Broody Hen Thread!

[RubyNala97]

My broody is off the nest this morning and I just checked the eggs. Looks like 2 internal and 1 external pip. I thought they don't get off the nest when the eggs are pipped? I'm watching closely to make sure she goes back.

 

[hentown]

I also have a Bantam that went broody at the end of winter. She disappeared right before a blizzard, and it took me two days to find her. She was tucked inside a wooden pallet that was under a dog house! She stayed there through the blizzard and cold, and right on time, 6 put of 9 eggs hatched. She babied them for 4 weeks, then flew away from them and spent a couple of days solo with her rooster. She even laid an egg in the nesting box. Then again, she stopped laying in the coop. Next, she disappeared, and this time, I found her under my front porch steps with another clutch of eggs! Her first chicks are now almost her size, about 12 weeks old. They are very hardy and brave, free-ranging more than my tenured hens! My husband says we need to have this broody lady "fixed" LOL. It is an amazing thing to watch this whole process - I highly recommend it, especially if you have kids to experience it as well.

 

[RubyNala97]

My broody is off the nest this morning and I just checked the eggs. Looks like 2 internal and 1 external pip. I thought they don't get off the nest when the eggs are pipped? I'm watching closely to make sure she goes back.

She's just standing out in the run, not even eating or drinking. Eggs feel cool now. How long do I have before I need to stick them in the incubator?

 

[fisherlady]

She's just standing out in the run, not even eating or drinking. Eggs feel cool now. How long do I have before I need to stick them in the incubator?

Mine have gotten off of the eggs up to pipping, once after an external pip. It isn't often, usually ours sit tight from day 20 till hatch complete but every hen is different.

I would encourage her back to nest but don't force her. She may have been a bit freaked by the tapping and movement if she is a first timer or hasn't been sitting for at least 14 days.
If she doesn't want to sit again within an hour I would put the eggs in an incubator and give her fake eggs. If she goes back to the nest you can try grafting the hatched chicks back to her.

 

[PeckinChicken]

My hens have had better luck with duck eggs than they have their own. Good Luck!

 

[RubyNala97]

Mine have gotten off of the eggs up to pipping, once after an external pip. It isn't often, usually ours sit tight from day 20 till hatch complete but every hen is different.

I would encourage her back to nest but don't force her. She may have been a bit freaked by the tapping and movement if she is a first timer or hasn't been sitting for at least 14 days.
If she doesn't want to sit again within an hour I would put the eggs in an incubator and give her fake eggs. If she goes back to the nest you can try grafting the hatched chicks back to her.

Thank you. She did go back, as soon as I had rearranged all my eggs to clear out an incubator for them to hatch in. I hope they are ok. They were warm when she first got off but she was off probably about 45 mins and they felt cool before she went back on. I didn't hear peeping from the externally pipped egg but she's been on all day and I'm going to go check it now. She is a first timer!

 

[hentown]

If you read the earlier story about the accidentally refrigerated eggs, I think yours will be fine. My hen leaves her nest usually once a day, often before the rest of the crew is up, to eat undisturbed. It always seems to for about 10 or 15 minutes. Please let us know how it all turns out!

 

[Arrakis]

Hello everyone. About six weeks ago I set up a pet crate in the coop with a broody banty. Only one hatched and with in a few hours the other hens killed it. Very sad....So I built a secure broody area. It's about 8' x 2' x 2'. A few days earlier my Buff Orpington went broody. My plan is to lock her in the entire time. Or, should I put her in lock down the last few days and for a week or so after the chicks arrive? I gave her 15 eggs to sit on probably the max but I figured all would not make it anyways.

 

[Penny Hen]

Hi All. Just a question - I have a beautiful Easter Egger that has gone broody. She has been sitting on anything she can find - other hens eggs or even the ceramic eggs/golf balls in the nest boxes to entice my pullets. This week, I went to collect my duck's egg of the day, and you guessed it, the hen had it tucked away and hit! I have given up - I let her keep the duck egg and I am just wondering if it might hatch just the same. Anyone with this experience??

you will need to mist the egg once a day with water. Duck mommas usually leave the nest for a quick dip in the water before returning to the nest and eggs and bring back with them the moisture. So if a chicken is sitting on a water fowl egg you just mist it.

 

[BackyardMarana]

Im so excited 2 of my splash marans went broody yesterday ,they are sharing the nest and have eggs under both of them? Is it ok for them to brood together ?thanks