Broody hen question

[cmelancon]

Hey everyone! So I have a chicken that went broody (our first broody hen so it was really just an experiment) so I gave her some quail eggs to sit on. She’s been doing great and they are about a week from hatching when today I noticed the other chickens got to over half of them (I check daily so Ik it happened all at once). So I moved her into a large dog crate bc that’s all we have on hand to separate her but she’s not sitting on the eggs she’s just kind of freaked being in it. I’m not that worried about the eggs but will she be okay if these don’t hatch? Will they go this long and be okay if she doesn’t get any chicks?

 

[hannahshatcheryofficial]

Hello! The best time to move a broody hen, I’ve found, is in the middle of the night while covering her eyes to move her to a new location. If you moved her during the day (esp a long distance) you might have disrupted her broodiness. Give her a while to get used to the new environment and gently move the eggs underneath her to get her used to sitting again. Have you candled the eggs? Are they still viable?

 

[cmelancon]

Hello! The best time to move a broody hen, I’ve found, is in the middle of the night while covering her eyes to move her to a new location. If you moved her during the day (esp a long distance) you might have disrupted her broodiness. Give her a while to get used to the new environment and gently move the eggs underneath her to get her used to sitting again. Have you candled the eggs? Are they still viable?

Ah I should have waited a little. It was like 7pm when I did it so an hour away from sunset. I put the eggs in there before her so they just sitting in her new nest that she’s never used before. Yes I candles and they are all developing so far

 

[hannahshatcheryofficial]

Ah I should have waited a little. It was like 7pm when I did it so an hour away from sunset. I put the eggs in there before her so they just sitting in her new nest that she’s never used before. Yes I candles and they are all developing so far

Oh yeah after dark is always better if you can! Although I have had success during the day also! I think it depends on the hen and how committed she is to setting. I would suggest just covering the crate you have her in with blankets to make it dark (while still having ventilation of course) and physically placing her on the eggs a few times. In the next 24 hours she should get it, if not, sorry to tell you that she’s probably broken her brood. Do you have an incubator? You could put the eggs in there and give her the babies when they hatch.