Broody hen soiled nest

[Holylolly]

My broody hen has been sitting on eggs for 6 days today when I went to check her say she made a mess with huge poop thank God eggs are squeaky clean so my question was is it ok to change the bedding of the eggs and put some new fresh ones while broody hen is out or will I ruin temperature and heat or something ?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Do you have a garden trowel? Just scoop it out with that. Add any extra bedding if you feel the need, but don't cover the eggs so she can see/feel them.

 

[Holylolly]

Do you have a garden trowel? Just scoop it out with that. Add any extra bedding if you feel the need, but don't cover the eggs so she can see/feel them.

So can I put some new beddings under those eggs while getting the soiled hays out or does those hays hold certain type of temperature

 

[humblehillsfarm]

So can I put some new beddings under those eggs while getting the soiled hays out or does those hays hold certain type of temperature

Yes you can just add some new bedding while getting the soiled hay out. Try to gently remove your hen from her nest once or twice a day and place her in front of the water container. She'll probably get a drink and run around and squawk for a few minutes, poop, and maybe eat before getting back on the nest. If she pooped in the nest, I'm concerned she's not been leaving to eat enough. Up until 2-3 days before the babies hatch she still needs to leave the nest briefly to do these things.

 

[featheredplanets]

Yes you can just add some new bedding while getting the soiled hay out. Try to gently remove your hen from her nest once or twice a day and place her in front of the water container. She'll probably get a drink and run around and squawk for a few minutes, poop, and maybe eat before getting back on the nest. If she pooped in the nest, I'm concerned she's not been leaving to eat enough. Up until 2-3 days before the babies hatch she still needs to leave the nest briefly to do these things.

Completely agree! Make sure she’s getting off the nest for at least 10 minutes a day. Keep food and water away from the nest so she has to get up.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Completely agree! Make sure she’s getting off the nest for at least 10 minutes a day. Keep food and water away from the nest so she has to get up.

Yes, that's excellent advice haha. In my early days of dealing with a broody, the stinker would just reach out and eat from the feeder with out leaving the nest so I had to move the feeder.

 

[50-45-1]

My broody hen has been sitting on eggs for 6 days today when I went to check her say she made a mess with huge poop thank God eggs are squeaky clean so my question was is it ok to change the bedding of the eggs and put some new fresh ones while broody hen is out or will I ruin temperature and heat or something ?

I would not recomend moving your broody off her clutch 1 or 3 times a day.
You chance breaking her from broodyness with all that commotion.
I have had a broody occasionally soil her nesting spot, but it does not happen often, and they dont seam to repeat the mistake.just clean it up and replace any soiled bedding.
As long as your hen has access to outside the nest areas to poop, eat and drink, nature will prompt her when and how often to get up.
Chickens have been brooding chicks without our interferance for centuries.
I very seldon intervein or disturb my broodies during this time. I dont candle either.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I would not recomend moving your broody off her clutch 1 or 3 times a day.
You chance breaking her from broodyness with all that commotion.
I have had a broody occasionally soil her nesting spot, but it does not happen often, and they dont seam to repeat the mistake.just clean it up and replace any soiled bedding.
As long as your hen has access to outside the nest areas to poop, eat and drink, nature will prompt her when and how often to get up.
Chickens have been brooding chicks without our interferance for centuries.
I very seldon intervein or disturb my broodies during this time. I dont candle either.

I think everyone's experience is different. I know many broodies naturally take care of themselves, but I noticed mine would never get off her nest. When manually removing her, an egg never was broken. I timed her, and she was never off the nest for more than 8 minutes. My point is, monitor the hen and make your own decision based on her behavior. In my case, my hen was more important than the eggs she was on. All of her eggs hatched.

 

[Holylolly]

Ok guys thank you so much for your advice I have cleaned the nest while she was out and put some new hay she seems to love her new comfy nest thank you guys again I really appreciate it

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Good luck! Letting mama hen do the work is so much fun.