Broody hen and eggs found

[oakhavenmama]

About 5 days ago in the morning I noticed a hen had gone missing but she was in the coop that night. The next night she didn’t come back. I caught her and locked her up for 2-3 days but yesterday she escaped. This morning I found her and her clutch of eggs in my compost pile!

Problem is I don’t want more chicks or chickens so I brought her in my house. She’s quite upset with me.

I don’t want to put them in the trash without breaking them for fear there are babies in there.

And of course she is so frantic and frankly pissed at me for taking her off the nest.

Has anyone encountered something similar? What did you do?

Or, suggestions?

It’s so hot here in Texas, could the eggs hatch without her? Or would the night temps of 75 degrees prevent that?

Thank you so much!

 

[nuthatched]

Do you have a rooster? You can let the eggs hatch and sell them.

 

[oakhavenmama]

Thank you for responding. The thought of doing that did cross my mind. Eggs are definitely fertile but I am afraid to sell the chicks to just anyone for fear they won’t care for them properly. Then there is the issue of how many roosters will be in 12 eggs!

I’m afraid if I let her hatch them I will get too attached and won’t be able to give them away.

 

[oakhavenmama]

If I did decide to keep them , I think I would have to move them to a safer, covered nest box, correct? As I’m typing this, there are rain clouds moving in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

About 5 days ago in the morning I noticed a hen had gone but she was in the coop that night. The next night she didn’t come back. I caught her and locked her up for 2-3 days but yesterday she escaped. This morning I found her and her clutch of eggs in my compost pile!

Problem is I don’t want more chicks or chickens so I brought her in my house. She’s quite upset with me.

I don’t want to put them in the trash without breaking them for fear there are babies in there.

I don't know how much they may have developed with that timeline. As much as she has been off of that nest they are probably not viable but sometimes you can get a surprise.

There is nothing that looks like a developed chick in there, not it that time span. At most you might see a few blood vessels if you open them.

If it were me I'd boil them, crush them, and feed them back to the flock. But you have such a strong emotional attachment to them I'm not sure what to suggest. I can't see anything that will meet your desires.

It’s so hot here in Texas, could the eggs hatch without her? Or would the night temps of 75 degrees prevent that?

They cannot hatch in your heat without incubation. They may develop a bit but the cooler nights would kill them.

 

[oakhavenmama]

Do you have a rooster? You can let the eggs hatch and sell them.

OK, I am a pushover. I loved the eggs into a nest box in the coop a reunited her with her eggs. She seemed content and settled right down on the eggs.

Question, those two or three nights she was off the eggs, would that cause them to go bad.

 

[oakhavenmama]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

This little black hen is my favorite, she’s the only one who lets me pick her up and she sometimes jumps up on my back if I’m bent over working. I’m guessing she’s half Cochin and half bantam game hen. She’s tiny.

My neighbor had told me he wanted to get chickens and he’s agreed to take all 15 chicks if they hatch. I guess I’ll just let her sit on them and we’ll see what happens!

 

[oakhavenmama]

Well, here’s a development! I put the eggs in a nest box in the hen house, and Pearl, my white Cochin, started to sit on them! Flappy, the black hen went back out to the compost pile where there are no eggs!

 

[Ridgerunner]

The broody hen has imprinted on her location, not the eggs. You have a few options.

You could move the eggs back to her nest and let her incubate them there. Broody hens were doing that since before they were domesticated thousands of year ago. On many small farms where they free range they still do that. Weather can present some issues but they can generally handle that. One risk that deters a lot of people is predators. They may be fine, a predator may not find them, or one may find them in the next ten minutes and kill the hen and destroy the nest.

You can lock that broody hen in a predator-safe pen with a nest and room for food and water. Plan to leave her in there until the eggs hatch. The hen may not accept that move but many do.

That Cochin was probably just laying an egg but if she is truly broody you can let her hatch those eggs and break the other from being broody. You won't know for sure if she is broody for a couple of days.
Good luck!

 

[oakhavenmama]

The broody hen has imprinted on her location, not the eggs. You have a few options.

You could move the eggs back to her nest and let her incubate them there. Broody hens were doing that since before they were domesticated thousands of year ago. On many small farms where they free range they still do that. Weather can present some issues but they can generally handle that. One risk that deters a lot of people is predators. They may be fine, a predator may not find them, or one may find them in the next ten minutes and kill the hen and destroy the nest.

You can lock that broody hen in a predator-safe pen with a nest and room for food and water. Plan to leave her in there until the eggs hatch. The hen may not accept that move but many do.

That Cochin was probably just laying an egg but if she is truly broody you can let her hatch those eggs and break the other from being broody. You won't know for sure if she is broody for a couple of days.
Good luck!

I live in a semi rural area and there have been chickens killed at night when outside of a protected area.

However my biggest fear is a snake killing the chicks when they hatch. I have a resident rat snake.

So I will leave them inside the nest box in the coop and as you suggested closed her in with the eggs.

Thanks again for your responses!