Brooding hen...starving Help!

[kelly77]

Does anyone have experience with a brooding hen? I have a hen that has been on these eggs for awhile now...I never wrote down the date though but I feel its well over the expected date. I candled the eggs and they have odd air sacks but are moving. My concern is my hen though...I took her and the eggs inside my house...she is so skinny under those feathers..she is starving, although I have been feeding her but I don't think she has been getting enough and she refuses water...so I've tried to feed her foods n add water. She hasn't pooped either...so what do I do? I don't want to loose her

 

[kayakfish]

I have had 4 of my hens go broodie in the past 4 months and well they stat and don't stop until eggs hatch. When I have had a hen or any chicken young or old get weak, I have had wonderful results with the Poultry Nutria-Drench, giving them a dose every 3 days until they pep back up.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

My head tells me that the hen knows what she's doing. I've never heard of anyone on BYC talking about finding their hen dead sitting on eggs. BUT - as a first time broody-hen-owner with a first time broody - I was worried as she'd not been off the nest in three days. I was more worried about her drinking than anything else. She's a big girl and missing a few meals won't hurt her.

At day #3, we picked her up off the nest and placed her next to food and water. She wasn't happy about being moved, for sure. It took her a while to come out of her "broody trance" as she initially just sat there. Then she began to drink and drink and drink. After drinking for quite a while, she finally stood up. She then noticed the food and began to act like a chicken again - scratching, pecking, eating. She ate all she could find and then let out a long loud chorus of song! She did the turkey-fluff, she preened herself, and then she emitted the most horrid poop of all time. We were 10 feet away from the coop and the smell about knocked us over!

After 35 minutes of this eating, drinking, preening routine, she went up the ramp and so very gently situated herself back over her eggs. I feel better that she's had something to drink as it's been a bit warm. In three more days, we'll move her off the nest again if she hasn't done it herself.

 

[sourland]

Physicaly move her to a place away from her eggs. Offer feed and water and allow her to move around so that she defecates. The defecation is important so that she does not soil the nest. If you see movement in the eggs, it is not past the incubation period unless other hens have been adding eggs to the clutch. Under normal setting circumstances a hen gets to leave her eggs once or twice a day for as much as 20 minutes +.

 

[kelly77]

Physicaly move her to a place away from her eggs. Offer feed and water and allow her to move around so that she defecates. The defecation is important so that she does not soil the nest. If you see movement in the eggs, it is not past the incubation period unless other hens have been adding eggs to the clutch. Under normal setting circumstances a hen gets to leave her eggs once or twice a day for as much as 20 minutes +.

We marked the eggs so these are the ones she has been on, she has not left the nest at all ..she tried to the other morning and the whole flock attacked her. She is in my house now w her eggs. In a tote. It has been some nights 20 below zero, although we have some heat in the coop...lowest w heat has been 10 degrees...even with my efforts to keep it warmer. I can feel her bones. Should I break her or let nature take its course?

 

[dorklingmomma]

Someone gave me advice on scrambled eggs for a newly hatched egg yesterday and the mother loves it too It seem to put her up a bit and they have oat the feed store for80¢ a pound in most areas in love that too that has been keeping my chickens weight up . I didn't have my first hatch till 23 days and my last one today at 25 and i marked the calendar

 

[dorklingmomma]

I wish you good luck

 

[hencrazy505]

i had this problem to but dunking them in water doesn't help keep the hen away from the nest box and if you have fertilized eggs you should get an incubator or some way to keep the eggs warm meanwhile when you take her out of the nest box to feed her .

 

[kelly77]

I had a home-made incubator too but took it apart because we just finished a hatch and a chick died so I said I was done with that. Anyways I just did what sourland suggested and took her off the nest to poop and man did she poop! My whole house smells! She ate a small amount of poached egg in water w a tiny bit of sugar. I candled her eggs..one is chirping ...the other 2 look very odd...the air sacks are slanted with half the chick moving in both parts, one egg is super dark. I know what my eggs looked like when I had them in the incubator and these look real differant. Can they become shrink wrapped like eggs do in the incubator? I can't imagine the humidity has been that high nor the heat. I think she has used all her resourced to keep them warm. I regret not taking her in sooner..Her feathers fooled me

 

[PBlanck]

Thank you for your help! I was concerned because they always come out when I throw the prior day table scraps out to the chickens. But she would not and I was afraid she was not eating. I picked her up, carried her around to the pen door where the food and water was. She complained at first but then ate and drank like crazy. 20 minutes later as I was headed to work I looked out and saw her back on top of the eggs.

Was it necessary? Was she getting up and eating and drinking when I was not watching? Posibly, but if nothing else I feel better now.