Broody Hen Charged With Egg-Theft! Do I need to prepare?

[MROO]

Hi!
I have a first-time broody who has been stealing eggs from her sisters. Pepper started with five, and over the course of the next week, added 5 more, two and three at a time. I marked the first eggs, but not the second, thinking she was done. Then the third batch arrived. Now I have no idea which ones are which! Lesson learned ... too late!

Today is Day 7. Tomorrow night, I will try to move the pending family into their broody box. They can't stay on the four-foot-high shelf Pepper commandeered! When I do, we'll candle as many as we can without upsetting her. Hopefully they are all close to the same development stage.

If they aren't, should I be concerned? Will a hen stay with viable eggs until they're done hatching or will she abandon the late-comers to tend to the new babies? And if she does, is there anything I can do to prepare? These are critically endangered Nankins - and I really want these little ones to make it!

Zheesh, I wasn't this nervous with my own babies!

 

[redranger209]

If the hen will abandon the eggs to care for the chicks. Take all that aren’t within a couple days of each other and hatch in an incubator. You’ll be able to give her the earliest incubator babies.

 

[MROO]

Thanks! I took the first batch that false-started to my Bio-teacher sister, who put them in her incubator at school. Those have done well, so far, six out of seven were still viable last week, with two looking "iffy." They went into lockdown on Friday (a little early, but Monday at school would have been too late,) but so far, so good. Those eggs were only under Mama for a few days, so I knew we could do it with early eggs. I wasn't sure I could transfer eggs that were almost ready to hatch. I hope I don't have to find out, but it's best to be prepared. Any suggestions on bator settings that late? I want to have it set up and ready, just in case. \

 

[redranger209]

If it’s lockdown put it half a degree lower (37) no egg turner, and high humidity. If before then, just the regular 37.5 and medium low humidity.

 

[HenniesInMyHeart]

You can drop the temp to 98.5 if you want to, or leave it at 99.5, and have humidity at 65%-75%. Do NOT turn in the last days; leave them in lockdown until they all hatch!

 

[MROO]

We have our first Nankin chick! So far, he/she is a solo. A couple of weeks ago, my little Nankin hen, Pepper, abandoned her first nest. In desperation, I took the seven eggs to my bio-teacher sister, who set her up her incubator just for them. We didn't have much hope, but Nankins are critically endangered, so I wanted to give the eggs every chance possible. Well, despite the delay and being notoriously awful incubator eggs, we now have at least one chick! I'm happy to get any at all, so the one is a real blessing, but I'm still crossing my fingers for one or two more ... ever hopeful!


ps - Mama is back on the nest and well into week two. This time, though, we have the incubator up and running, ready to go, if we need it. Here's to hoping Pepper makes it the whole way through!

11:08 - Edited to add picture. I sure hope it worked, this time!

 

[Broodygranny]

Keep us updated! Pictures are welcome!