Amber881
Hatching
- Jun 28, 2015
- 4
- 0
- 7
Three days ago I had a White Leghorn go broody. Right, a white leghorn. At first, I thought maybe she was egg bound but when I went to collect the eggs she went at my hand like I was Julius Caesar fluffed up and hissed to no end. Now I had collected eggs the previous day and left them in a bucket on the coop to be collected with the following days eggs. When I went out the next day to collect these eggs and that days eggs, this was when I realized she was broody. Well, she had dumped out the bucket and taken all but two eggs from the bucket. She was laying on about 12 eggs so I let her keep them.
I managed to remove the eggs the following day from the other hens who all share the same box (we accounted for this and made the nest box 3ft long and added two levels) and planned to move her at night, but didn't get around to making her a pen so we decided just to put a box on the coop floor with her the night following. By the time I got to her that next day the hens had laid and all of the eggs, 4-5 had been confiscated by this hen. So now I have a two-day gap in the eggs she's laying on. I did get her moved to a private box but wasn't sure which eggs were which. So I guesstimate she has around 15 eggs plus or minus 3 under her. I tried to count them in the move but she was so irritated the rooster starting attacking us so we just moved the eggs put her in the box and ran for it.
I know she'll abandon any eggs after a day or so. I did set up the incubator just in case she abondons the brood at any time. Should I plan to step in and take the eggs left in the nest? If so when should I remove the unhatched ones and put them in the incubator? This is the first time I've had a broody hen, or even have done the incubating thing. I'm a little nervous, especially with the gap in time between the eggs.
I managed to remove the eggs the following day from the other hens who all share the same box (we accounted for this and made the nest box 3ft long and added two levels) and planned to move her at night, but didn't get around to making her a pen so we decided just to put a box on the coop floor with her the night following. By the time I got to her that next day the hens had laid and all of the eggs, 4-5 had been confiscated by this hen. So now I have a two-day gap in the eggs she's laying on. I did get her moved to a private box but wasn't sure which eggs were which. So I guesstimate she has around 15 eggs plus or minus 3 under her. I tried to count them in the move but she was so irritated the rooster starting attacking us so we just moved the eggs put her in the box and ran for it.
I know she'll abandon any eggs after a day or so. I did set up the incubator just in case she abondons the brood at any time. Should I plan to step in and take the eggs left in the nest? If so when should I remove the unhatched ones and put them in the incubator? This is the first time I've had a broody hen, or even have done the incubating thing. I'm a little nervous, especially with the gap in time between the eggs.
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