Broody Hen - I gave her fertilized eggs!

[holm25]

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[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]

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.

 

[holm25]

 

[aart]

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!

Hmm I've never heard of this one....unless the eggs had been in an incubator for ??how long??

 

[SusanPC]

Regarding checking to see if the eggs were fertile, she said she was looking for a spot or shadow in a particular location. They had not been in an incubator. Just collected off the nest within the past few days. From what I've glanced over since then I don't know if it was possible for her to see anything or if she is going by family folklore. She lives on a cotton farm and has had chickens forever and has even raised and shown them. I just put 7 eggs under my hen because I assumed that would maximize the chances. Of course, I don't know about the 4 broken eggs, but of the 3 remaining, only the white egg grew an embryo. Her rooster is a RIR and she has RIR hens (laying brown) and white leghorns laying the white. I wonder if the cross had anything to do with the viable egg and the brown eggs being duds. We are debating hatching some out together via incubator, so that would be interesting to note.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes I spotted that too and wondered if the OP had misunderstood or the woman who gave her the eggs didn't know what she was talking about.

 

[SusanPC]

Yes I spotted that too and wondered if the OP had misunderstood or the woman who gave her the eggs didn't know what she was talking about.

I'm pretty sure my co-worker does not follow any scientifically supported method of chicken hatching. I'm just glad that I put enough eggs under her to get a fertile one!

Susan

 

[aart]

In all my reading (ALOT) I have not seen any indication, scientific or anecdotal, that you can tell if an egg is fertile by candling until it has incubated for at least a few days.

I have a hard time seeing growth in developing eggs until day 7 or so of incubation...especially if the eggs are any color but white.

 

[lazy gardener]

I've seen development at day 4 with a real strong light, and the perfect egg, but as Aart says, you're pretty much wasting your time before day 7.