suitable housing for broody hen?

[elmdene]

I have been persuaded to let Sybil, my lovely little black pekin, to sit on her eggs (although I am in dread as to what will happen to any little cockerels) and have had to separate her as the others were picking on her.
As luck would have it, we had a Forsham ark hanging around in our garden which we were waiting for a refund on but have given up since they went bankrupt, but that's another story. It's a 902a so it's quite big and the accommodation is on top, accessed by a rather steep ramp. As I didn't think the chicks would be able to negotiate this, and was worried they may plummet to their death through the hole, I have installed Sybil in an old wooden port crate (ie same size as a box for 12 bottles of wine, but wooden), on the ground below, slightly raised off the ground with a hole cut in one end for access and a lid on top.
My concerns are 1. Is it going to be big enough - she is sitting on 7 eggs. I can open up the top of the ark when the chicks get a bit bigger but not to start with - it's too dangerous. 2. Is it dark enough? The access hole is at the front, on the short side of the box and she is sitting right at the back, but it's not that dark and she can see out. 3. Is it warm/secure enough? I have put the ark on a Forsham scratch mat made of very :roll: heavy duty wire of about 2 inches square to stop any foxes digging in and am leaving the box open at night at the moment as it seems very small to shut her into, even with ventilation in the lid. I'm worried it's not 'cosy' enough as she can see out and she may be frightened at night - sounds ridiculous I know!!! :roll: Also will the chicks be able to walk on the wire?
Can someone who knows about these things advise whether this set-up is ok or should I go and buy yet another chicken house which would drive my OH bonkers because of the Forsham fiasco. Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Not sure if chicks will be able to walk on the wire, but when our Speckled Sussex went broody I temporarily converted the chickens' feed shelter into a broody house (approx measurements 2.5-3 feet across, 18-20 inches deep, 20 inches high at the front sloping down to about 16 at the back). This was put in a quiet corner of the run & fenced off so the other hens coudn't disturb her, but they could all still see each other.

 

[elmdene]

Thanks - your shelter is a bit bigger than the port box. I am worried sick about leaving the box open at night even though I know a fox couldn't get in I'm worried it might encourage them to hang around. Also good idea about having the broody close to the other chickens so they can see each other - I have to shut them in when I get her out for her twice daily runabout as they get quite aggressive with her, but she always goes over and says hello - or something?

 

[Anonymous]

Hubby had a sheet of wood just big enough to cover over the open part of the feed shelter. Not ideal (had to prop it with lengths of wood to keep it against the opening) but as broody house was in secure run it did the job & also kept broody sheltered from the worst of the weather.

 

[chrismahon]

Lovely little chicks soon then. What you have done seems fine. Problem with a small place is ventilation and the risk of lice infestation. Don't treat her now as powder will damage chicks. The hen should leave the nest at least once a day to poo and eat. At that point the eggs are vunerable to rats, squirrels and magpies in my experience. So if the area is small and protected with fine (less than 20mm) mesh great. When they have all hatched (that are going to, mum will listen to the eggs) she will lead them out to show them what to do. This will be scratching on the floor to start and with wire mesh this is going to damage her feet. The chicks will copy and their feet will be damaged too. We have only let chicks on to wood shavings or grass as their feet are so easily damaged by anything hard or sharp. They won'y be able to negotiate the ramp reliably until 6 weeks I would think; might fall off before that and can't flap wings to balance. Don't forget chick crumb, if they are outside, needs to be with ACS. They grow a lot slower as it inhibits digestion but at least they don't get ill and die. Good luck with them. We've got too many chickens (and too many broody hens) here and I daren't breed any more.

 

[elmdene]

Thanks for that - looks like I will have to remove the wire mesh floor when the chicks hatch which will make it more vulnerable for digging under, but, touch wood, we haven't had any evidence of that for the 11 months we've had them. Lots of tasty little chicks may change that -- I hope not. Maybe I will need to get a bigger box within the run that I can shut them into at night then. Yes I get Sybil up 3 or 4 times a day now to eat drink and poo. I was a bit concerned as this morning her crop seemed quite full but softish. Her breath wasn't smelly as far as I could tell and she is still pooing although not the absolutely massive ones of the last week or so. I'll check again tomorrow but an impacted crop is all I need as she is quite stroppy at the moment - I tried to put some scaly head treatment on her last night as has had it before and is always scratching at her head now, but she went berserk and wasn't having any of it. Not quite sure with the crop whether olive oil and a throat massage is the right thing - some people say mineral oil. And yoghurt - or is that for sour crop?

 

[chrismahon]

Its been quite warm so she may be drinking heavily, so her crop will be much softer. Olive oil and massage for impacted crop which seems to happen a lot during moult when some birds eat feathers that are too big. Sour crop I've used epsom salts, mixed as directed then of the mixture one (5ml ?) teaspoon. This flushes them out completely and gut needs to be restarted with probiotic natural yoghurt next day. Worked so far on a couple of hens but don't like doing it -I'm not a vet. I've seen it listed as a silly remedy somewhere. Yoghurt would be very bad for an impacted crop as it goes rotten in crop- look how fast it goes off out of the fridge. Hope it all goes well. You are obviously keeping a very close eye so she is lucky to have you there.

Whats scaly head? We've had some hens loose head and neck feathers which I and vet put down to turkey /chicken head lice. We failed with basic treatments so resorted to Frontline spray (not spot on as some overdose and die) at 3 sprays per kg body weight (my guess -half minimum cat or dog dose). Worked on most but not three of them and we have re-dosed at same level.

 

[elmdene]

I tried to get some olive oil into Sybil this morning as her crop was still full but she wasn't having any of it. As far as I can tell, the only time she eats and drinks is when I get her off her eggs so I don't think she's been drinking that much, which may be part of the problem. Also because she's sitting all day and not free ranging, she may not be eating grit. I have put some in her run but she's not eating it, so that could be another reason. Crop still quite full this morning but not really hard - I could massage it but thought it was still a bit solid to try and eject through her beak. And she is still pooing so something is passing through. So I'm taking the to the vet this evening - eggs and all!!
I think scaly head is like scaly leg mite, but on the head - budgies and canaries seem to get it and there are some horrific pics if you look it up. Sybil went almost bald last winter and the skin around her head was quite flakey and dry. She wasn't being pecked so someone suggested this is what it could be. We used Johnsons Scaly lotion (really for budgies) - you paint it on the head with a little paintbrush every other day for 5 days, and she recovered immediately, all her feathers grew back really quickly. Isn't spraying them a bit dangerous around the eyes?

 

[animartco]

chicks need to be able to come out and run round mum, and they need plenty of light, but it is possible to move them to other accommodation once they are hatched. Unless your hen is extremely nervous she will stay with the chicks and can be driven with them into the alternative accomodation. Do not run chicks on wire. A unless it is very fine mesh they will fall through, B if the hen stands on them she can damage them, and c if she broods them on wire they will get chilled.

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Elmdene,
Ours didn't have scaly head then. They just lost their feathers and their skin was OK. Other hens used to peck at the necks so I assumed they could see the lice moving about. Brooding hens generally poo once a day -a huge stinky mess. Grain goes straight through because, even with grit in the gizzard, if they are not moving about it doesn't grind up. I wouldn't worry about crop being full. When she starts moving about it should go down but massage won't hurt. A really hard crop will be a problem. Yes, spraying is very dangerous around eyes. Pick wind direction carefully, cover head and spray to kneck areas as Frontline lice spray is absorbed into body through skin. It then treats all of the skin but as it is in the system eggs are withdrawn for 7 days and they can overdose on it. Risky stuff and a last resort in my opinion. Only licenced for dogs and cats.
Hope she is OK. Be interested to know what vet said. Get camera ready when they hatch because chicks heads pop up through the feathers initially, before they actally get to move out and about -so cute.

 

[daniellesdogs]

iv got 2 rabbit hutches 1 is really big with big run i made on the quick couple years back the other is a single story 4 ft hutch.
i think the 4 ft is the best untill the chicks are about 2/3 weeks then they go in the big one so get freedom to a degree

 

[elmdene]

Hi - thanks for all the input on the housing. Only a week to go so I think I will leave her as she is and assess the situation when we see how many (if any) chicks hatch out. I am going to start a separate post about her crop not emptying to see if anyone else has anything to add on that. Thanks again.

 

[E3lx]

To encourage her to her to have grit, mix some grit in with layers pellet and corn. Also, I would add apple cider vinegar to the water so that she gets her vits, mins and anti-oxidants.