Broody hen question HELP!!!!

[Wiglwerm]

OK sooooo excited. A few days ago as soon as I went and bought all the equipt to make my incubator my hen Angel went BROODY!!!

My son who has been going ape %$%$ for hatching some chickies says "Mom, I think Angel wants to hatch some chickies (which he says EVERY time she goes into the nest to lay an egg) cause she is CRANKY!! Well, my boy was right, she is a broodin..Problem is I don't think she has been with a rooster in a few weeks. HUH, my luck infertile eggs...Well that's not gonna stop me, I have a barred rock hen who is always getting accosted by my BR roo. So I took some of her eggs and stuck them under Angel ( she hissed and growled but did not bite me, hence her name) I did not take her eggs out cause I didn't want to aggitate her to the point of quitting this whole "sit in". She now has her three and the BR's five. She is a decent sized BO mix so I think she could handle eight but my concern is will she continue to lay eggs? Or will she stop at some point? What is the normal amount? Also the nest is up high off the ground, How will the babies get down after they hatch? Do I need to assist? Will she keep them up there for a few days? HELP I have no clue!!!!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Ok, relax, and take a deep breath... She will be fine. She won't lay any more eggs till the babies are a few weeks old. Some folks will take a broody and put her in a seperate pen/crate/cage till the babies are bigger.

 

[Wiglwerm]

You mean I should take her and the eggs out an put her somewhere else or are you saying AFTER the chicks are born put them somewhere else? I'm not too worried about the babies after they hatch as Angel is the dominant hen but getting out of the nest...that is a looonnggg jump. So should I just keep track of the days and be ready for the hatching, with a net?,

he he. Am I the only one with nesting boxes up high? With 5 extra eggs(not hers) will she stop laying now? What is the normal amount of a "clutch"? (yep learned that on BYC) How many days is it 21? She has been on the nest I think between 3 to 5 days. (she has 3 eggs under her of her own so It must be three days) I only felt one egg while I was adding five but the kids say she has 3. This is soo exciting, my son has been talking chicken non-stop too. thanks for all the info

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

I had a hen go broody in March, she hatched out two. I left her in the nest box till they hatched and then I moved her to a cage in the coop. When she went broody she quit laying any more eggs till the babies were about 3 weeks old. I actually slipped an extra egg under her. 21 days is the norm but I would wait a couple extra days. She will leave the nest when she feels the eggs are not going to hatch. My nest box is about 3 feet high. A lot of people will move their broody before the eggs hatch. Whatever your preferance. I currently have a RIR broody on two eggs. One is wooden though. I will wait till the baby hatches and if need be I will seperate them from the rest of the group. I am hoping the weather will be warm enough so I wont have to seperate them. Mom will do a good job, ususlly, protecting the babies. Oh, you might think she is not leaving the nest to eat or drink or go poo, when she is actually leaving about once a day to do so. My RIR has even left the coop a couple of times last week when it was in the 80's to get some treats outside. I usually try to let nature take it's course since chickens have been hatching babies for a long time. You do whatever you feel comfortable with.
in the nest box

after moving to a cage

 

[Wiglwerm]

If I did move her when the eggs are close to hatch, is there the possibility that she would quit? I would hate to upset her, I think I will leave her and like you said let nature take it's course but be ready on the 21st day!!

Thanks soo much Hillbilly Hen. Now that I am calm, it's off to bed (gotta work in the morning) OOHH, just saw the pics of you hen, she is beautiful!! Good Night all!!