Broody Hen - I gave her fertilized eggs!


Hallelujah! This so exciting. I checked the nest box and there was one sleepy silkie left in there, so I prodded him/her to Mama. So far, all is well. Thanks so much for all your input and support!

Just woke up to the good news! (We are 'Down Under' so it's only 7am here.)

Anyway, it sounds like things are going wonderfully well! Just going by the picture, it looks like Momma is protecting them and has accepted them all. I am so happy for you and her!

They will gradually start moving around, don't worry. There can be a bit of a wait for that to happen though. Remember, if she had hatched out chicks of her own she would wait 24 hours for them to dry out before leaving the nest with them too.

It sounds like everything is going perfectly!

- Krista
 
That is wonderful! I bet mama is super proud
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We did wind up up giving her all the chicks at oncee even though I read your post this morning. It just seemed like a better idea when we started gathering them. All for one and one for all.. They are all still tucked into the nest box even though the sun has been up for a while. I understand she/they may not come out today at all. So far occasional peeps from the chicks but nothing scary sounding. I worry about the Bantam chicks, especially the Japanese bantam. That was probably not a good idea, but so hard to resist chicks! I am so bitten by the chicken bug!

I so appreciated you documenting this experience! I have five pullets and four of the five are breeds that often go broody, so I know I am likely to face a broody hen (and no rooster) one of these days. I am learning so much from your experience and from the helpful comments of the great BYC folks! I have my fingers crossed that all works out well for you, Daisy and all the little ones!
 
UPDATE DAY 16. Unfortunately, we discovered Daisy's one egg broken today when we went to force her off the nest for a few minutes. After candling at day 7 and seeing growth from day 4, I candled again at day 14 (2 days ago) and everything looked on track. She hadn't left the nest since this Monday (no food or even scratch touched in her broody pen and no poops), so we thought she might benefit from a forced break. When we lifted her off the nest, the egg was smashed flat like a pancake. A few bits of errant shell here and there, but mostly it looks like it just broke or cracked and broke. The little embryo was in there and looked on target for size and development for around day 16. She seemed weak and pale (feet and comb) with a strange walk and eventually fluffed herself out and did her routine of loud cackle, dust bath, pop up to the bench to preen and then eat, drink, and poop. My husband and I quickly talked out Plan B of giving her chicks around day 21. We got two of our own hens' in(un)fertile eggs warmed up in our pockets and placed into the nest and called our local feed stores. Chicks arrive on Feb. 9th. If she returns to the nest and sits on the new eggs we placed, we are going to attempt to swap the new eggs overnight next week around what would have been her day 21. Of course, this Plan B all depends on her returning to brood the 2 new eggs. If she breaks her broodiness on her own, this adventure will be over.

Any doubts about switching out eggs for live chicks? I know we are taking a risk of her rejecting the chicks or potentially even killing them. We do have our brooder set-up to take over if they are rejected and we will be out there bright and early to hopefully avoid a massacre. Has anyone successfully practiced the egg for chick switch? I've seen threads about it here online...

Susan

I wonder if the eggs you got from your co-worker may have had thin shells for so many to break. Perhaps it's not all Daisy's fault.
 
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Thanks again to all who have commented and shared in the drama of a broody hen, egg breakage, and chick swap. All 9 chicks seem to be thriving, both large fowl and itty, bitty bantam chicks. Daisy is doing a very conscientious job of keeping them warm, taking them to food and water, and clucking her directions to them. In a few days we are planning on moving them all from their broody pen (7' x 2') to a bigger pen, so that Mama can stretch out and teach them some more "big world" things. I'm not sure how long I will keep them separated in the pen. Still deciding whether to give it a try at 2 weeks or wait until they are grown. A lot will depend on their size and how the other three hens behave when I move them to the pen. Below are photos of both pens. Any feedback on the move or time to keep them separated?

Broody Pen


Grow Out Pen


Just some fun chick photos...






 
I just started this adventure myself. I got 6 fertile eggs from a local breeder and snuck them under her last night after I moved her to a sectioned off place in the coop. I checked before I went to bed last night and again this morning. She is sitting on the eggs like a champ, not phased at all by being moved from her chosen nesting box. She is a first timer, not even a year old yet. I just had to give her a chance! I'm so glad I found this thread and was able to read about your experience.
 
Congratulations and good luck on your adventure! Unfortunately, our fertilized eggs didn't work out with all the breakage, but we are still having a great time with the chicks. They will be 3 weeks old on Saturday. We wound up losing two chicks - one died at about 5 days old and another at about 10 days, but we quickly replaced them with chicks from the original breeder who were hatched at the same time as the originals. We snuck them in under her in the evening and she accepted them. She was a bit leery about the new chick at 10 days out and the chick was a bit confused as to what to do with this new family, so we decided that if we lost any more chicks, we were getting too late to try to add any more. So far so good - all 9 going strong. If I did eggs again, I would make sure the nest had a pad on the bottom and pile the nesting material 3x more than usual to hopefully avoid egg breakage.
 
Congratulations and good luck on your adventure! Unfortunately, our fertilized eggs didn't work out with all the breakage, but we are still having a great time with the chicks. They will be 3 weeks old on Saturday. We wound up losing two chicks - one died at about 5 days old and another at about 10 days, but we quickly replaced them with chicks from the original breeder who were hatched at the same time as the originals. We snuck them in under her in the evening and she accepted them. She was a bit leery about the new chick at 10 days out and the chick was a bit confused as to what to do with this new family, so we decided that if we lost any more chicks, we were getting too late to try to add any more. So far so good - all 9 going strong. If I did eggs again, I would make sure the nest had a pad on the bottom and pile the nesting material 3x more than usual to hopefully avoid egg breakage.

Thanks. I do have a good amount of bedding down. I'll keep an eye on that though. I actually moved her to a basket full of bedding instead of the wooden nesting box she was in before. She hasn't been very interested in scratching her nest much. Post an updated picture of the chicks!
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