Broody Hen - I gave her fertilized eggs!

[SusanPC]

I was newbie to BYC when I ordered my first-ever chicks through our local feed store and received our 4 "babies" in late Feb. 2014. So when my BO went broody, I came in to work asking if anyone had a wire-bottom cage that I could use to "break" her (don't worry, when I say "break" I just mean get her out of being broody). Anyway, my co-worker brings eggs in weekly to give away and she has a rooster, so.... now I have fertilized eggs under my broody hen! It was a rash decision that I made quickly and now I don't know whether to be excited or horrified. I definitely have to look up what to do when/if these eggs hatch in 3 weeks, if I need to separate the hen and chicks and what I need to do to maximize the chances for a successful clutch based on the weather (might snow tonight! I'm in West Texas). She viewed the eggs with a flashlight to confirm if they were fertile, so that hopefully most of the 7 eggs (too many?) I put in with her are fertilized, but I guess we'll see what happens. I also worry for my BO - Daisy as she is as much of a pet as she is a backyard egg-giver. Wish me luck and please feel free to share your hijacked broody hen story or give me some advice. Thanks!

 

[krista74]

Sorry it ended so badly for you, and I agree that giving her some day old chicks is the way to go.

I would start now by making sure her nest is secure. No cracks or holes that the chicks could get caught up/stuck in. Make sure her enclosure is separated so that the chicks can't wander off and away from her that first night. A fine wire around the enclosure should help with that. Replace her water bowl with a shallow one filled with marbles so the chicks can't drown in it. Put in a bowl of chick starter for them to eat as obviously they can't eat layer's feed.

Wait until it's completely dark. Take a helper with you, and a good torch. Be very quiet, very calm and very swift!

Gently remove the eggs in the nest and pass them to your helper. Then take each new chick and put it under her. Try to disturb Momma as little as possible. Then quiet as a mouse, walk away and hope for the best!

It should work - I've seen it done on Youtube many times so you might like to check that out, and lots of people have done it successfully here on BYC. There will always be a few horror stories, and a peck or two as they adjust may occur, but my suspicions are that she will take them on just fine.

Give her a few chicks if you can, not just one or two. If you get two and one passes then you are left with one - and an only chick is a lonely chick. I would try with four or five myself. That's a lie. I would try with ten! Probably under the conditions anywhere between 4 to 7 would be ideal.

I don't think you have to wait for Day 21. I'd just make sure she goes back to the eggs you set today, and then order her chicks straight away.

GOOD LUCK!

- Krista

 

[krista74]

Update. I checked on the nest box yesterday after work and Daisy was sitting on 4 broken eggs out of the 7 total. She was a mess, so we brought her inside, washed her underside, and set her up in a plastic dog kennel with straw nest in the house for the night. We rinsed off the remaining eggs under warm water, dried them with a paper towel and popped them back under her. This morning we decided to candle the eggs to see if it's worth continuing to try this and one of the eggs was growing an embryo. I don't know if it will be viable after all the commotion yesterday, but we are going to set up a separate area for Daisy in the coop. I don't know if she broke the eggs or another hen. She had yolk on her beak but that could have been from rearranging the broken mess. Anyway, we shall see if this one embryo will continue to develop. I'm going to give the other two eggs a few more days before I check again and pull them out since they were harder to see brown eggs, but I'm pretty sure they're duds.

Will there be problems associated with only having one egg under her? What about if she actually gets the one chick? Any issues there? Thanks again and I have now moved into the "separate the broody hen camp" as I would know if she broke the eggs herself.

Susan

Being that you were so early on in the process, the most likely occurrence is that there was a scuffle in the nest with another hen trying to lay. This is quite common and one of the main reasons I like to separate my broody and her eggs from the main flock. Some broody hens will kick out or destroy bad eggs ('quitters') so as not to contaminate the rest of the eggs - I had two hens do this and have witnessed the eviction! - but it is fairly rare for them to turn on healthy viable eggs. Not to say that isn't possible, but my first suspicion is that another hen has crowded the nest and trampled them. You have done the right thing setting her up somewhere quiet and washing off the eggs. Time to cross your fingers and hope for the best now! I would re-candle maybe around Day 15 - you should be able to see significant progress in the chick's development by then if it is still alive.

I have hatched a single chick once before. This was the case because as a newbie I didn't want to candle my eggs, and as a result a quitter exploded underneath Momma Hen and poisoned the rest of the eggs - bar one - with bacteria. The one remaining chick hatched successfully, we called him Peepers and he was fine up until 8 weeks old when his Momma passed away. That's when I discovered an only chick is a lonely chick. It was very sad, as he had to be penned on his own, with no Momma, until a second batch of chicks hatched a few weeks later. After that he was ok, as he had access to them through a gap in the separation fence, so he could visit with his chick neighbours but escape their Momma if she got a bit pecky! So I guess my recommendation would be to keep a very close eye on them after hatching and make sure Momma gets plenty of good nutrition. Other than that, she will look after one chick just as well as she will look after eight chicks.

Good luck - I hope the remaining chick is strong with a good spirit. Keep us posted!

- Krista

 

[SusanPC]

We did wind up up giving her all the chicks at oncee even though I read your post this morning. It just seemed like a better idea when we started gathering them. All for one and one for all.. They are all still tucked into the nest box even though the sun has been up for a while. I understand she/they may not come out today at all. So far occasional peeps from the chicks but nothing scary sounding. I worry about the Bantam chicks, especially the Japanese bantam. That was probably not a good idea, but so hard to resist chicks! I am so bitten by the chicken bug!

 

[krista74]

Ditto with the separating her from the rest of the flock. If you can, put her in her own separate pen, or section off a corner of the main coop. All she needs is her nest and eggs, water and her feeder. If there is some dust in there that she can dust-bathe in, all the better. Hopefully you are confident in picking her up? If she frightens you with all her growling and screeching, put on some long gloves and pick her up and give her a quick dusting of Pestene or Sevin dust. Lice and mites can be an issue for broody hens, but if you dust her now she should be right. Then leave her be - she will get up once a day or so to eat and drink and poop, but usually she will do this when you are not around. It's nature's way - to protect her eggs, she will only get up when she's alone.

Keep an eye on her feeder - her feed should look 'disturbed' once a day but if it doesn't you might have one of those girls who just doesn't get up for food or water. If that is the case, establish a routine of getting her out of the nest very gently at the same time every day to eat and drink. I say 'very gently' because the hen will often tuck an egg or two under her wing, and if you are rough you risk her dropping the eggs! Gently run your fingers under her wings before you pick her up just to make sure! The eggs are ok to sit there for 10 or 20 minutes while Momma tends to her business. She will do the rest though. With regards to temperature, she may need a heat lamp if it's freezing, but if she is sheltered and out of the wind she should be ok. And don't worry about the chicks when they hatch - she will keep them warm as toast underneath her!

Once the chicks come, you need to protect them. Make sure there are no nooks and crannies they could get stuck in or fall into. Your water bowl needs to be replaced with a shallow one filled with marbles, so that if the chicks accidentally fall in they won't drown. I put up fine wire mesh around the chick pen so that the babies can't wander out without Momma. If they do that, they run the risk of being attacked by the other hens. It can, and does happen, so do everything you can to keep them separated from the flock for now.

Momma will teach the chicks how to find food and how to eat and drink. If you put the feed in a bowl, be aware that it is completely normal for Momma to kick it all over the ground! She will want to teach them how to forage in the dirt for food. Check your waterer regularly as with all of this kicking about it will fill up with dust and dirt quite quickly. I usually replace the chick's water at least three times a day, but usually more.

When the chicks first hatch, try and leave them alone with their Momma for a few days so they can bond and get used to each other. After that you can quietly go into their pen with a handful of treats and let Momma take them from your hand. She needs to get used to you being in there with her babies before you go picking them up and playing with them. After a few days of 'getting to know you' time, you can quietly and gently pick up the chicks, but if Momma stresses it's best to put them back with her post-haste!

That's about it I think. I have raised several batches of chicks now and if I were to give you any advice, it would be "Don't touch the eggs at any time." You really need to trust in Momma and not disturb her. The one exception I make is to candle the eggs once between Day 7 to 10. Remove any unviable eggs immediately and this will ensure you don't get any nasty egg explosions!

Good luck, and if you have any further questions don't hesitate to ask.

- Krista

 

[SusanPC]

Currently things are status quo. Daisy only has one growing embryo egg, so we removed the duds. She is 7 days into her hatch. We have built a partition to keep her and the other hens separate. We let her out into the bigger run area once a day to stretch her wings, eat, drink, poop, and generally fuss at the other hens. Hopefully she will be able to hatch a chick. If so, we are debating whether to add a second chick under her at that time. Also, if the egg hatch fails, we are considering giving her two chicks one night. I feel like the broody pen is small, but it should serve the purpose until the chick is a few weeks old. It leaves the other hens with two nest boxes and their sleeping roost. Everyone seems to be adjusting well. Daisy's brooding drive is strong. She has cared for her eggs through the egg break, with the move to a dog crate, and back to the nest box. Chickens are amazing.

 

[krista74]

Just a quiet word of advice....

If it were me, I'd give her all of the chicks at once.

My concern is that if you give her 3 to start off with, and she bonds with those chicks overnight, she may see the others as somebody else's chicks intruding on her nest.

Because after all, if they were her chicks, they all would have hatched around the same time....

GOOD LUCK, no matter which way you decide to go!

- Krista

 

[SusanPC]

Hallelujah! This so exciting. I checked the nest box and there was one sleepy silkie left in there, so I prodded him/her to Mama. So far, all is well. Thanks so much for all your input and support!

 

[SusanPC]

Thanks again to all who have commented and shared in the drama of a broody hen, egg breakage, and chick swap. All 9 chicks seem to be thriving, both large fowl and itty, bitty bantam chicks. Daisy is doing a very conscientious job of keeping them warm, taking them to food and water, and clucking her directions to them. In a few days we are planning on moving them all from their broody pen (7' x 2') to a bigger pen, so that Mama can stretch out and teach them some more "big world" things. I'm not sure how long I will keep them separated in the pen. Still deciding whether to give it a try at 2 weeks or wait until they are grown. A lot will depend on their size and how the other three hens behave when I move them to the pen. Below are photos of both pens. Any feedback on the move or time to keep them separated?

Broody Pen


Grow Out Pen


Just some fun chick photos...

 

[mamidei]

I just started this adventure myself. I got 6 fertile eggs from a local breeder and snuck them under her last night after I moved her to a sectioned off place in the coop. I checked before I went to bed last night and again this morning. She is sitting on the eggs like a champ, not phased at all by being moved from her chosen nesting box. She is a first timer, not even a year old yet. I just had to give her a chance! I'm so glad I found this thread and was able to read about your experience.