Broody hen but eggs aren't hatching

[Nbrei]

Hi everyone,
We have a broody hen who has been with her nest for about 30 days now. I say 'with her nest' because we thought she was sitting, but after about a week I found that she had laid an egg in the area we fenced off for her, but away from the nest. She has raised chicks successfully for the past 2 years, and we didn't candle them but I am not going to disturb them at this point. Since I don't know for sure when she started sitting full-time, and she seems to still be in good health, should I just let her continue to sit on them for a while longer? We tried moving her off of them a couple of times, but she just runs right back inside to sit on them.
Any guidance is appreciated, thank you!

 

[FarmerGirl101]

I'm assuming you have a rooster correct? Sometimes eggs don't develop but if you have a rooster there should be some that do develop. Have you candled them at all. At 30 days they will not hatch anymore as they are well over due.

 

[Nbrei]

We have a few roosters so yes, I think at least some of the 7 should have been developing. We never candled them unfortunately. I just didn't know if perhaps they didn't start when I thought they did, and were still in the process. Bummer.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We have a few roosters so yes, I think at least some of the 7 should have been developing. We never candled them unfortunately. I just didn't know if perhaps they didn't start when I thought they did, and were still in the process. Bummer.

Candle at least one. If it's empty, candle another until you find a live embryo or all are candled

 

[Debbie292d]

Do you have an incubator?

I would suggest candling a few and if you find any viable ones, let her go another few days, but after that, I'd cut her off, bring those eggs in, candle every one of them and put the viable ones in the incubator. Get her to eat/drink. She'll be going on 5 weeks of this and that's horrible on her health. You could give the chicks back to her when they hatch. Odds are she'll take them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since I don't know for sure when she started sitting full-time, and she seems to still be in good health, should I just let her continue to sit on them for a while longer?

Since you don't know when she started sitting it is hard to use a calendar on her. I think candling to determine status might be a good thing to try.

Before a hen even starts laying she stores up excess fat. This excess fat is what she mostly lives on while broody. Yes, a broody hen will lose weight while broody but that does not mean it is unhealthy or she is dying. She is using fat put there for that purpose. It is the way they have managed to hatch chicks and still be healthy enough to raise them after they hatch for thousands of years.

How confident are you that all of the eggs are hers and another hen has not been laying eggs in her nest? If all the eggs are hers and there are living chicks in those eggs I'd let her continue. She hasn't been broody long enough for it to be a problem.

If another hen has been adding eggs to her nest then you don't really know what you have. At most she has been broody for 30 days. I'd give her at least another week to hatch the eggs then consider doing something else.

 

[Nbrei]

Do you have an incubator?

I would suggest candling a few and if you find any viable ones, let her go another few days, but after that, I'd cut her off, bring those eggs in, candle every one of them and put the viable ones in the incubator. Get her to eat/drink. She'll be going on 5 weeks of this and that's horrible on her health. You could give the chicks back to her when they hatch. Odds are she'll take them.

We don't have an incubator, but we could get one if we find that there are some viable and see that she is needing to eat. It's good to know I can still candle them. Thank you!

 

[Nbrei]

Since you don't know when she started sitting it is hard to use a calendar on her. I think candling to determine status might be a good thing to try.

Before a hen even starts laying she stores up excess fat. This excess fat is what she mostly lives on while broody. Yes, a broody hen will lose weight while broody but that does not mean it is unhealthy or she is dying. She is using fat put there for that purpose. It is the way they have managed to hatch chicks and still be healthy enough to raise them after they hatch for thousands of years.

How confident are you that all of the eggs are hers and another hen has not been laying eggs in her nest? If all the eggs are hers and there are living chicks in those eggs I'd let her continue. She hasn't been broody long enough for it to be a problem.

If another hen has been adding eggs to her nest then you don't really know what you have. At most she has been broody for 30 days. I'd give her at least another week to hatch the eggs then consider doing something else.

That sounds good. We will candle a couple and see. I know other hens haven't been laying there because my kids fenced off her area when it seemed like she may have been getting broody to try and 'convince' her to sit since she has been our best mama hen each year. So at least they are all from the same time period. Thank you very much!