Broody hen on day 25 no hatch eggs going rotten, can I change for new eggs ?

[aurimilky]

My broody hen is on day 25 and the eggs she is sitting on have started to go rotten. If I was to remove and change them for fresh eggs, would she sit on the new eggs or would I have to wait for my hen to go broody again before I can give new eggs ?

 

[Lazy Farmer]

My broody hen is on day 25 and the eggs she is sitting on have started to go rotten. If I was to remove and change them for fresh eggs, would she sit on the new eggs or would I have to wait for my hen to go broody again before I can give new eggs ?

If she is still sitting in brood mode yes. Write the date on the eggs..

 

[aurimilky]

If she is still sitting in brood mode yes. Write the date on the eggs..

Okay thanks

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ya, you can do that.

But it's not a good idea since she has already sat and lost condition for the last 25 days.

I would either break her NOW...

or adopt some feed store chicks to her during the night... as young as possible. Past 6 ish days... not as likely to work. But we do this successfully, all the time when we want to try new breeds or don't have anything hatching. Or don't want to deal with the extra cockerels from hatching. I have 2 feed stores and they carry different breeds each week than each other. So I call and see what they have in and what's coming in next, since it's every week. If it's something I like more or the others are already too old, I will wait a few extra days... is not the same thing as 3 more weeks+.

A hen will sometimes... brood until they die.

If she has been eating layer all this time... I would suggest switching to a flock raiser, grower, or unmedicated starter. The extra protein will help her and the added calcium in layer is too much for birds not in lay.... long term *can* (doesn't mean will) cause gout or even kidney failure.

I use flock raiser crumbles for my whole flock... roosters, broody's, chicks, molter's, juveniles, and layers. Oyster shell is available free choice on the side for layers.

My next question would be.. why didn't any eggs hatch? Infertile, bad sitter, too much flock antics rolling them around, poor parental nutrition (too many treats), or parental age (too young or too old) are SOME considerations... No finger pointing or anything like that, just an attempt to help it go better next time, if there IS anything that can be changed.

Good luck... a broody raising chicks is a lovely sight to behold!

 

[bobbi-j]

I would get feed store chicks for her, rather than have her sit for another 3-week cycle. She may break her broodiness after this amount of time, anyway.

 

[aurimilky]

Ya, you can do that.

But it's not a good idea since she has already sat and lost condition for the last 25 days.

I would either break her NOW...

or adopt some feed store chicks to her during the night... as young as possible. Past 6 ish days... not as likely to work. But we do this successfully, all the time when we want to try new breeds or don't have anything hatching. Or don't want to deal with the extra cockerels from hatching. I have 2 feed stores and they carry different breeds each week than each other. So I call and see what they have in and what's coming in next, since it's every week. If it's something I like more or the others are already too old, I will wait a few extra days... is not the same thing as 3 more weeks+.

A hen will sometimes... brood until they die.

If she has been eating layer all this time... I would suggest switching to a flock raiser, grower, or unmedicated starter. The extra protein will help her and the added calcium in layer is too much for birds not in lay.... long term *can* (doesn't mean will) cause gout or even kidney failure.

I use flock raiser crumbles for my whole flock... roosters, broody's, chicks, molter's, juveniles, and layers. Oyster shell is available free choice on the side for layers.

I would get feed store chicks for her, rather than have her sit for another 3-week cycle. She may break her broodiness after this amount of time, anyway.

Unfortunately where I live in the UK my local feed shops dont sell chicks, well I've never seen any of them selling chicks in my life time. I'll probably get some eggs from ebay, some time around May time, once my next hen goes broody.

My next question would be.. why didn't any eggs hatch? Infertile, bad sitter, too much flock antics rolling them around, poor parental nutrition (too many treats), or parental age (too young or too old) are SOME considerations... No finger pointing or anything like that, just an attempt to help it go better next time, if there IS anything that can be changed.

She made her a hidden nest and before I found her these was 2 to 3 days of snow. so I think the cold may have killed the eggs.

Good luck... a broody raising chicks is a lovely sight to behold!

very true

 

[aurimilky]

Well I've now put the broody hen in a cage to break her out of being broody and have removed the eggs from the nest.

I don't know what smelled worst the hen, 19 eggs or nest. All smelled very bad.