Broody Hen - Nearing End of Term

[KateGoad]

We have a broody hen. She's on six eggs. We think that she started 21 days ago, but we've got nuthin. They all looked fertile. She's moved from the nesting box to the main part of the coop, but still is sitting there.

Is there a behavior for her to tell whether things are progressing?

It's hilarious. She's a Black Australorp, and she started with 6 brown and 4 blue eggs. Slowly but surely, the blue eggs were moved to the middle of the coop, so all she's got are brown eggs.

Considering the Indiana Jones trick (exchange egg for chick of roughly same size), but then we have 22 already, so my husband is suggesting maybe we don't need any more right now...

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We're these eggs marked so you know they are the original eggs? Did you candle them? When a hen sets in the general population other birds will add eggs, as well as eat them, especially if they are on the floor.

 

[KateGoad]

We marked and candled and culled. We've kept her out of gen pop since she started brooding, so no extraneous eggs. Just worried about her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Does she have a bowl shaped nest so eggs can't be rolled out?

Be aware not all broody hens actually want to hatch and raise chicks, some are horrible and will reject and attack the chicks. I'm always nervous with an untried hen. You can try chicks, be ready to raise them if she rejects them. I personally would let her set until day 23 than discard the eggs and break her if you don't have room for more. She will probably go broody again in a few months. I'm constantly breaking broody hens here. They are a common occurrence.

 

[KateGoad]

OK, one egg looks partially hatched, and attacked, so I think we're going to pull all the eggs once the incubator fires up. Plus, it gives us a chance to test our new heat/humidity tester.

Pulled the eggs. One hatched and killed, one pipped and zipped (chirping inside), and one other one pipped. All safe in the incubator.