Broody hen egg advice

[Chicken Lady UK]

Hello everyone,
One of my lovely Buff Colombian Brahma girls, Stacey, is broody.
This is not a problem at all, I've now brought her a maternity coop and run and she is happily sitting on 13 eggs.
7 are fertile.
Stacey 'acquired' egg 13 without me noticing and concealed it very carefully 5 days after she started sitting on her clutch. Egg 13 is one of the fertile ones.
This egg, all being well, will hatch quite a few days after the rest. Do I need to be ready with the incubator or will her instinct keep her on the eggs until all are hatched or I remove them ?
Many thanks

 

[All4Eggz]

Not all broodies are the same.

Some may stay on the eggs until none are left except the duds- but some will get off the nest after the first couple chicks hatch…

It’s best to have your incubator up and running the day before that egg is due.

I’ve had lots of experience with broodies before- 15 different hens have gotten broody over the years.

Generally, a broody can sense if/when there are no more eggs that will hatch, but many broodies could stay on the nest for days after the first chicks hatch. Some are very determined. That being said, other broodies are complete opposites. They’ll get off the nest asap.

In your situation, your broody has eggs that will hatch 5 days later than the rest… I would definitely have the incubator running and ready.. I’ve never had a broody stay on for that long after the chicks hatched.


Have you ever had this hen hatch out chicks before? How old is she? Is this the first time she’s gone broody?
Why does she have 13 eggs under her if only 7 are fertile

Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Chicken Lady UK]

Thank you so much for your reply. It helps alot.
I will have my incubator at the ready.
To answer your questions.... she's 2 years old. She went broody last year but I 'broke' her being broody as I had 3 go broody all at once and wouldn't have been able to accommodate all of the mums and their chicks. She seems to be the perfect mother hen at the moment with her eggs and, wonderfully, she isn't very aggressive with the other chickens and she is a good as gold with me.
She has 13 eggs under her as she was only moved to the maternity coop 2 days ago and my concern was if I took out the blank eggs she would replenish her clutch to full capacity again when she was in the main house. I will remove the blank eggs when she comes out in the morning.
Thanks again

 

[Chicken Lady UK]

Not all broodies are the same.

Some may stay on the eggs until none are left except the duds- but some will get off the nest after the first couple chicks hatch…

It’s best to have your incubator up and running the day before that egg is due.

I’ve had lots of experience with broodies before- 15 different hens have gotten broody over the years.

Generally, a broody can sense if/when there are no more eggs that will hatch, but many broodies could stay on the nest for days after the first chicks hatch. Some are very determined. That being said, other broodies are complete opposites. They’ll get off the nest asap.

In your situation, your broody has eggs that will hatch 5 days later than the rest… I would definitely have the incubator running and ready.. I’ve never had a broody stay on for that long after the chicks hatched.


Have you ever had this hen hatch out chicks before? How old is she? Is this the first time she’s gone broody?
Why does she have 13 eggs under her if only 7 are fertile

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Quick update, she's doing brilliant. She hatched 5 over the course of 48 hours (Thursday/ Friday). 2 eggs left and one has pipped and she's still sitting on them wonderfully whilst keeping an eye on the little ones. There is no aggression at all and she is allowing me to handle and say hello to her lovely little offspring. I thought incubator hatching was nerve racking but (totally unnecessarily) I'm having sleepless nights with broody hatching

 

[All4Eggz]

Quick update, she's doing brilliant. She hatched 5 over the course of 48 hours (Thursday/ Friday). 2 eggs left and one has pipped and she's still sitting on them wonderfully whilst keeping an eye on the little ones. There is no aggression at all and she is allowing me to handle and say hello to her lovely little offspring. I thought incubator hatching was nerve racking but (totally unnecessarily) I'm having sleepless nights with broody hatching

Haha, that’s great!
Thank you for the update!