broody hen Q -- do they get better at it with practice?

[patandchickens]

It's too hard to get replies in the Incubation/Hatching section of BYC, and I know a bunch of folks here have broody hen experience.

Should one expect a hen to get better at raising chicks in the future, or if she is not great at it the first time around is that a bad sign?

My little Maudie, who frankly I retained because she is such a character and fun to have around rather than because she really embodies lots of qualities I want to be breeding for , started setting on a clutch of 8 eggs. She actually laid several more while she was sitting on 'em (at least 2 of the 4 unmarked eggs that "appeared" were definitely hers, b/c they appeared after I separated her from the others), resulting in eggs in all different stages of development (I ended up discarding 2 with live embryos b/c they were a week or more behind the rest :/). Of the 4 that made it "full term", the first two made it just fine; one died after fully pipping, for no discernible reason; and the last hatched overnite and was fine when I looked at 9 am but by 11 was dead, trampled and cold . (Dunno what happened - she was rather agitated, but no way to tell whether that was cause or effect of the chick's death)

So... meaning no offense to my sweet little Maudie Mae, who is still a great character; and I realize that it is possible that better management on my part might have prevented some of the problems, although I'm not clear on what if anything I definitely should have done differently; but, I am concerned about her batting average here, shall we say.

Is there a reasonable chance of it going better next time, assuming she ever goes broody again?

Sigh,

Pat

 

[Beekissed]

I wonder the same thing, Pat. I had a similar situation with one of mine. I'm going to treat it like we always did our rabbits. If their very first attempt went a little rocky and they didn't seem to be good moms, we let them try one more time. If they didn't do well that time, we culled them. With chickens, one would just not let them brood anymore.

I had one that raised some chicks for my sister but couldn't seem to protect them from the flock....admittedly, my sis isn't the best flockmaster and probably didn't help her hen. Most of her chicks got killed by the other hens. She gave her to me and I let her raise a clutch. As it turned out, she didn't have to protect them by herself, as another hen adopted her chicks and took over, when her own didn't hatch. So, as it turned out, this hen has never successfully raised chicks and will be culled out with the next culling. She is a continual broody and doesn't produce well because of it.

 

[keljonma]

I don't think there are any rules for a first time broody; some are excellent and some just aren't, ime.

Our Dominique was a lousy broody her first time; but the second time, I couldn't get her off the nest for anything. Unfortunately, I wasn't hatching any eggs at the time. When little sparrows would come near her when she was eating, she would chirp at them like a mama hen does to chicks.....

Our JBG has always been an excellent mama hen from the start.

If you're keeping Maggie for personality with hopes of a good broody, then next time she goes broody, I think I would just give it one more shot. After that, I think I would break her broody spell immediately and put the eggs in the incubator ...

Good Luck!

 

[2dream]

I have never had a bad mamma hen so I don't know. I keep Silkies on hand for hatching eggs. They are always broody and so far everyone has been a great momma.

I do know that after a hen actually starts sitting on the nest it does not do any good to add eggs after a few days. They usually lay a clutch over a few days time and then will add a few more after they actually start sitting on them. (I think the total time is about 10 days). (After 10 days the bloom starts to deteriorate).
After that time they won't stay on the nest long enough to hatch added eggs. Once babies start hatching she is going to come off that nest within a few days. So all the eggs that don't hatch are going to have to be thrown away.

My rule of thumb. I gather eggs daily. If I have a hen that stays on the nest for 2 days and I want to hatch, I pick out the best eggs that I have gathered over the last few days (my eggs sit on my kitchen counter for 3 days before going in the fridge for this reason) and place them under her. Usually 3 that 1st day. Next day I add 3 from the previous days gather, 3rd day, 3 or 4 from that days gather. Then I stop. Anything she lays after that I pull. Thats just me. I could leave anything she lays but just figure the hatch rate drops everyday.

Hope this helps.