Help! My Chickens Sitting and She Won't Get Up!

  It's not often that more than a week goes by without someone asking me what to do with their broody hen. I don't mind it, because broody hens are amazing, yet vile, yet still amazing creatures that I love, but I figured I'd put the gist of my knowledge here for reference. 

  

  First of all, to make sure we're all on the same page, a broody hen is a hen in the midst of a hormonal surge that causes her to have an undeterrable urge to incubate eggs until they hatch and then to raise the babies. Her body also halts egg laying during this phase. Not every hen goes broody, and many breeds have had this trait literally bred out of them by industrial hatcheries. In a natural setting, if a hen doesn't go broody, she won't hatch eggs and (likely, I'll get to that) won't pass on her non-broodiness genes so that's the end of the line for her.  But because man-made incubators hatch indescriminently, and because non-broody hens lay more eggs than broody hens do, it's beneficial for the hatcheries to hatch eggs from the least broody hens and then, tada, you end up with certain breeds that almost never go broody. Leghorns, the edible-egg industry bird of choice, for example almost never go broody, for exactly this reason. 

  But all that aside, how do you recognize broodiness in your own hens? One of the best indicators of a broody hen is reaching in to the nest box to retrieve eggs and pulling back, not your hand, but a bloody stump. Ok, I'm exaggerating some, but broody hens are MEAN! That's great though, they are protecting their eggs, and it's a great sign that she will be a fiercely protective mother and keep those babies safe! But more so than a bad attitude, the #1 sign of a broody hen is that your hen simply won't leave the nest. Maybe you threw some of your flock's favorite treats down and everyone came running, but a head count revealed you were missing a hen. In a panic you went looking and found her in a nest, seemingly oblivious to the feeding frenzy going on outside the confines of her box. Maybe you even tried to pick her up and take her to the treats but noticed that she grumbled and growled and stayed right where you set her or worse, ran right back to the nest box. If you aren't sure if you have a broody or not, check at night. If she is still sitting at night instead of up on the roosts with the others, she is a bonafide broody.

Now what?

  The first thing to do is decide if you want chicks right now. If you don't, you will need to 'break her' and that's a different topic for a different post. So let's say that you do want chicks, yay! If you don't have a rooster, you will need to get your girl some fertile eggs from a local homesteader friend, eBay, or wherever. If you do have a rooster and so fertile eggs already, that's great, but also can make things more tricky. You see, chickens have great survival instincts, and one of those is that when a hen is broody, the other hens will lay eggs in the broody hen's nest so that their own genes can still be passed along as well without having to do all the work (which is why I said a non-broody hen isn't likely to pass on her genes, but it's still possible). Don't think those other hens will be able to lay in her box if she's always in it? Think again!

They will find a way! So you must mark the eggs you want your hen to hatch and then remove any new eggs daily or find a way to block the other hens from getting in, even by perhaps moving your broody and her eggs to a dog kennel. The reason for this is because if new eggs get added daily, the eggs will all be developing at different times. Once mama's first chicks hatch, she will only remain on the nest for a day or two waiting for any stragglers, and then she will take her babies off to see the world and the rest will die in their shells. You don't want that.

  I recommend you remove every egg from under your suspected broody hen everyday for at least 5 days. This can give you time to gather a clutch of about 5-12 eggs depending on how big your chicken is and also how many chicks you want to end up housing, but it also gives you time to make sure she means business. If she remains steadfast in her broodiness over the course of these 5 days, then slip eggs (clearly marked) underneath her at night and then mark your calendar for 21 days! Many first time broodies will try it on for size a time or two before fully committing, and if they start on eggs and then decide to quit,  you'll have to finish incubating them yourself in an incubator, or let the embryos die. 

  Ok, so she's good and committed, she's sitting on eggs. What now?

   Besides checkin for and removing new eggs daily, there's not a lot that needs to be done on your part. The hen will get up once a day or every other day for an hour or so to eat, drink, dust bathe, and poop (HUGE, smelly poop, because she's been holding it in all day), but that's it. Otherwise, she sits, staring trance-like at the scene ahead of her, perhaps daydreaming about seeing her baby chicks for the first time, hearing their first word, teaching them to ride a bike....who knows. Every so often, a hen will be SO dedicated that she will try to starve herself to death rather than get up to eat. These hens, these super-broodies, need special care in the form of someone who forces them against their will to get up once a day, but they are very rare. Most of the time, nature knows what it's doing.

  Being broody, though, puts the hen at a disadvantage because she will become weak from the decreased food, water, and exercise, and mites or worms that may otherwise have been in negligible numbers can easily overtake her. Watch for signs such as her comb becoming pale, shaking, or further reduction in eating and drinking. Treat her accordingly if mites or worms are found, as these are things that will easily kill the babies so they must be taken care of before they hatch.

It is normal, however, for mama not to get up the last three days (day 19-21), this is called "lockdown" and the most important time for her eggs as they transition to breathing air and get ready to hatch. Do NOT force her off her nest during this time, as her skin keeps optimal humidity on the eggs, and the sudden change in humidity that could occur by picking her up can cause the membrane inside the shells to shrink up and harden, locking the chicks in place. It's called shrinkwrapping and is pretty much a death sentence unless you know how to assist in a hatch (and again, not within the scope of this article).

  While you wait patiently for her new chicks to hatch, it's time to decide what you will do with mama and babies. Some people choose to let the hen raise her babies in the same coop and enclosure as the rest of the flock, and this works out just fine for them. My only experiences with this have been negative; the other hens have killed any chicks they could. On free range out with the flock, mama is able to protect her chicks, but in an enclosed environment, it has gone terribly wrong for me and many other people.

(This baby was dead the day after I took this picture, despite the fact that mama was fiercely protective and she only had this one baby to watch out for)

  I now move my broody and her babies to separate grow out pen away from the reach of the other flock members but within view, and then slowly introduce the chicks once they are older and able to fend for themselves. Again, this is my personal experience only, and I know there's more than one way to skin a cat. But I recommend it if you dont want to risk the babies getting hurt or worse.

  The chicks will need a small waterer they can reach and chick starter feed, which is higher in protein than layer feed and lower in calcium, which they do not need at this early age (and it can actually be detrimental to their health). It's perfectly fine for the hen to eat chick starter as well, especially since she is recovering from her long fast and can use the extra protein. Other than that, mama will take care of the rest. She will keep them warm, teach them to scratch, make sure they eat. Her chicks will be at an amazing advantage health wise compared to brooder raised chicks as well because they will be exposed to pathogens and bacteria in your soil from day one and build strong immune systems. (Fun fact: chicks are born with "hen derived antibodies" that they get from the yolk before hatch. Acting much like the antibodies in colostrum, these help protect the babies for the first 3-5 days from bacteria, so that their exposure to it does not harm them but rather makes their bodies stronger. You almost never see a hen-raised chick get pasty butt or coccidia, common problems in brooder chicks, because of this immediate exposure during the protected period.)

  After about 5-8 weeks, your hen will decide her babies no longer need her. It may be sudden, and seem heartless, but she will stop keeping them warm at night on the ground and just start sleeping back on the roosts. She will resume laying eggs, and she will act like she's never met these chicks before in her life. That's just natures way. The chicks will find their place in the flock, with maybe a few tussles and power struggles but nothing serious.

  And just like that, you have healthy, fully adjusted new chickens in your flock that will soon start laying eggs (or crowing) themselves. It's the ciiiiircle of life! Sorry, couldn't help myself.

  A quick note: sometimes, for some unknown reason, a hen will be a great incubator, but suddenly turn homicidal as her babies hatch. She may peck them right out of their shells or kill them as soon as they hatch. A homicidal broody should never be allowed to hatch again, and frankly would make better stew than anything else in my opinion. They generally do not outgrow chick killing, that is just a sign of very poor instincts and will not get better with repeated chances.