am I making my broody hen hatch eggs too early?

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Graceh22

Graceh22

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I have recently got interested in breeding chickens, for my sons third birthday we decided to get him a chicken and a duck which he picked out himself. Our chicken started laying eggs once she got settled, but one day Ifound the coop open and the duck was no where to be seen. A Fox had obviously taken him and I found a scares little chicken behind my roll of hay.
Two weeks went past and she stopped laying because she was lonely, she was always a brilliant layer she lays two a day. I ended up getting a rooster for company and it was love at first sight.I let them out to wander the field with the horses during the day and they wandered to the coop when it was just getting dark.
Then a day before Easter I got a broody chicken with 3 baby chicks. She is a great mother and always protected them. I took them away from her about two weeks ago and they are growing by the day.
I introduced her to Jen the hen and rusty the rooster and they got on like a house on fire. Let's say rrusty was spreading his love around. I had two hens who were having fertile eggs.
But then last week rusty never made it to the coop.I went searching and found feathers everywhere.
So now I have my broody chicken laying fertile eggs. I separated her from the other chickens to let her hatch. She's spending all night and half of her day in with her eggs but spends alot of time out eating and drinking and nosying around, her coop is outside, should I move it into my shed or am I forcing her to sit on them too early after raring chicks? Thanks for reading :) I appreciate any advice you can give
 
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Some breeds can be relentless broodies but if she's off the nest more than an hour or two, the eggs probably aren't viable any more.
Truly broody chickens don't lay eggs once they set on the clutch. If they did continue to lay eggs, the hatch would be staggered and after a couple days the hen would have to leave the nest to care for the chicks, unhatched eggs with embryos in various stages of development would then die. That's why it's important to mark the eggs under a hen when she goes broody so you can remove any that other hens volunteer to the nest later.

Chickens can't lay 2 eggs a day. It takes 24 hours from the time the ovum is released to build albumen, membranes and shells as it works its way through the reproductive tract. The next ovulation won't occur for at least an hour after the last egg is laid. It may be possible to lay more than one a day with multiplle ovulations but that wouldn't be a good thing.

Eggs will continue to be fertile for up to 3 weeks after the last mating.
 
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Thanks for your comment,
Every morning I check the coop there is one egg and she also lays an egg during the day aswel, she's the only hen in thatdowncoop with the chicks so I don't know how she's doing it.
The question I really need answered is are broody hens constantly broody or do they take breaks from hatching after hatching and raring chicks? :) cause she's only away from her chicks about two weeks now.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

So sorry for all your losses. First, I think you need to make a more secure coop for your birds as it sounds like the predators can easily access your birds. As for your hen, if she is not broody, she will not set. You can't force them. Sometimes they are only mildly broody and sometimes they are full force. It is all controlled by hormones. Is she is not setting on these eggs all the time, you can either incubate them yourself or let another hen set on them if you have another broody. But I would get your area secure so you don't lose any more birds.

Welcome to our flock and enjoy yours!
 
I have recently got the Katie 6 bird coop which is excellent ans Fox proof, I let them free range since I've had them but not anymore since I lost rusty. They get a bit of roaming time when I'm out with them myself but thats all.

So the eggs she is laying now can I keep them ans purchase an incubater? And how should I store the eggs until I start the incubation? Thanks for all the help :)
 
You can store eggs up to about 10 days before the fertility starts to decline. You can date them as you collect them so you know how old they are. Put them in an egg carton, large end up. Keep them in a cool spot in the house, somewhere about 50 to 60 degrees. Give them a twist a couple times a day to keep the yolk from sticking to the inside of the egg.

That is it! Good luck with hatching them and keep us posted along the way! :-)
 
Thanks for your comments it was great help, fingers crossed I will get a little rusty junior soon! I'll keep you posted :D
 
I have 3 chicks aswel, two hens and one rooster. So I have four hens, I'll just have to expand before he matures :)
 

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