Broody hen off the nest too long?

[ShadyHillFarm]

I have my first broody hen and I'd like to place eggs under her. However, she gets off the nest about twice a day, for around 30-40 minutes each time. Everything I've read seems to imply they don't stay off the nest that long. Will that be an issue? She also seems to nest hop some. Would having a nice clutch of eggs under her stop that?

 

[Kelsie2290]

http://brinsea.com/cooling.html Here is a nice article on periodic cooling, they actually do it for longer than 30-40 minutes. The nest hopping is a problem, you could try with fake eggs, but depending on why she is doing it a big clutch may not help, ie if she is just a confused hen that can't remember where she is supposed to be, or she is getting bullied off the nest, giving her a big clutch of eggs won't help.... you may want to separate her and a nest from the flock before you try and give her a clutch to see if she sticks.

 

[HEChicken]

I've never timed my broody hens but just trust them and so far their hatch rate is generally better than mine

. Some don't like to be off their nests and anxiously run around eating and drinking before racing back to their nest; others take a leisurely dust bath and then free-range a bit to get their "salad" before returning to the nest. Time of year makes a difference - in cold weather they will take much shorter breaks than they do in summer, when they know the eggs won't cool as fast. I truly wouldn't worry about that.

However if she is not segregated, she will continue to nest-hop, even if you give her her own clutch. They can't tell one egg from another so if the nest they were on is occupied when they get back from their break, they are just as likely to hop into another nest as to insist on the original. That won't change if you give her her own eggs to hatch. I haven't had a lot of success moving broody hens - my best success has been to place a small chicken wire run over them and let them continue to sit in their chosen spot. The run is long enough to have food and water at one end so she never needs to leave that little area. This keeps other hens from adding eggs to her nest, and prevents her from returning to the wrong nest.

 

[Ridgerunner]

In hot weather I've seen a hen come off the eggs for over an hour at a time twice a day. In cooler weather I've seen them only come off once a day for a max of 15 minutes. They all got good hatches. Sort of like HE said, it's not just the weather, it depends on the individual hen too. Some I never see come off the nest, but they don't poop in the nest so they have to be coming off to eat, drink, and poop. Since a broody holds her poop until she comes off, you will often fine a huge smelly poop, really huge.

Some hens are easier to confuse than others. I've had many that always went back to the right nest. I've had some that were more challenged in that regard. I want to say that it seems earlier in the incubation is more of a trouble spot, but I had a hen that had been on the eggs two weeks with no problems go back to the wrong nest. By the time I saw what happened, those eggs were ice cold. I just put her back on the eggs. She hatched 11 out of 11 and was a full day early. You never can tell what will happen.

I built a couple of my nests so I could lock a hen in there if I wanted too, plus there is a side area that can hold food and water plus room to poop I can open up. I've used that to move a hen from a nest I didn't want her to brood in, just locked her in there for a few days with eggs, then opened up. That's always worked for me, but I've only done it a few times. The first day she is in that new area, I leave her locked in that dark nest, not opening up the side area at all. I think that dark helps them accept the move.

One time I had a hen that started out confused before I gave her eggs. She was just hopping from nest to nest. I locked her in a nest for a few days and gave her eggs, probably waiting a week before I opened the door to let her roam with the flock. That was a day I could be around and watch her. After that she always went back to the right nest.

Most of my broodies never have this problem, but occasionally some do. Usually it gets better further into the incubation but not always. None of us can give you any guarantees with this stuff. With mine it has always worked out, but sometimes I've had to help it along. Usually the broody does all the work, that's nice. But sometimes they can be frustrating.

Good luck!

 

[ShadyHillFarm]

Thank you all! I think I might just try it and see.

I do have a large dog kennel I could shut her up in within the coop for a few days with food and water. They are primarily free-range though. I had also thought about blocking off a part of the run for her, hmmm....

Now, do you run into any problems later on if you keep the broody separate, integrating her back in?

 

[HEChicken]

Now, do you run into any problems later on if you keep the broody separate, integrating her back in?

I only segregate until the chicks are3-5 days old. Then I let the hen out with her chicks and I've never had any issues. I keep them together that long to be sure the hen and chicks have bonded to the point the chicks will listen to her when she calls to them.