Broody Hen: care and when to give fertile eggs

[Inthetetons]

I have a Buff Orpington that's already been boordy for about 8 days. I may be able to give her some fertile eggs from a friend's flock in the next few days. Is that too far along in her 21 day cycle to introduce fertile eggs? I don't want her getting up and leaving them in the final days before they hatch. I'm setting up a special brooding box for her (she's in a shared nesting box now) mainly to give her access to her own food and water. I am not down there all the time, but I'm doubtful she is getting up at all for food and water - she's on the nest everytime I check in.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Depending on the broody, they can sit forever if left unattended. (Some are different though.) I've hatched plenty of chicks under Buff Orpingtons for years, and they always sat that same time and longer before I had enough eggs to set under them. They are excellent mothers who are very patient.

Separating her is a very good thing to do. With that other nesting box, my only concern is if she'll try getting back to her old nesting box. Whenever I move a broody, I put them in a separate coop and make sure that they're settled down in their new nesting box before giving them eggs to incubate. (I do give them other eggs to get them settled down, then switch them with the hatching eggs when she's good.)

 

[centrarchid]

She is coming off nest at least once a day to drink, feed and defecate although not in that order. In typical broody cycles with hens I have watched, hens start the broodiness and set clutch (lay last egg for that clutch) at their maximum weight. Typically, the broody hen would begin losing weight relying upon fat and even muscle reserves for generating heat to keep the eggs warm. That weight loss pattern is particularly evident with hens meeting their nutritional requirements by foraging. Most hens will abort broodiness if they loose too much weight or if they are disturbed too frequently or intensely. It is easy to compensate or even overcompensate for reduced time foraging by providing free-choice access to feed. Then the rate of weight decline is less or non-existent.

I'm partial to allowing my broody hens the ability to get well away from nest to do what they need to refresh themselves. It is not all about nutrition and need to poop. They may need to dust bath and do some preening. The penned broodys are more prone to defecate in nest or very close to nest and track feces back in.

 

[Inthetetons]

Thank you for this great advice. I'm setting up a wire dog crate with a new brooding/nesting box, food and water inside today. Its inside my main coop with the rest of the flock. She should be comfortable there because it's not an entirely new location. I'll settle her in there with some infertile eggs to make sure she is ok there. Since she'll have her own food and water int here I can close the door so she'll stay put. I'm especially happy to have the new location set up so I can monitor that she's eating!

 

[Inthetetons]

She is coming off nest at least once a day to drink, feed and defecate although not in that order. In typical broody cycles with hens I have watched, hens start the broodiness and set clutch (lay last egg for that clutch) at their maximum weight. Typically, the broody hen would begin losing weight relying upon fat and even muscle reserves for generating heat to keep the eggs warm. That weight loss pattern is particularly evident with hens meeting their nutritional requirements by foraging. Most hens will abort broodiness if they loose too much weight or if they are disturbed too frequently or intensely. It is easy to compensate or even overcompensate for reduced time foraging by providing free-choice access to feed. Then the rate of weight decline is less or non-existent.

I'm partial to allowing my broody hens the ability to get well away from nest to do what they need to refresh themselves. It is not all about nutrition and need to poop. They may need to dust bath and do some preening. The penned broodys are more prone to defecate in nest or very close to nest and track feces back in.

This is great advice also. I'll plan to open the dog crate door unless I see her trying to migrate back to the old nest. I'll be giving her bantam eggs - you don't think she'll fuss about the smaller egg size do you.

 

[centrarchid]

Shifting location is how I break broodies

 

[Inthetetons]

yes, I've read that too. Although I saw another hen trying to get in her nesting box with her. I'd feel better if she were in her own space. I'm going to try the move. I think I'll leave the new set up in place today so the whole flock can get used to it and try to move her in there late tonight. If she abandons the new nest, I think I have a black australorp now camping out in a nesting box... a second broody? And she just started this behaviour today so maybe she'll be my backup mama

 

[Ridgerunner]

Before a pullet or hen even starts laying eggs she builds up a lot of excess fat. I've butchered enough pullets, hens, cockerels, and roosters that the different amount of fat is obvious. That excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of while broody. That way she can stay on the nest most of the time instead of needing to go look for food or water. Each hen is an individual and they can store up different amounts of fat. A broody will lose weight as she sits but that's basically fat put there for that purpose. Not a problem.

I've had a broody hen come off of her nest two times a day and stay off for over an hour each time. I've seen a hen regularly come off of her nest in the morning and stay off for only 15 minutes. Several times I've never seen a broody off of her nest but I know she is coming off because she is not pooping in her nest. I see people that say their broody hens never leave the nest. I think most of the time it would be more accurate to say they never see them off of the nest, but as living animals I can't give any guarantees as to what one individual will actually do.

The more the hen eats when off the nest the longer her stored up fat will last. Each hen is an individual and you can never be sure what one will do but I've never had a hen break from being broody in less than 5 weeks once she has shown herself to be a committed broody. I think you have time to start eggs under her.

I let my hens hatch with the flock but since you have decided to move her I won't go through those details or procedures. Many people isolate a broody as you intend to do. Plan to leave her in there until the eggs hatch and keep other hens out of her nest. Not everybody does that but to me it simplifies things and reduces your risks during her incubation.

I think your plan to move her at night is a great idea. But make sure she accepts the move before you give her the eggs. A committed broody hen will try to hatch any chicken eggs or pheasant, turkey, or duck eggs. She'll try to hatch door knobs or golf balls. Those bantam eggs should be fine.

Good luck!

 

[Inthetetons]

This forum is so helpful - thank you all for sharing your knowledge - I've pulled a useful tidbit from each of these replies. Hopefully I'll have a success story to share in a month or so

 

[Inthetetons]

I finally got ahold of 5 fertile eggs. I replaced the duds she was sitting on with the fertile eggs (marked them). I"m going to let her sit on them in her prefered nesting box until we are closer to hatching time - when I'll move her into the kennel I've set up for her privacy. When I tried her in there before she would only stay if i locked her in. I figure she may as well stay in teh nesting box for now since she is happy there. It is elevated so I do plan to move her to have teh hatching take place in a more controlled and safe environment of the kennel. Are there any article that talk more about tips for allowing a hen to hatch and raise her own?