questions on first time broody....

[smcdermott]

Ok, I have a Buff that went broody while we were on vacation (2weeks ago) and made a nest out in the yard. I just found her nest today by following her "egg song".
She has a nice little nest with what looks like about 8 eggs. But my nice hand fed baby growles at me when I get close. Which I understand is NORMAL.

So, i know I need to decide if I should move her to the coop or not.
BUT. How long does she lay eggs before they start to incubate??

How long should I wait?

Is egg song normal or is she still laying???

Do I need to candle them??? Or let mom do her thing and just wait a month???

21 days right? I have NO clue when she started this. ANY time in the last 3 weeks. Soooooo frustrating. Because I am soooo excited.

The babies will be Buff Orpingtons mom and Lavender Orpington Dad!!!!

 

[dirtsaver]

I agree with Canoe. We have hatched several clutches over the last two years and each time we set the hen up in a corner of the henhouse in a covered nesting box with chicken wire surrounding the area. The wire keeps other hens from laying eggs in that nest but still keeps the broody part of the flock. Once the chicks hatch they are exposed to the rest of the flock yet are protected at the same time. We maintain this seperation for a few weeks as a "safe place" but open it for a few hours a day so the hen and chicks can wander outside if they want. Mama will protect the chicks! All the other hens will soon keep several feet away from the chicks! It's to the point now where our chicks are out in the yard before they are 24 hours old and we've had no problems at all. No illness and no loss to varmits. We just lock them in the brooder corner at night and that's that!

Once you've had a couple of hatches under a broody you'll get spoiled to how little work you have to do....mama hen takes care of everything as long as you keep food and water supplied. No more hatchery orders. No more dusty cardboard boxes in the utility room or basement. No more pasty butt. No more heat lamps. Just sit back and enjoy!

 

[Kev]

Congrats! You're going to be seeing

pretty soon!

Very dark egg with bright, contrasting airspace is a baby growing inside and closer to hatch date than earlier.

It would have been good idea to candle ALL eggs though.... remove the ones that are all bright through the whole egg(making the airspace harder to see).

If you see eggs with babies very plainly in earlier stages- smaller spot with lots of veining and airspace not so contrasting, then those were laid in the nest well after she started sitting by other hens. Those will not hatch with the "older" eggs... would be best to take away those too..

Having too many eggs can actually reduce the hatch rate.. so if the eggs are reduced to 10 eggs after candling, it should be good. But if all eggs are fertile and equally dark.. well just sit and wait!

 

[Kev]

Haha I like how crazy broodies act. But you'll love it when the chicks come....

Have fun, good luck and post pictures on here of her and her babies.

 

[Pork Pie]

From my experience, sometimes they do, other times they don't (and I'm talking about the same hen). Maybe its dictated by temperature or possibly experience at being a mum - I'm honestly not sure. Either way, she knows what she is doing but i know from experience that the waiting is a lot tougher on humans than chickens!

CT

 

[Pork Pie]

WE HAVE BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!
I can only see like 3 popping their heads in and out. How long should I wait to move her????????? (( to make sure everyone is hatched and doing good)) I will be moving her to a cage in the coop so I don't have to put the whole flock on starter feed.

Great stuff!! - exciting eh? How many eggs were set in total? The chicks can survive for a day or so without water or food, so don't worry about leaving them until tomorrow. You could always gently life the mum up and see what else may be going on (and remove spent egg shells). In my experience, viable eggs usually hatch within 12-18 hours of each other, hence i generally give it a full day before moving them to their broody coop.

Let us know how you get on.

CT

 

[ChickenCanoe]

A hen won't continue to lay eggs once she starts setting. See if she is out and about for more than 20 minutes or so a day. If so, she's not broody. Does she sleep in the coop? = not broody
If she is broody, you'll have to move her and the eggs to a nest in a safe place. Predators are everywhere, whether you see them or not.

 

[smcdermott]

She hasn't been sleeping in the coop for over 2 weeks. ""maybe more"" SO I HAVE NO CLUE HOW LONG THE EGGS HAVE BEEN BAKING
We went on vacation and that is when the neighbors noticed that she wasn't going in.
She is (gone) so ofter that we thought that a predator got her. Then realized that she was just showing up to eat.
We have only had chickens for a year now and this is our first broody so it took me a while for my light bulb to come on. Since she has always laid nicely in the nesting boxes, ((even though they free range on our property)) I assumed if any of them went broody, they would do it in the boxes. Stupid me.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You want to mark all the eggs and remove any other hens volunteer to the nest.

And get her out of predator territory.

 

[smcdermott]

So far, none of the other hens are messing with her and they all "seem" to be only laying in my nesting boxes and leaving her alone. she is far away from the coop and all alone. We have a fenced yard and I am hoping to try and move her at night into the coop???? maybe