broody hen not eating

[svossough]

Hi guys,

Hope some one has some pearls of wisdom! My duck abandoned some of her clutch (after stealing some eggs off our other duck to go with hers, she left the rest when she decided she'd hatched enough!) so we put the remainder of the eggs under my broody hen. She has been sat on them for a few days now in her own private house and run and I have seen no evidence of her coming off the clutch to eat or drink, there is still the same amount of water and food I put out 3 days ago, Im sure this is not right?

Thanks

 

[ChickenLover172]

She is alright, but she does not feel comfortable leaving the eggs unattended to go eat or drink. This can be a dangerous situation. If you have an egg incubator, I would suggest hatching the eggs in there, but if you don't, you must bring the food to her. Keep it within her reach at all times, she needs to be hydrated and healthy to be able to raise the chicks.

 

[svossough]

That is brilliant, thank you chickenlover172, I shall move her food and water out of the run and up next to her right away and see how she goes We do have an incubator but at the moment it is full of the rest of the eggs the naught duck stole then abandoned so we decided as the hen was broody we would let her sit on the last few!

 

[ChickenLover172]

That was a great idea letting the hen sit on them, and be sure to have food available for the other chickens as well It will really make her happy if you stop by and bring her some snacks as well, that's what I did

 

[ChickenLover172]

Good luck!!!

 

[svossough]

it was quite fortunate that the hen became broody at the same time the naughty duck abandoned them! I had to move her to her own home as the next box she sat in, (there are 3 available) was more communal than the others and 3 of them would lay in it so I thought it was best this way and she seems happy sat in her own house!

Thanks again!

 

[ChickenLover172]

Your welcome! Hope your chicks hatch soon!

 

[svossough]

I'll try and post a pic if we are successful I think we have about 2 weeks left on these one so fingers crossed!