Caring for Broody Hens and Chickens

The following page is designed as a guide to help you through the 'broody' and 'young chickens' stages. This is how we operate and you may find it easier or more effective to refine what we have reccomended.

1. You will be able to determine when your hen is broody for the following reasons. She will spend all or most of the day on the nest. She will be making a different niose to usual - instead of the normal karcking it will change to a book, book, noise as she walks around. Often when you approach her to pick her up she will try to peck (it does not hurt) and scream. If your hen is doing this - she is broody.
2. Broody hens will not lay any eggs until either they come off the brood, or they have finished raising their chickens.
3.Now you must descide if youwant to raise chickens or not. Now is the stage when you can place fertile eggs under the hen. If you do not have a rooster you wcan purchase fertile eggs depending on the time of year. EGGS WILL NOT HATCH UNLESS THE HEN SITS ON THEM, or if the eggs are incubated.
4. If you descide not to let her go broody you will need to lock her out from the nest boxes during the day. This is more easily said than done. If you have a spare pen, place the hen in there for a few days - i often will place a broody hen in with another breed who she is not used to (make sure they do nat attack her, hens can be quiet territorial) and she goes off the brood in a couple of days. It will still take up to a month for her to restart her laying cycle.
5. If you do descide you would like some chickens you need to place the hen in a pen by herself. Move the hen off her nest at night and place no more than 8 (of her size eggs) eggs under her. A lawn mower catcher makes a great nesting box. She will sit on the eggs for between 18-21 days depending as to wether she is a bantam or standard fowl. Provide ample nesting material - straw is fine. Make sure she has acess to water and feed at all times, also fresh greens help with her digestion. If a hen does not have enough food or water she may leave the nest permanently.
6. A broody hen should get up once a day for feed and water. If your hen is not, simply pick her up and put her near the food and water. She will find her own way back after she has had her fill.
7. Occasionally a hen will be scared off the nest by a thunder storm, or rats. The thunder storm is out of your controll but you should have the broody pen as far away from rats a possible - rats will steal both young chickens and unhatched eggs.
8. When the chickens hatch they will need to be given a specific diet. Young chickens are raised on chicken crumbles for the first 8 weeks of life. The crumbles contains anti coccisidotis, a nasty little bug that can kill baby chickens. At about 3 weeks old introduce them to chopped up grass, mum will show them what to do. The broody hen will protect the chickens and devote all her time to raising her young family as best as she can.
9. Atfter 8 weeks the chickens can be moved onto pullet grower. It is slightly larger than the crumbs and provides them with all the nessecary vitimins and minerals for their teenage weeks.
10. From 16 weeks of age the young chickens can be moved onto layers pellets. At this age the chickens sexes will be distinguishable of most breeds. The roosters will have a distinct comb, tails will be forming and they will most likely 'strut'. Hens will have a small tail, will walk around a little more meekly, and will have a small comb. Silkies are notorously hard to sex.
11. At this age they will have basically left their mother, and she will most likely be back on the lay.
12. The young hens will start to lay between 18 and 24 weeks of age. Each breed and each hen is different. Don't be concerned it will happen in it's own time. Roosters will start mating at around 24 weeks of age, again depending on the breed.