Staggered hatch under a broody hen -- what works best?

Right now I have a hen setting on eggs that were started on different days. Biscuit, a buff-colored mixed-breed bantam, started brooding in the nest box of her pen, and her flock mates made a few contributions to her clutch after she began but before I moved her. Usually I will swap a broody hen's eggs once I've moved her, but I'm hoping this time that the original eggs are Biscuit's own and I can get at least one more hen like her. This year Biscuit's sister Cookie was killed by a bobcat, and they have been fantastic broody Mamas. Previously Biscuit has set on many clutches of chicken eggs, duck eggs, an experimental clutch of 3 duck eggs followed a week later by 3 chicken eggs (they all hatched on the same day and she took care of this mixed family together), and last year hatched a goose egg and adopted another newborn gosling the next day.

I've never had a hen with a staggered hatch before so I don't know if she would actually leave the nest if there were still chicks hatching or lying wet in the nest. Usually the hens seem to stay on the nest for 24-36 hours after the first egg pips before taking the dry fluffy chicks for their first outing. Any unhatched eggs are usually left behind to cool, even if they have viable chicks in them.

My plan now is to take the hatched chicks as they dry and brood them until all the eggs have hatched, then return everyone to Biscuit to tend. Has anyone done this, have you had success? I'm counting on Biscuit to be agreeable, since last year she accepted a gosling another hen hatched and rejected. Biscuit had hatched a gosling of her own the day before and allowed the new gosling to join her.

I don't have an electric incubator so the other option, to take the unhatched eggs and finish incubating them, isn't possible. What else have you tried, what has worked?

Go with your plan. Just make sure you get the chicks fairly early, before momma thinks of taking them to food and water.

When Biscuit began to set I didn't mark the date on my calendar, I just had a vague idea that the eggs might begin on Sat. Yesterday we went to check on her and found a fluffy baby and another egg beginning to pip. I took the babe and put it in with 5 other week-old chicks someone had hatched in their classroom and returned to me. They are all getting along fine together. Last night the pipper was out but still damp, this morning I put it in with the chicks. Didn't see any more pips, but heard pecking inside another egg.

One thing I didn't figure was Biscuit getting nourishment during this prolonged hatch. Broody hens seem to be fine for the 24-36 hours it takes for a typical clutch to hatch, not needing food or drink for that time. But what about now? It will be much longer than that, and I don't want her to be deprived. I'm leaving the eggshells near her, because sometimes I've seen the hens eating the membranes. I also made a scrambled egg and gave it to her and was glad to see her eat it eagerly. Her color & appearance is bright, so I'm not too concerned.

I hope to return not only Biscuit's hatched chicks but these other 5 chicks, and hope she'll adopt them all.

It is good that you are taking out the newly hatched babies. I guess what I would do is continue that until there are only a few eggs left under her (maybe 3) and during the night you could slip the babies under her. THe problem wont be for her to adopt them but for the chicks to adopt HER. The earliest to hatch will already be eating on their own and probably wont listen to her when she calls. THey seem to get pretty dependent of people quickly! Maybe just return the newest hatchers to her since you already have a brooder set up going?
I usually put a dish of water and food next to the mama when doing this sort of thing. Especially with the really dedicated ones that wont get off the nest. I had 4 polish/silkies last year that sat all summer long. Every time a nest would hatch the "sisters" took the babies and the other two continued to set. By the end of summer they had a very large family that the 4 of them raised up! Very cute to watch...Terri O

This afternoon another chick hatched and I took it out and put it with the others. But after dark I candled the remaining eggs to find that all but one is clear, and that one was pipping. So I put the first three back with Mama Biscuit and they snuggled right in under her. I hope to find the fourth one hatched out in the morning, and Biscuit ready to take them for their first outing together. There is chick feed & water available in her pen. I'll remove those clear eggs in the morning too, we left them behind just in case my candling skills aren't as good as they should be.

Best of luck! I hope you get another Biscuit, she sounds like quite the hen!

As of this morning that 4th chick had hatched. Biscuit had moved away from the remaining eggs and was puffed up over all 4 of the chicks. They were nearer the food & water and the chicks were busy running in & out of Mama's feathers, grabbing food & drink and going back to watch TV or whatever it is they do in there. We like to imagine that the Mama hens have a lot of different rooms there under their fluffed feathers and the chicks stay busy running around playing and going up & down the stairs and in & out of all the rooms.

I don't think I'll do this again intentionally, I still think it's best to have the hen remain undisturbed and have all her chicks hatch on one day. I think it could be detrimental to the hen's health to not move, eat, drink or poop for several days in a row. And there's a risk with removing the chicks and returning them to a hen who may reject them. But if any hen could handle a staggered hatch, it would be the remarkable Biscuit.

I wonder if it would be possible, instead of letting the eggs accumulate under the hen for several days and having a staggered hatch, to remove the eggs under the hen daily while leaving a few "falsies" under the broody hen to keep her in place. Would the eggs have begun to develop, and then die when removed? Or would they remain viable kept at room temps until you got the clutch you wanted, then place them all at once under the hen, removing the falsies?

"Oh Biscuit! We have a new experiment to try with you!"

I will try to get photos here soon, my computer has a broken part and I can't upload pix.

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Congratulations!!

I do this all the time. Works just dandy. Even if they start a bit it doesn't hurt them. I also candle about 10 days out and remove any potential 'bombs'.

Yup--I do the same thing...but I dont candle them. My broodies seem to kick out the bad ones before anything happens. It's the geese that need lessons in that particular skill! Congrats on the hatch--cant wait to see pics of Biscuit and her brood! Terri O