Calling Jose and other chicken folk

[vicky whitworth]

I know, they're not really period beasts but I need some advice and not sure where else to turn. Only had the chooks about six weeks and one hasn't come out of her nest box all day and spent quite a while in there yesterday. I have checked and she's still alive. Could she be broody? Do I need to do anything? Panic! Thank you. Vicky

 

[skier-hughes]

If she looks fit and well, seems to be bright eyed and alert she may well be broody and there isn't anything to worry about.
If she is looking a bit down, tired adn unwell then it could be many things, egg bound if she's laying, which if you think she's broody she must be.
Egg bound isn't good.
Check under her for eggs, remove them.
Check for fleas and mites.

 

[JoceAndChris]

She sounds broody, is her comb bright red? Is she hot and fluffed?

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank you.
She stayed in one nest box all day and didn't come out at all - no food, no water. This morning she's moved across to the other nest box revealing two eggs (we have two chickens so I assume they are one each from yesterday). I took the two eggs away. She seems bright eyed and she's certainly fluffed - she's huge.

My sister-in-law, who has kept chooks for years, is staying and says she will lift her out this morning and see if she will have some food and water before going back in. She reckons if she does that then she's broody, if she doesn't eat and drink she's ill.

It's Big Bird and despite my best endeavours not to like them I like her. She escaped the fox last week so I hope she's going to be OK. Such a responsibility. Vicky

 

[JoceAndChris]

I've been away and my phone battery died so sorry not to give a more full and prompt reply sooner.

She really does sound broody as opposed to ill. Ill chickens have very clear symptoms usually - like they're coughing ( you need Baytril), or their poo is bloody ( you need Baycox), or they are very thin with runny poo ( worms - Flubenvet), or they're paralysed - Mareks - you have to cull eventually, usually, as there's no cure for that one. Mites and lice should be kept on top of all year round with Ivermectin or Frontline Spray. Diatom should be sprinkled regularly, along with Stalosan, to reduce mites and build up of bacteria. Most of those can be bought on the Internet. Go to www.thepoultrygarden.com to read more.

Broody hens can die of starvation so you need to make a decision. Either you get hold of some fertile eggs on EBay or elsewhere and let her have a try, lifting her to food and water daily ( sometimes they're too stupid to eat), or you need to debrood her.

Debrooding is done by cooling her temperature. The easiest way ( I've tried cold bathing them with no success) is to put them in a wire cage - like a dog carrier or bunny run - in the middle of the lawn - for 24 hours. Don't let her have any nesting materials or way of getting cosy. Don't let her have any eggs. Shutting the pop hole, and so shutting her out of her house, can work, but it distresses the others who are then forced to lay outside, so I think solitary confinement, so she can see out, and the others can see her, is the kindest way.

You could also try spraying her with Magicool regularly to cool her down.


Hens are best moved and treated at night.

If she has this tendency to go broody and is a determined character you could use her to hatch any variety of chicken, or duck. I've never had any success with broodies as if they are in with the others the eggs seem to get trampled. It's also very possible for them to get bored, let the eggs go quite cold, yet go back to the dead eggs, thus endangering their health for nothing.

After 3 weeks of brooding they become thin and very undernourished, so I don't really let mine go broody if I can help it. It's just so much easier to go and buy a Point of Lay bird when you need new stock than do your own hatching.

Having said that, mummy hen with chicks is heart stoppingly lovely and a rather profound experience to nurture in your garden.

Good luck Vicky, hope it works out and I'm so glad to read you've got fond already.

 

[JoceAndChris]

PS Piccy of my new babies (silver laced Wyandottes) - who send some healing clucks!

 

[vicky whitworth]

Jose, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I have taken your advice about de-brooding. We have her in a separate run - the chap who helped me said she was very hot. She's gone in the run and had some food and water and is stomping up and down.
So we leave here there for 24 hours and then what? Do we let her back into the hen house after that and see what happens?
You can't know how grateful I am for your help.
Vicky

 

[vicky whitworth]

And your new little'uns are beautiful. Sorry forgot to say - need a glass of red wine now to settle me down.
V

 

[JoceAndChris]

Aww, you sound frazzled. Have a big glass of wine, this is Nature and your fluffy will be just fine. Mine have been fine after 5 solid weeks of futile brooding. In fact I've just picked up an egg from my Maran who has finally snapped out of a long period of brooding, it's a thin shelled egg that's just broken immediately which shows the lack in her diet, but she's fine and gaining weight again. We need to encourage her to eat a bit more grit.

Anyway, let your broody have a cold, lonely night. I hope there's no cover for her in that run? If, though, you're worried about foxes you might want to pop her in a garage, shed or porch overnight, and put her back in the isolated run tomorrow Just make sure there's no softness for her. Tomorrow evening, let her go back to her house with her friend/friends? Check her on Sunday morning. If she's getting glued to that nestbox, turf her out and solitary confine her until Sunday evening.

Repeat the process until she has gone cold on the idea. You will know as the feathers will smooth down, the mad clucking will stop, the comb will lighten, she will want to peck and scratch all day long and not sit on eggs. This might take a while.

Removing eggs very promptly is a good way to alleviate broodiness, I know it isn't always easy to do that though. I hate going away in summer as I come back to broodies and eggs I can't sell.

It's lovely that your Big Bird is in such good hands- hope she debroods quickly.

 

[cotegreen]

hi there, there is a really good site called the cottage smallholder, who have pages of posts and instuctions on how to get rid of a broody chicken ( if you know what i mean!) i followed their instructions and it worked for me and a lot of others. the key to it is making sure your cage is off the floor ( so there is nothing warm to sit on includig the ground) and make sure you have some food and water in there for her. you need to leave her in for a minimum of 3 days including night time ( mine goes into the shed with a blanket on her) . the forum really is excellent and is well worth reading . i tried lots of different recommendations none of which worked so after about 6 weeks of trying found that forum and she was cured. please have a look, because once she has done it once she will do it again, in fact my silkie goes broody every 4-6 weeks all year round. it is a pain but the cage works but you must follow the rules exactly!! good luck.

 

[Moo]

Two questions from a townie:

Why do chickens go broody?

Does it happen to any wild birds?

 

[JoceAndChris]

It's very interesting. Pheasants and peacocks, for example, hoard their eggs in a secret place and then sit on them when they've got a decent clutch so they all hatch at once. They don't go broody without a good reason, but whether they'd choose to sit on unfertilised eggs in captivity is something I can't answer. Robins, etc, always sit with a determined view to hatching out their fertilised eggs.

Chickens have been totally messed about with by man and extensive culling of broody females in commercial flocks has made the broody battery hen a rare thing. The instinct has been wiped out by commercial farming as a broody hen doesn't lay.

Pure breed chickens, like my Orps, and the Silkies, have been less messed about with and still have the instinct to sit on eggs without being able to reason with themselves that there's no cockerel about. Most chicken breeders selling pure breeds prefer the incubation method but would find it inhumane to kill hens who go broody. A hen who goes broody who is allowed to hatch her own eggs will pass on the broody gene to her offspring.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Actually, amend that to hens hatched from mothers who have a broody trait will have that trait - it doesn't matter if they're hatched under a broody or in the incubator, as chickens' characteristics seem to spring from Nature, not nurture. Other traits are also inherited along with physical appearance, such as hardiness, aggression, laziness, affection, docile behaviour, escapist tendencies. It's much more complicated, and fascinating, than you'd ever think.

 

[vicky whitworth]

You cannot know how much I have learnt about chickens in 24 hours. It's fascinating. My broody Big Bird spent the night on her own in the cold. Well apart from me lying awake upstairs with the windows open listening for the fox. She is in an enclosed run and she's NOT HAPPY about it at all. She still looks broody to me although slightly smaller and less fluffed. I'm thinking about even colder, less comfortable arrangements for tonight. For her, I just need some sleep! Anyway she's eaten a tomato which is just her favourite thing in the world - and yesterday we thought she was a gonner. Thank you everyone for the advice. Isn't nature wonderful. She's just an ex batt and there she is trying to raise a family.

 

[Flyfisher]

Fascinating indeed. I didn't realise how much I didn't know about hens. We must have been lucky not to have had a hen become broody. Perhaps it's because we've only ever bought point-of-lay birds.

 

[JoceAndChris]

The age you bought them at wouldn't make any difference to their inherited characteristics. Black Rocks are not noted for broodiness.

It sounds like progress Vicky, well done. Yes, it's very sweet that generations of intensive farming have not killed the instinct in your Big Bird.

One tip to keep Mr Fox away is an extension lead and a radio on quietly near her. They don't like R4. I put a radio on when I leave mine free ranging in the day and I'm going shopping - it doesn't compare to electric poultry netting for safety but it is a help. You also need to wee all round your boundaries.

We have a fox trap and if he ever gives me any more trouble I'll trap and shoot him myself!

 

[skier-hughes]

We have some that go broody and it is all from the same line of chicks. We don't need anymore this year, so I've not let them sit.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Do foxes also have an aversion to the World Service? I could leave that on at night. Husband is dutifully weeing but the run is right next to the BBQ spot which is slightly off-putting.

 

[JoceAndChris]

It needs to be female wee, according to all the stuff I've read. I swear it works - we used to have lots of fox sightings, now, we don't see any. Perhaps they're tired of being shot at, electrocuted, and weed on.

I'm sure they'd hate the World Service Vicky!!

 

[vicky whitworth]

How did it go with the EH ladies? I hope they loved BC.
Big Bird is back in the slammer. Tried her in the hen house Saturday night but by Sunday morning she was back in the nest box and hot and flushing. My mother-in-law is terribly sympathetic and says she's hormonal (I assume my mother-in-law is too!)