works for some birds. Other go into the stew pot. 

Other than that, you may have a critter getting into them.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

I've never had a broody hen, but have noticed hens will sometimes be more prone to eat eggs if they are deficient in something. I've seen it recommended to feed broody hens chick starter. I have no experience with that, personally, but I wonder if they need the higher protein and that may be why she is eating eggs?


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

How are things going with your broody?


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

Cedarwinds Farm said:


> How are things going with your broody?


I was going to ask the same thing!


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Cedarwinds Farm said:


> I've never had a broody hen, but have noticed hens will sometimes be more prone to eat eggs if they are deficient in something. I've seen it recommended to feed broody hens chick starter. I have no experience with that, personally, but I wonder if they need the higher protein and that may be why she is eating eggs?


I feed mine chick starter because they need really nutrient dense food since they're only eating once a day and tend to drop scary amounts of body weight during brooding.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

The Brains is doing good! No more egg eating since we started giving her a scrambled egg daily until we can get some chick starter. She's been getting up about every other day to poop. Last time she decided that the perfect place to do it was to perch on top of her feeder and go all over her food. 🙄🤦‍♀️


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Glad she is doing well. Sounds like she just needed more protein. 

That sounds like quite the mess to clean up! 

How many days has she been sitting now? Thought I'd mention that I've found that my broody hatch chicks tend to hatch a day or two earlier than they would in an incubator so you may have chicks starting to hatch on day 19 or 20.


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

Hooray! I'm glad The Brains is doing her job!


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Rancho Draco said:


> How many days has she been sitting now? Thought I'd mention that I've found that my broody hatch chicks tend to hatch a day or two earlier than they would in an incubator so you may have chicks starting to hatch on day 19 or 20.


She's been setting for exactly a week now. Thanks for letting us know that they can be early. 🙂


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

Good to hear! Good girl, Brains!
Except for that 💩 on the food dish. 🤢


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

How is your girl doing?


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

She's still setting! We're on chick watch. I'm sure hoping there isn't a hen code. 😯🤔


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Exciting! I'd tell you there isn't but I'm sure I'd regret it once mine start setting lol


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

We're hearing peeping!


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Yay!!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

YAY 😃


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

That's awesome!


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Two chicks have been spotted so far! 
See it down in front of her?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

That is cute.


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Adorable! How many eggs survived her egg eating?


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## Cedarwinds Farm (Dec 2, 2019)

Look at that cute little face!


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Rancho Draco said:


> Adorable! How many eggs survived her egg eating?


Six? I'm not quite sure, I'll have to ask my sisters. We've spotted a third chick which has been named "No brains" or "Brainless" because she was trying to figure out how to get under her mom and apparently kept trying to go on top of her instead. 🙄


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Fun! Chicks love to sit on top of their mamas


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

Aw, so stinking cute.


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

Adorable! 🥰


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Any more chicks?


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I think we might have four out now, possibly five. 🤔 It's hard to say, we haven't seen her off the nest yet. By the way there were seven eggs left, not six.


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Well the hatch is over and we have only three chicks. The Brains is now off the nest and teaching her chicks where to find food. We candled the four eggs that were left unhatched and found that three were quitters (developed but not fully to a chick only a blood ring and no veins.) and one appeared unfertilized. So it's good to know that the ones that were chicks, did hatch. 

They all have names already. Although they might change as they get older. Tiny Pansy is the one with the stripes down her back. My sisters are betting she's a hen because they have never had a rooster chick that looks like that. The chick that has a blue spot on its head from us marking it is named Blue Hat (front right in the photo), and the other chick which is lighter in the wings and darker in the head with a natural dark spot on it's crown's name is No-Brains or The Bluffer (a mix between our rooster who's name is The Blessing, and Buff since they are pretty sure this chick is from an Orpington hen.)


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

Aww!! So precious!


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## Rancho Draco (Sep 29, 2021)

Adorable! Glad she is doing well with them. When will they move back out to the coop?


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

Rancho Draco said:


> Adorable! Glad she is doing well with them. When will they move back out to the coop?


I think they are planning on letting her in the garage enclosure until they are large enough to not get eaten by snakes. We've had a lot of trouble in the past with snakes getting chicks. Then they will go out to our "grow out" barn where they will have a little more space until they old enough to integrate with the flock. That's the plan for now. Our main flock pen doesn't have the most secure fencing, and they are concerned about the chicks getting out and our LGDs going after them.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

They are cute.


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