Broody Hen Thread!

[Angie16hearts]

M

Ok I didn't separate my broody hen (as recommended....I know bad Charlie  ) and when I came home from work my hen had moved over one nesting box sometime today while I was at work. Not knowing how long she was off the nest (cold have been up to 12 hours but again not sure) should I assume she was off too long and start with new eggs or assume everything should be ok?

I'll wait for replies to come while I go out and build a small place to move her.

Thanks, Charlie

y incubator went cold for 14 hours

! I thought for sure I lost all of them ! Low and behold they all survived

good luck!

 

[ChickieKat]

I have two silkies brooding together in a nest box in our coop. They have three eggs between them, but my girls keep laying and I keep removing the new eggs. The hatching eggs have black "X"'s on them so I know which ones to leave. I tried this last year when only one silkie was broody and one out of two eggs hatched and became a lovely little Amaraucana/Australorp hen. This year I have been having a super hard time getting the new eggs out as the two hens take up so much space in the box it is hard to see.

Early on all of the eggs got covered in yolk from a broken egg, so I tossed two that were super sticky and left one. It had only been two days so I gave them two more from that days eggs laid and let them sit on the three. The first was due to hatch yesterday and hasn't and the other two are due tomorrow.

I am wondering if I have harmed the chicks by (very gently) moving them around to gather each days eggs? I have had to gather each day, including yesterday and today and have accidentally pulled out a marked egg every day or two. I am so worried that I killed a chick by disturbing the eggs too close to hatch day.

If none hatch, I am going to remove all of them on Monday or Tuesday and open them to see what went wrong.

 

[chicksurreal]

I just went out to get Gran off of her nest to eat some food, she hasn't gotten off by herself for 2-3 days, and I noticed that there is a Dark Cornish egg in her nest. It must be hers, but I don't know when she laid it. I set 6 white eggs under her 9 days ago (4 SS Hamburg and 2 Blue Andalusian) and this one is light brown. I hadn't noticed it before, but it could have been partially buried in the shavings or too far under her for me to see when I checked before.

I'm not sure what to do because I don't know when she laid it. If it's fertile and she laid it within a day or two of the rest being set, fine, but I don't want an egg developing that she will leave in the nest to go with any chicks that hatch much sooner.

I've never candled and don't know how to tell if development is a day or two or more behind the others, especially since it's a brown egg and harder to candle. Any advice?

 

[roseyred]

I just went out to get Gran off of her nest to eat some food, she hasn't gotten off by herself for 2-3 days, and I noticed that there is a Dark Cornish egg in her nest. It must be hers, but I don't know when she laid it. I set 6 white eggs under her 9 days ago (4 SS Hamburg and 2 Blue Andalusian) and this one is light brown. I hadn't noticed it before, but it could have been partially buried in the shavings or too far under her for me to see when I checked before.

I'm not sure what to do because I don't know when she laid it. If it's fertile and she laid it within a day or two of the rest being set, fine, but I don't want an egg developing that she will leave in the nest to go with any chicks that hatch much sooner.

I've never candled and don't know how to tell if development is a day or two or more behind the others, especially since it's a brown egg and harder to candle. Any advice?

I think the safest thing to do would be to find someone with an incubator if you can't see inside to see how developed it is. I just bought a flashlight that can see you through the dark green and the dark brown eggs, it has 180 led lumins or whatever. It is powerful

 

[Sonya9]

I am wondering if I have harmed the chicks by (very gently) moving them around to gather each days eggs? I have had to gather each day, including yesterday and today and have accidentally pulled out a marked egg every day or two. I am so worried that I killed a chick by disturbing the eggs too close to hatch day.

It is not a good idea to have other hens using the nest box that the broody using. Not only can developing eggs get broken by the other hens but it can cause problems and fights when the chicks hatch (injuring/killing more chicks).

When you have them sitting on eggs that you want to hatch you should give them their own area and usually that means blocking it off form the other birds. The broody needs her own space for sitting and especially when the babies arrive.

 

[ChickieKat]

What to do at this point? I am feeling a bit lost. Last year she sat on the nest and hatched out a chick and all went really well.

 

[PheobeLover21]

DVICE NEEDED
It's my first time with a Brody hen they are due to hatch tomorrow. Please give me any advice!!

 

[Sonya9]

ADVICE NEEDED
It's my first time with a Brody hen they are due to hatch tomorrow. Please give me any advice!!

Hard to give advice without knowing anything about the situation. Where is the broody? Is she in a separate area of the coop? In a dog crate? What?

 

[16 paws]

What to do at this point? I am feeling a bit lost. Last year she sat on the nest and hatched out a chick and all went really well.

I would just wait it out at this point. You may still get a chick. I would separate the broodys thou, they may fight over the chicks. That can end badly for the chicks.

This is what I would do:
Decide if you want to give one or both of them eggs to brood. Do you have enough room for them both to brood separate?
I would start calling the feed store and find out if they have any newly hatched chicks coming in. If none of your eggs hatch under the silkie I would wait til evening and slip some new baby chicks from the feed store under her and take out the eggs that didnt hatch. Please ask for advice on how to do this....there is a right and wrong way if you decide to go this route.

Good luck and try not to stress out too much. Things work out.

Marie

 

[chicksurreal]

I think the safest thing to do would be to find someone with an incubator if you can't see inside to see how developed it is. I just bought a flashlight that can see you through the dark green and the dark brown eggs, it has 180 led lumins or whatever. It is powerful

Thanks!

I haven't tried to see yet, if I can see into it I'm wondering if there will be a difference that I could see between a day or two and 4 or 5 days. My SIL has an incubator. I'll borrow it from her if I need to.

Owning chickens makes me feel like I'm constantly on the edge of learning something new. Lol!