Rosie gone broody

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kitla
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Re: Rosie gone broody

Post by kitla »

Keep a stout pair of garden gloves handy!
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
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Gwenoakes
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I am pulling my coat sleeves over my hands, but must admit she is not so full on now. LOL
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Mo
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I used to take a clipboard out when I wanted to take eggs from under a broody. Put it next to her face, as a shield.
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Gwenoakes
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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Half the time she is not sitting on any eggs, Mo. Silly hen.....
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Mo
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I know, but the other hens always seemed to lay in the same box. And I reckoned that the longer she kept them the more set she'd be, so used to go out and feel regularly, and try to move her.
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Gwenoakes
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I go out regularly to just oust her off the nest, must say neither she or Rosie were amused. LOL
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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Now got a third hen that is broody.............
bikesandbirdsbob
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Re: Rosie gone broody

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Hi ,
Pom Pom , Lit al n (Beardie) and Evil have gone broodie with a couple of others joining in if a nest is free . with 15 eggs a day at least plenty to go round . Lit al Hen is the size of my hand and she collects 5 under her . If she hatched them they would be 4 times her size in weeks .
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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Thats funny, Bob. It always amazes me just how many they can sit on if allowed to.
Tot to admit I do feel rather mean not letting them sit, but would be no good as we do not have a cockeral, so a bit of a no go area really.
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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Well, I now have 4 broody hens }hairout{ }hairout{
They have been quite feisty to the others, so much so that one of the Campine has been laying in the run for a couple of days. Have used the sand bath box that is in the hen house as a nesting box putting bedding in it and that seems to have worked OK.
Got to admit now I am feeling a bit deflated with four of them down.
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kitla
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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Oh dear! the downside to having posh girls. It's spring & they want chickies! AT least they should all give up around the same time. I have 2 broody atm, I chuck them off twice a day so they eat & drink enough & put them in their coop at night to keep them safe. It is a pain when they nab all the boxes though, that calls for a bit of improvising for a while.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
Gwenoakes
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I have just counted up the days that the first went broody, not Rosie but one of the others and it is 49 days now. Everywhere/everything I read says roughly 21 days........
This is all Clare's fault I had it all worked out which hens I wanted which would not be inclined to go broody, not want to fly a lot, were fairly laid back and laid a fair amount of eggs and I ended up with 'special' girls because Clare came with me, umph.........
I must learn to stick to my guns...............but I cannot deny they are pretty ladies. )w(
I read on the net that some people lock them out of the coop in the day, I could do this after about 11a.m. when the two Campines and the little partridgey one have laid. They would be dry as we have a roof on the run. Has anyone else done this and firstly did it work and secondly do you think it is right to do this?
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kitla
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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21 days is about the time it would take them to hatch their eggs, so usually they give up about then. But there are awkward ones who lose track of time, one of mine spent several months broody once! when she came off she started eating the other girl's feathers as she needed extra protein. 49 days is a long time, maybe if you keep taking her off her nest & distract her with treats or dig somewhere she may be ready to give up?
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
Gwenoakes
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I have done all that, Kitla. Taken them off the nest four if not more times a day, always give them treats when taken off which they all eat. Dig like blooming crazy which they all love the worms. She has been seen to be eating feathers, but not often, so I have given them some scrambled eggs which again they all love.
Think I may get some meal worms as they have protein in them. She is very nasty now which is the opposite to what she was previously and has a good go at the other chickens, chasing them round the pen. She was always top chicken, but with only an occasional peck, now she is full pelt at them and tbh seems rather light in weight too. Thanks for your suggestions.
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Mo
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Re: Rosie gone broody

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I certainly have shut the coop door. I had one (in my first batch of POLs Black Rock hybrid) that went broody almost at once. I didn't chuck her off until she'd been at it a while, and it took AGES to get back into lay. When I did start chucking her out she'd just sit by the door. Second year I sprang into action at the first sign, off the nest every 10 minutes almost. She wasn't broody long. Next year she didn't bother.
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