Broody buff orpington

[marc81]

I have had a buff orpington hen go broody and has been on eggs for over a week now, but they are not fertile. I was wondering if I put some fertile eggs under her next week when I got them if you think that she would hatch them out? never had orpingtons before dont know what to expect.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Take the below advice with a grain of salt, as I am no expert on this, lol.

I have only had two broody hens before, and let one hatch out eggs. But I do have BOs.

My opinion is that if she has stuck with it for a week, she just might stay. The best situation is of course if you have an incubator you can place them in if she gets off the nest.

Once the eggs start hatching, place food and water there so that she doesn't have to get off the nest to eat and drink. She will need to teach the little ones to eat and drink without leaving the other hatching eggs.

She will still leave to poo once a day but the babies need to eat and drink.

Don't move her nest until the babies hatch if you want her somewhere else (if you do, she might get off the nest). The newly hatched babies can survive without food or water for a maximum of a couple days (I don't recommend this though) and I would go ahead and move them after the first one hatches if the food and water is really far away.

This part is tricky and take my advice with a grain of salt. I moved my girl right before the eggs hatched and it worked well. It was really cold in the coop and the nest box was breezy. I didn't want my chicks hatching there.

But if you move them you take the chance that they will get off the nest. I hope this helps, and I hope others will help you.

By the way, you can plug "broody hen" in the BYC search bar and read LOTS of threads on broody hens.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Yes, she will hatch them. Doesn't matter that she's been on duds for a week, chickens don't have a sense of time. Orps are a broody breed, so most will sit well and are excellent mothers.

 

[Pinky]

Quote:
I strongly agree with this^

 

[marc81]

Thanks for the help everyone,when I get the fertile eggs do I just take her off the nest and replace the duds with the fertile ones and then put her back on?

 

[Mtn Margie]

Quote:
With my BO that I just put eggs under yesterday, I made her get up, ie pulled her off the nest and set her down about two ft away and then made her stand up and drink and eat. While she was eating I replaced the duds with the fertile ones and I had a very happy chicken when she went back to the nest. It seems that she is so broody that I will be having to make her get up to eat and drink. We'll see. She is in a dog crate with food and water in it for her.

 

[galanie]

Quote:
With my BO that I just put eggs under yesterday, I made her get up, ie pulled her off the nest and set her down about two ft away and then made her stand up and drink and eat. While she was eating I replaced the duds with the fertile ones and I had a very happy chicken when she went back to the nest. It seems that she is so broody that I will be having to make her get up to eat and drink. We'll see. She is in a dog crate with food and water in it for her.

I pretty much have to do that with my BO broodys. None of them seemed to get up more that once every 2 days or more (!) unless I pulled their fluffy botttoms off the nest and sometimes even had to lock them out of the broody pen. And I've also been lucky (I guess) because moving nest/eggs/whatever never has broken the broodiness. If you read how hard it is to break them sometimes it makes you wonder about all the advice to be really careful about moving them. Maybe a less broody breed needs more care? I don't know.

 

[Mrs. K]

How do you know if they are getting off the nest or not? I mean how do you know that they don't get off the nest when you are not there? I never get mine off the nest. Last year, I did see my broody off the nest one time. This year, I have seen her off the nest twice, but if I hadn't I would suppose she was getting off to get a drink and eat a bite when I was not there.

Mrs.K

 

[Happy Chooks]

Mrs. K :

How do you know if they are getting off the nest or not? I mean how do you know that they don't get off the nest when you are not there? I never get mine off the nest. Last year, I did see my broody off the nest one time. This year, I have seen her off the nest twice, but if I hadn't I would suppose she was getting off to get a drink and eat a bite when I was not there.

Mrs.K

Yes, they will sneak it when you are not there. I started watching the food and water levels, but my hen was separated from the others.​

 

[axion_lotus]

Good luck with your broody, when her chicks hatch out let us know how they're doing.