broody hen advice,

[Mccluckers]

hello,

i have a bantam frizzle hen whom i have just put 6 fertile bantam eggs under. she had previously been sitting on like 15 non-fertile eggs to keep her broody until the eggs arrived,(obviously she couldn't cover them all) i have now put the fertile eggs under her and one of the eggs is half poking out from underneath her,i have left her for 1/2 an hour to see if she has pushed it in.i presume she still thinks she can't fit them all under because of the last eggs because they could all easily fit if she tried.

she also won't get up to eat and drink so when i push her off she doesn't walk she just sits straight down again, why??

last question,my flock have scaly leg mite and i have put ivermectin on the others(nothing else works) and i was wondering if it would be safe to put some under her or could she come out through her skin and damage the eggs?

thanks in advance.

edit:

i went back down and she hadn't moved it in she was trying to keep all the eggs under her breast so i rearranged them underneath her abit and then she wriggled around and seemed more comfortable, they were all completely underneath) i will going back and check in bit and make sure she is still ok)

update:i went back down and the hen had moved on the nest,all of the eggs where completely covered apart from 1 which was poking out a tiny bit,i think she finds it difficult to cover all of them because she is a frizzle and when a normal hen chest feathers come down and touch the ground her curl up.i will see how she does and maybe take one away,

 

[Judy]

I would just let her do her thing with what she has now, myself. And yes, I would treat her legs as well, in the hope that she won't infect her chicks.

The chances are very good she is getting up to poop and eat and so forth when you are not looking. A broody hen is typically secretive about this, as if to do her business when no predator is in the area. If she is, you should find a singe, large, stinky, "broody poop" once a day -- and no poop in the nest. If she's really not getting up at all, there will be poop in the nest, sooner or later.

Good luck!

 

[Mccluckers]

ok, she is now sitting on all of them. found the broody poop, gross!! would you treat her with ivermectin??

 

[Judy]

I would treat the scaly leg mites but I would probably use Vaseline or Pam. Most any oil based product will work.

 

[Mccluckers]

but the oil may rub off onto the eggs and clog the pores,i think i may just wait until the eggs have hatched then treat straight away,

thanks for all you help