My first broody hen and I think I want to give her some eggs to hatch - is my plan OK?

[Chad Oftedal]

I thought I'd post an update here - it's been a few days and we've had a few developments. The broody hen and I have come to a few compromises.

Early this week, I was gone for a few days. I left her be in the nest she has chosen with a few unfertilized eggs to keep her busy. I made a new nest box for the other hens to use, and I let it roll for three days. When I came back, she was still sitting on her nest, grumpy trance stare and all. I put her out in the run on Thursday morning so I could see how she behaved and get a look at her nest. The eggs in her nest were covered in a bit of yoke and there were more than when I left, so some of the hens still muscled their way in to lay next to her. It wasn't bad, though, as some chose to lay elsewhere. Not in my nicely crafted nest box, but a corner of the coop. Sigh. Anyway, Thursday morning she did her 15 minute routine or so and then came back in the coop and went to the nest. I left for the local farm that sells fertilized eggs and picked up six Crested Cream Legbar and four Olive egger eggs.

Friday morning, I went out and put her in the run, and when I got back into the coop, two other hens had taken that 1 minute opportunity to go into the coop and straight to her nest and settle in to lay. Seeing that, I just decided that I'm going to be too nervous to have her deal with the other hens and her nest. Given that while I was away, an egg was broken, I think I'd feel bummed if that happened while she was sitting on fertilized eggs. I totally get that she herself could cause some breakage, and there certainly are no guarantees, but, for this bunch, I think keeping her in the coop, but sheltered from the others will be the best bet now that I have more observations. So, I did some quick measuring and built a new panel that would cover the only open area I had left under the droppings boards. Late Friday afternoon, I put her out in the run again, installed my new panel and moved an existing one (so thankful - and lucky - that space is pretty modular) and fashioned an 8 foot long by 2 foot wide pen area for her. None of the other birds can get to her, but with it being open wire, her area is still visible to the rest of the flock. I made a feed and water station for her and also a short roost bar she can hop up onto if she wants. When she does her 15 minute routine in the run, it's usually eat, drink, hop up on roost bar and preen for a short bit, then back in. I thought if I could give her all of that in her space, it might be a good idea. With her out in the run, and everything quickly installed, I took out the unfertilized eggs, I put in the real, marked eggs, and then turned her nest box 90 degrees so she could enter it without having to squish her way in. With the addition of the last panel, it made getting into the nest box the way it was currently facing, a tight squeeze - if not impossible. By turning the box 90 degrees, it now faced the right way for the pen layout. Within about 30 seconds of me finishing it up, she was at the pop door and coming back in the coop. She right away saw there was a panel blocking the way to where her nest box was located. She wasn't too upset, but not happy either. I gently guided her through the door to the pen and got her to the edge of her nest box. She stayed there while I closed the door behind her, and then I left the coop for her to figure it out. Outside the coop, I could hear her pecking at the fence which I knew meant that she wasn't going in to her box yet. This went on for a couple minutes. I thought that maybe she couldn't see very well because it is dark under there. I went to get a small flashlight that I was going to shine in there so she could see the entrance and her eggs. But, when I opened the door to the coop, she had already figured it out herself and was back sitting on the eggs. Quite a relief.

That brings us to tonight, which is end of day one. I checked on her several times, and she was holding tight with the trance look. She hadn't touched her water or food that I could tell, so I'm thinking tomorrow if that's still the case, I'm going to need to put her in the run to do her thing. If it comes to that, I'd set her out there, then close her pen door so none of the other birds could get in there, then when she returns, open her pen door and let her go back in. Hopefully, she'll venture out on her own to her feed and water. Oh, taking the advice of others, her feed and water station are about 3-4 feet away from her nest box. With only 8 total feet to work with, it was the best compromise I could do in the 15 minutes I had to install everything. I've added pictures here at the bottom to give more detail and context to the setup.

Once again, thanks to everyone following along and offering advice. It's exciting to have "real" eggs under her now and know that tomorrow morning is "day 2". Long ways to go, for sure, but it has really started. I'm also seriously entertaining the idea that was suggested of watching for day old chicks in my area in case I need to supplement the hatch. My wife really wants a Buff Orpington and I'd like a Speckled Sussex, but I couldn't find those eggs around here and our time was limited. We'll just see how things shake out over these next weeks, but I think preparing for that possibility might be a good idea.

 

[aart]

She hadn't touched her water or food that I could tell, so I'm thinking tomorrow if that's still the case, I'm going to need to put her in the run to do her thing.

Give her a couple days.
I wouldn't put her in the run, just get her off the nest and maybe dip her beak in the waterer.
Is that the same type of waterer she's used to using?

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Give her a couple days.
I wouldn't put her in the run, just get her off the nest and maybe dip her beak in the waterer.
Is that the same type of waterer she's used to using?

OK, good to know!

Yes, she’s seen that food bin and waterer before - and used them. It was the setup I had for them when the four of them were getting first integrated into the flock. It was in the “be seen but not touched” phase.

Maybe today when I put fresh water in it, I’ll make a fill line on the side for reference so it’s easier to monitor the level.

 

[Mrs. K]

I just want to laugh, AArt is a respected poster by me, and we do things so differently.

I WOULD want her out in the run with the other birds at least every other day. She needs to stomp around and terrorize them. She needs to dirt bath, and she needs a little sunshine and fresh air. This keeps her part of the flock. Keeps her status high in the flock for when she brings the chicks out. This is a good time to sneak a peak with the eggs.

BUT you will need to make it a time, that you can make sure she goes back to the right spot. Set a timer on your phone. Once the hearts starts beating in the eggs, they do create some of their own heat, and an egg is a lot of water, which tends to cool slowly, so that keeps them alive for some time without the added heat...

Longest 21 days ever. And often times, it is closer to 20 days with a hen brooding them. I never have much luck candling them, but I tend to have colored eggs, and browns can be hard to see through. If an egg sloshes, toss it, it is done. Being as you want a couple different kinds of chicks - I would order them to come about day 21. You can add them in the dark at night, after the eggs have hatched.

Not all eggs will hatch. Once on here, they kept a running total of eggs set and percentage that hatched. People all over contributed data, and when it got up to a thousand eggs - well a 50% hatch was the average. So I figure anything over a 50% is a good hatch. If none of them hatch, you can give the live chicks, and still enjoy the hen and chicks without having to break her from being broody.

Mrs K

 

[aart]

Maybe today when I put fresh water in it, I’ll make a fill line on the side for reference so it’s easier to monitor the level.

Absolutely!
And smooth the top of the feed in the cup so you can see if she's been at it.
Broody poops will be obvious.

I WOULD want her out in the run with the other birds at least every other day. She needs to stomp around and terrorize them. She needs to dirt bath, and she needs a little sunshine and fresh air. This keeps her part of the flock. Keeps her status high in the flock for when she brings the chicks out. This is a good time to sneak a peak with the eggs.

Good points, if you have time to supervise....so on other birds get into the nest and that the broody goes back to the right place.

My broody enclosure has it's own separate run, I forget that sometimes when advising others.

 

[Sussex19]

I agree with Mrs. K, although that only works if you have the time to keep an eye on her, like aart said!

 

[Chad Oftedal]

I thought I'd update everyone here on what I did today. In short, everything is going well.

This morning I decided to put the Wyze cam that I already had in her pen area on a cloud subscription. For $1.99 a month, it's super cheap to now have cloud recording for her camera. That will let me see if and when she gets up off the nest on her own. I activated that about 8:00 am this morning and by 4:00 pm, she hadn't left the nest. This matched with not seeing her food touched or any change in water level that I could tell. So, at a bit after four, I took her off her nest and out into the run. I then went back in and looked at her nest - all eggs look good, she's moved them around a bit which I'd totally expect. No issues that I could see there at all. She did her huffing and puffing at the other girls out in the run. Got into a brief scrap with one of the other hens - just a bit of chest bumping, lasted all of five or six seconds. The top hen did chase her a bit now and then, but that's kind of how it's always been with them. Nothing really physical at all, just some running.

After eating a little bit, she chose to jump up on the outside roost bar and do her preening. She seems to really like that, that's been consistent every time she's been put out in the run. She probably stayed up on the bar a good 15 minutes or so. While she was up there, since she hadn't eaten a lot, I got the idea to bring some Scratch and Peck 3 grain scratch to her. I let her eat it out of my hand, and she really seemed to enjoy that. She was growling the whole time, which was pretty funny, but she ate a good bit which I was glad to see, because I think she'd eaten very little in the last 48 hours.

I headed back in to the coop and kept guard. None of the other hens really bothered to come in and I think that's because all the laying was done, so they were content to be out in the run. Eventually, she decided to come back into the coop. I opened her pen door, and she kind of just stayed in the middle of the coop for a minute or so, not really sure what she should do. I reached down and sort of guided her through the pen door, and then she seemed to get her bearings and went from the door into her nest box. She sat back on the nest and seems content again.

It's a bit interesting to me that, though I can't be certain, she stayed on the nest for nearly 48 hours. But once place in the run, she's happy to take her break for a little while. Today's break was probably 35 minutes or so. She's, so far, not initiating a break on her own, but once removed from the nest and put in the run by me, she seems to decide it is a good idea to have a break and does her thing.

So, that's where we are here coming up on the end of day 2. With my camera now recording, I think my plan will be see if she's come off the nest at all on her own, and if not, around five or so, take her off the nest and help her take a break.

Also, it is dark under there where she's penned in. The coop is already shaded, so it doesn't get a ton of natural light, and then being under the droppings boards, it's even more dark. I'm wondering if a real small light (very low wattage) in her pen area would be worth adding? I have a Wyze Smart Plug, so I could put it on a timer and at the far end of the pen area. It certainly wouldn't shine on her or the nest, but just provide a bit of ambient light. I don't know if she saw the feed and water easier if she'd get up more, or if she's just that content to sit that it wouldn't matter. If my coop wasn't shaded most of the time, I think the ambient daylight would brighten it up in there more than it does. It's just something I was curious about. If there's no need, I'm more than happy to skip it.

 

[Mrs. K]

Truthfully, they tend to sit tight. I move mine about every third day. But I don’t have mine in lock down, so she may get off unbeknown to me. I just check 2-3 times a day. A camera would be fun. If you let her go out into the run, I would not worry about the light.

 

[Mrs. K]

Also I would not worry about the feed, I think it is kind of like a hibernation mode. They just sit there, and the best thing is not to bother them too much. I have worried about water when we had some scorchers over 100. I did not get a good hatch, I think was too hot. Sometimes I could get her to drink but mostly she ignored it and me. The best advice is to let them do it their way. A lot of people ruin it trying to be kind and interfere too much.

 

[Chad Oftedal]

Also I would not worry about the feed, I think it is kind of like a hibernation mode. They just sit there, and the best thing is not to bother them too much. I have worried about water when we had some scorchers over 100. I did not get a good hatch, I think was too hot. Sometimes I could get her to drink but mostly she ignored it and me. The best advice is to let them do it their way. A lot of people ruin it trying to be kind and interfere too much.

Thanks, that's good insight!

I'm definitely asking a lot of questions up front since I haven't been down this path, but it's mainly to make sure I have things set up early to the best of my abilities and then let it run. I definitely don't want to over think it too much as a lot of it will be out of my hands anyway.

Weather wise, it looks like we've caught a really good window for her. Only one day so far showing to be 80 degrees and then the rest of the time - close to hatch day - are all in the low to mid 70's. The coop is already pretty well shaded, so heat, unless extreme, is usually not a concern in my case.

I'm excited about the camera as well. If nothing else, just a chance to observe on how long a broody will sit without moving around on her own. I can definitely see the hibernation analogy here - if the lack of eating and drinking was fatal, they'd be dying off on the nests. Mother nature seems to have a plan that works here.