Broody failure

[Possum-Pie]

My Orpington was allowed to be broody this spring. She had 2 eggs, I placed another 3 under her from other hens and marked them all with an "X". After 10 days there was an unbroken egg on the floor with my big "X" on it so I guess she threw it out. On day 10 I candled them and two were unfertile so I took them out and left the other 2. This is day 21, she threw another egg out this morning, and is only sitting on 1 which I'm fairly certain isn't viable.
Do hens know when an egg goes bad?
How do I break her of broodiness after a 21-day failure? I feel so bad for her b/c she did everything right.

 

[MountainWoman73]

My broody's eggs also failed this time. She had 2/5 fertile, then lost both for different reasons. After 23 days I let her "hatch" two farm store chicks, and she's very proud of them.

Let me know if you want advice on giving a hen farm store chicks. I got some great advice on here and it went well for me.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do hens know when an egg goes bad?

Many people think so but I've never had a hen kick an egg out and I've had plenty of eggs that did not hatch. What does your nest look like? Is it easy for an egg to fall out? Do you need to raise your nest lip?

How do I break her of broodiness after a 21-day failure?

I put the hen in a raised wire bottomed cage with food and water but nothing that looks like a nest. The elevated wire bottom lets air under her which seems to help. I let her out after 72 hours. That's usually enough but if she goes back to her nest I put her back in the cage for another couple of days. Mine was purpose built I have so many broody hens but many people use a wire dog cage and set it up on bricks or 2x4's.

 

[Possum-Pie]

This is day 21 that she has been on the nest. As I say, there is one non-viable egg left under her. Will she "give up" since it should have hatched? I can do the dog crate thing, but it seems kinda mean (but so is letting her continue to think she will hatch this egg). I feel so bad for her.
She is in a nesting box 14" off the coop floor with a lip around it...an egg can't accidentally fall out.
There are "experts" saying of course chickens can tell a bad egg, they evolved to not waste time/energy on nonviable eggs. Then there are "experts" who say there is no way a chicken can tell...

 

[JacinLarkwell]

This is day 21 that she has been on the nest. As I say, there is one non-viable egg left under her. Will she "give up" since it should have hatched? I can do the dog crate thing, but it seems kinda mean (but so is letting her continue to think she will hatch this egg). I feel so bad for her.
She is in a nesting box 14" off the coop floor with a lip around it...an egg can't accidentally fall out.
There are "experts" saying of course chickens can tell a bad egg, they evolved to not waste time/energy on nonviable eggs. Then there are "experts" who say there is no way a chicken can tell...

I think it's an individual bird thing, kinda like how some mothers claim that they get a feeling that something is 'wrong' when they're pregnant. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're not, and sometimes they don't get that feeling.

I've had some birds that kick out eggs that don't end up hatching when returned under her, some that kick out perfectly fine and viable eggs, and some that don't kick any out, to the point where they neglect their current chicks to keep incubating eggs that to a human has very obviously failed to survive

 

[NightingaleJen]

My broody's eggs also failed this time. She had 2/5 fertile, then lost both for different reasons. After 23 days I let her "hatch" two farm store chicks, and she's very proud of them.

Let me know if you want advice on giving a hen farm store chicks. I got some great advice on here and it went well for me.
View attachment 3490055

If you don't mind sharing regardless, that might be helpful to many! I have a broody on day 20/21 right now. Crossing my fingers, but it's the first time for both of us!

(I hope you do not mind my asking, @Possum-Pie!)

 

[Possum-Pie]

Agreed. MountainWoman, how did you get your broody to accept an adopted chick?

 

[MountainWoman73]

Agreed. MountainWoman, how did you get your broody to accept an adopted chick?

Here's the good advice I received. I can't take credit, as this was my first time trying it, too!

1.) Get chicks as close to one day old as you can. They'll behave more like newly hatched chicks and have needs more similar to newly hatched chicks, which will help mom take care of them. I got one that had arrived at the farm store one day earlier, and one that had come in a shipment a few days before, so mine were probably 3 and 5 days old? But 1-3 days old is best if you can get them.

2.) Slip them under her in the dark, shortly after sundown. This will give them all night to get used to each other and she'll be unlikely to move in the dark. Remove dead/fake eggs at the same time you put the chicks in.

3.) Get them a little cold first. Leaving the chicks outside for 10-15 minutes won't kill them, but it will make them peep loudly. Let mom listen to them peeping in the dark for a couple minutes before you slip them underneath her. This helps her accept them, but MORE importantly, it makes chicks more likely to accept her. If they're cold, they're going to snuggle right up under mom and stay put, rather than try to run away or jump out of the nest. Often if there is a problem, it's not really the broody rejecting the chicks, but the chicks rejecting the broody.

4.) Check back in 15 minutes to make sure no one has fallen out of the nest, then go to bed and leave them alone until the next morning!

5.) If the broody is in a nest box, you'll need to move her down the next day so chicks can access food and water. (Real newborn chicks don't need food or water until day 2-3, so broody won't know this.) I moved mine around 11 am the next day. I set up food and water in a safe enclosed area away from the rest of the flock, and made a new nest on the floor in a sideways milk crate. Then I took the chicks out from under mom and put them down by the food. They started eating, and she followed them, clucking and complaining, and got them back under her to warm up right away. I kept them shut in their small space for another day before leaving the door open for her to take them out, and they've been doing fine since!

 

[NightingaleJen]

Thank you for the tips, @MountainWoman73! Darling pictures.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Yes, thanks MountainWoman. The only local supplier of chicks only has 2-week-old chicks so I don't want to chance that she will reject them. I guess I'm going to put her in isolation later today. I feel SO bad that she went through 3 weeks of sacrifice for nothing...