Broody hen! Advice, please.

[lyndatu]

Hello

We have a native hen named Danica that suddenly visited our backyard and decided to call it home. She's a nervous chicken, but last week she suddenly disappeared. My daughter said she saw Danica, but angry and clucking all the time. One day we spotted her pecking at the yard, and we stayed with her. She then went to a bush near our neighbor's house, and we found her nest!

We prepared the coop for her so she can hatch them in peace(during her break time the hens like to peck on her). She's been sitting on them for a week. I'm thinking of putting my other hen's eggs under her so she can hatch them too, but I was wondering if I do add the eggs they will hatch at the same time along Danica's own eggs. I heard the incubation takes about 21 days, but Danica might hatch her eggs first and leave my hen's yet unhatched eggs. Should I place the eggs?

I'll post some pics soon!

Thanks in advance!

Oh, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

 

[panner123]

If you had placed the eggs under her sooner, she would have hatched them. Her eggs will hatch and three days later she will have the chicks out of the nest for awhile. In that time the other eggs will die. Next time place the eggs under her sooner and she will hatch them for you.

 

[A.J.'s]

Or..... you can remove the chicks as they hatch and she will stay with the eggs til they all hatch. that is my experience.
Ive always taken advantage of a broody hen and i have never had a problem with her leaving the nest.
in fact it seems mean but she will stay broody and hatch for several weeks. Ive known folks to get two full hatches froma broody.

 

[lyndatu]

Thank you for the replies, everyone!

I just noticed that when we moved her to the coop, she has 12 eggs under her, so no need to add more eggs. But I have another problem: When she was now in the coop she was panicking all around and not minding the eggs in the nest box. She is now in the run scratching and pecking about, trying to escape. We repeatedly put her in the nest box but she left it and got crazy and tried to get out of the coop. I'm worried because I heard that the eggs might die if she did not sit on them again after 30 minutes. What should I do? Sorry for all the questions.......Danica's breed is pretty rare in our city, and it would be sad if we lost the eggs. If her eggs die(we can see it through candling), should we replace her eggs with our other hen's eggs?

Thanks in advance!

 

[A.J.'s]

I have never had any luck moving a broody hen. closest I ever came was finding them in the weeds and I moved her and the eggs to a small pen with a wooden box from the hen house that she was familiar with. I dont suggest even trying.
but since its winter time, you have to do something. put her in a dark warm place. make sure she is comfy away from the other hens.
its not going to be easy to comfort her..she thinks her nest is gone and the one she prepared is.
I have tried over and over to get a hen to sit in a different place from where she laid the eggs and it is just a hard thing to do.
I probably would take the eggs and put them in my incubator. and give her new ones... and tooooo ive had eggs get cold while i tried and t hey still hatched. I dont know what the majic temperature is..how cold they can get or for how long but it can be done probably just luck. scarse at my house but

good luck.. i think id do as i suggested.. jsut put them in the incubator.

 

[onthespot]

She most likely will not hatch the eggs that you moved, unless you turn her back loose and put her eggs back where they were, then it is only fifty fifty if she will go back to them now. If you want to keep her as a broody for the future, she will "break" or quit being broody, and it will be a while, whatever her body chemistry decides, until she goes broody again. By that time she will have acclimated to your coop and find a place in there hopefully.

 

[bantiesrule]

I just got back into chickens a year and a half ago. (Had no place to keep them for a long time.) But I was raised on a farm and it seemed we always had broodies. We usually just let them alone but if we did have to move one, we would put her in a box with her eggs and close it up so she can't get off them. Leave her there overnight. Next day, let her come off if she wants, to get food and water. She should go back on the nest when she's done. If not, put her back on and close it up again. Leave her overnight again. Hopefully she will get the hint. As long as it's dark and quiet, she should return to being broody. Hope it works

btw, I love BYC!!!!! Except it might be toooooo addicting, seems like I'm always on the computer lately. Learning (or relearning) alot though. Thanks everybody

 

[Chickenaddict]

I have moved a few broodies with no problems but some are stubborn and wont lay in a new nest with the eggs she was already sitting on. I personally would take her in the house in a box where she is away from the flock and feels safe, give her a few minutes to get used to the area and she just may get back on those eggs again. worth a shot anyway. Good luck to you