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.

 

[Possum-Pie]

Ok, last update on our broody Orpington. One morning/afternoon in jail broke her of broodiness. I checked on her in the evening and she was really agitated. I took her out and put her on the roost with the rest, figuring that if she went back to the nest I'd put her back in the dog crate. She snuggled in with her sisters and after 10 min, looked content. This morning she was out in the run with the rest, so 21 broody days were broken very quickly.

 

[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

 

[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!

 

[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...

 

[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.

 

[MountainWoman73]

What breed is she?

A bielefelder.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

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

My best broody will stay put even though the eggs are not viable and won't kick any eggs out. I have another hen that has never gone broody before but she seems to be the nest monitor. She'll come inspect the eggs when the broody is off the nest and eat the bad eggs. At first I was so mad at her cause I thought she was killing the chicks but then I noticed the smell on her was like mild rotten egg smell and all the eggs she left were still viable so I started watching her all day until the chicks hatched and she would go in every day and look at them but not bother them unless it died. Then there's another hen that's also never been broody but she will occasionally come sit on the eggs when the broody leaves in the late afternoon to eat and drink and then hops off and goes outside as soon as the broody comes back. It's so interesting to see them work together like this, they're far more intelligent than I gave them credit for.

 

[Rapp7]

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.
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Hello I would be interested in some advice on farm store chicks vs egg hatch trick. My hen went broody two weeks ago. I gave in and put 4 fertile eggs (99% sure fertile bc I picked the eggs based on my roosters favorite hens) but sadly 3/4 broke yesterday and she was full of yolk and her own poop. I got it cleaned up and cleaned her up and decided to try another round. However I am concerned because by the time the new eggs hatch (if they even do) she’ll be almost 6 weeks brood mode and it’s taking a toll on her.