6mths old and Broody?

[drdoct]

I SO wasn't ready for this. One of my Red Stars that has only been laying since early July has a spot on the nest with an egg underneath her. It's our first broody hen so please bear with my ignorance. She's on a brown egg which means it's one of the 6mth olds egg. I'd rather raise a couple of EE chicks from my yr old EE chickens. I should have known this nutty bird would be the one to go off the rails. About 4 weeks ago we noticed she wasn't sleeping in the coop. They freerange all day and have never had problems going into the coop. She started sleeping in the tree. WAY up in the tree. Too high to grab. So I just figured that she can just do her thing and if she lives she lives.

Now she's all upset in the hen house sitting on not even HER egg. I wouldn't mind hatching a couple of chicks. At 6 mths and such an oddball chicken.. I wonder if I should even try.

My Question : How long can an egg sit after being laid and still be viable without her sitting on it? That question is because I'd like to slip some EE eggs under her but I work during the day so it would be like 5 hrs before I can do that.

 

[sourland]

The generally accepted rule of thumb is that eggs may be held for up to 10 days before being set. I have kept them far longer than that with acceptable hatch rates.

 

[Coops Dad]

I've routinely incubated week old eggs and had 95% hatch rates.

Lay your EE eggs against her chest and see if she tucks them under herself. If she does, it means she's accepting them as hers.

 

[drdoct]

Now the other Red Star has been on the newly laid egg on the other side for over an hour. What the heck?!?!? I'm not building more boxes for everyone to have one.

 

[Yardmom]

Not unusual for a hen to sit for an hour when laying so might not be an issue there. Hens sitting on eggs could care less who laid the egg. One mistake I see frequently is not starting the eggs at the same time. If she has an egg under her, remove it when placing the eggs you want hatched. If you don't the hen likely will leave the nest when chick one hatches and the rest never hatch. Also mark the eggs so you know which ones they are. Your other hens will lay eggs in the nest that will need removed each day.

 

[SueT]

Sometimes young pullets are unreliable brooders. Or they might hatch the eggs, but not properly care for the chicks. I would break her of the broodiness by putting her in a wire cage for 3 days/nights, you’ll get another chance when she’s more mature. As in next year...

 

[drdoct]

Sometimes young pullets are unreliable brooders.

I have a lot to learn about it. If she's still there when I get home, I'm going to glove up and remove her. I don't think I'd trust her since she's the goofy one. Funny thing is last night was the first night in a while she's spent in the coop. Maybe after I break her, she'll be broken of her tree roost as well.

 

[Yardmom]

Please make your decision on weather you want to let her sit based on if you want chicks now or not. Her "unusual" behavior sounds like more wild instincts. I have had several pullets brood eggs just fine.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Yes plenty of birds (silkies and OEGB) brood fine there first year. And games do often as well.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My test of whether a hen is broody enough to deserve eggs is that she has to spend two consecutive nights on the nest instead of where she normally sleeps. I don't care what she does during the day or how she acts during the day. Does she spend two consecutive nights on the nest?

Please make your decision on weather you want to let her sit based on if you want chicks now or not. Her "unusual" behavior sounds like more wild instincts. I have had several pullets brood eggs just fine.

I agree with Yardmom. I've had as much success with first time broodies as I have with hens that have actually hatched and raised a brood before. I've had as many problems with broodies that have hatched and raised before as I have with first time broodies. I don't give guarantees about chicken behaviors, you never know what any one living animal will do in any specific case. I don't know if she will be successful or not but if I wanted her to hatch chicks I'd give her eggs.

My Question : How long can an egg sit after being laid and still be viable without her sitting on it? That question is because I'd like to slip some EE eggs under her but I work during the day so it would be like 5 hrs before I can do that.

A broody hen will try to hatch her own eggs, any other hen's eggs, duck, turkey or pheasant eggs, fake eggs, door knobs, and about anything else. So you can give her other eggs.

Under ideal conditions you can store eggs two weeks or more before you start incubation and expect them to hatch. Most of us don't have ideal conditions but you can still store them a while. The further away from ideal conditions the shorter time you can store them. People have written very long articles about this and it can get complicated but I'll give you a short simple method. Lay your eggs on their side in a place that stays under 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Put an x on one side of the egg and an o on the other side. Three times a day roll the egg over. Do this and your eggs should be good for at least week.

All the eggs need to go under her at the same time. If you don't start them at the same time you get a staggered hatch where the hatch is spread out over several days. Those are seldom good hatches and are very stressful.

To keep her broody, if she truly is broody, mark an egg or two and leave them under her. These are sacrificial. Other eggs may show up under her if the other hens have access to the nest. As long as you remove those new eggs daily you can still eat them.

You have two options. You can let her hatch with the flock or isolate her from the flock. If you let her hatch with the flock, collect all the eggs you want her to hatch and mark them. I use a black Sharpie. Then when you have all the eggs you want her to hatch remove the sacrificial eggs and throw them away. Put all the hatching eggs under her. Then once a day after the other hens have laid check under her and remove any eggs that don't belong.

If you isolate her, build a pen with a nest and room for food and water. Build it so she cannot get out and no other hen can get in. Plan on leaving her in that until the eggs hatch. She may break from being broody when you move her so move the sacrificial eggs with her until you see that she has accepted the move. Then replace the sacrificial eggs with the real hatching eggs.

As for her sleeping in the tree. If she is not broody, if you lock her in the coop for a week or more, she will likely get in the habit of sleeping in the coop. That's the only way I can think of to retrain her, don't let her sleep in that tree for at least a week. Even that may not be long enough.

Good luck. Let us know what you decide and how it goes.