Broody Hen Thread!

[poppys chickens]

One of our hens after her broody time period was not accepted by one of my other hens. She keeps reminding her she is at the bottom of the pecking order. (when we don't think she is but we aren't chickens). She won't roost with the others. She goes to the far end of the coop during the night. I hope this doesn't happen to the one that is broody now. (a different hen)

 

[Beth77]

Hello, I'm on day 22 and no sign of pipping under my broody Orpington. Will they still hatch? Thanks

 

[chuckachucka]

Beth77 Did you put the eggs under her when she was already sitting or did she lay them and sit when she was done laying? I ask because if she laid them herself she may have not been set fully until a day or two later than you think. My hen kept sitting for a few hours a day for several days before finally sitting fully (meaning all day and night except for toilet breaks). Therefore you nay be counting the days wrong. Did you candle the eggs during the incubation period? Have you checked the eggs to see if you can hear any movement or cheeping inside them? Don't be too worried about moving them to check them. People say it can disturb them but I checked all my hens eggs like a crazy person because I was so excited for them to hatch! And 10 out of 12 hatched last week. So unless tour hen is very vicious or too stressed, don't be scared to get in there and test them to your ear. If you cant hear anything and you are sure it's day 22 then I would wait another couple of days before losing hope.

 

[Beth77]

Beth77 Did you put the eggs under her when she was already sitting or did she lay them and sit when she was done laying? I ask because if she laid them herself she may have not been set fully until a day or two later than you think. My hen kept sitting for a few hours a day for several days before finally sitting fully (meaning all day and night except for toilet breaks). Therefore you nay be counting the days wrong. Did you candle the eggs during the incubation period? Have you checked the eggs to see if you can hear any movement or cheeping inside them? Don't be too worried about moving them to check them. People say it can disturb them but I checked all my hens eggs like a crazy person because I was so excited for them to hatch! And 10 out of 12 hatched last week. So unless tour hen is very vicious or too stressed, don't be scared to get in there and test them to your ear. If you cant hear anything and you are sure it's day 22 then I would wait another couple of days before losing hope.

Thank you so much for your reply, it was very helpful and you've put my mind to rest about checking on her (I too have been doing it like an insane person.) No, I bought the eggs from a breeder, I didn't candle them. The breeder advised me to put them to my ear last night when I called her, so I did and I couldn't hear anything. The night before however, I could almost swear I heard two cheeps and could feel them squirming about in there when I put my finger on them (many times!) Do you think I've let too much coldness and humidity in when I've been opening and closing the nest box? It's just been the usual Scottish weather, up and down. I hope they're not shrink wrapped! :-(

Thanks agiain

 

[Selsley]

Thank you so much for your reply, it was very helpful and you've put my mind to rest about checking on her (I too have been doing it like an insane person.) No, I bought the eggs from a breeder, I didn't candle them. The breeder advised me to put them to my ear last night when I called her, so I did and I couldn't hear anything. The night before however, I could almost swear I heard two cheeps and could feel them squirming about in there when I put my finger on them (many times!) Do you think I've let too much coldness and humidity in when I've been opening and closing the nest box? It's just been the usual Scottish weather, up and down. I hope they're not shrink wrapped! :-(

Thanks agiain

no, our broody left her eggs on day 3 returning to her high nest which was empty after we moved her and the eggs low. she had been off them at least 4 hrs and the eggs felt cold,
on another occasion in the final week she was running outside and i checked the eggs, just by resting my hand on them, and they felt extremely hot, the chicken is its own humidity machine it will sort that out so i dont think opening the nest box to look hurts at all, surely your hen isnt locked in and has access to come and go as she pleases? if this is the case the nestbox already has an opening. even after feeling hot and cold eggs throughout her setting, all viable eggs hatched; 5 1day, another the next, and one 4 days after the 1st, which died due to injury from all the nest activity,
we took out the last egg at this time and found it to be infertile. we think the kids had slipped in extra eggs, hence the late hatcher and the one we assumed was infertile, the one that hatched a day late was laid in the clutch on day 3 when the broody left them cold. this was our only black chick like her mum;

so really eggs are quite hardy, i did read, about our goose, that fresher eggs hatch quicker than older ones. which rings true with our black chick having 2 days shorter incubation period.
you dont know how old your eggs were, all you can do is wait, if theyre already a day late and dont hatch in a couple of days then i would worry.

note, some auto incubaters auto turn the eggs and stop turning them 2 days before hatch, please be careful taking out eggs as the chicks will be moving into hatch position , and if you do, try to return them unturned.

 

[Beth77]

no, our broody left her eggs on day 3 returning to her high nest which was empty after we moved her and the eggs low. she had been off them at least 4 hrs and the eggs felt cold,
on another occasion in the final week she was running outside and i checked the eggs, just by resting my hand on them, and they felt extremely hot, the chicken is its own humidity machine it will sort that out so i dont think opening the nest box to look hurts at all, surely your hen isnt locked in and has access to come and go as she pleases? if this is the case the nestbox already has an opening. even after feeling hot and cold eggs throughout her setting, all viable eggs hatched; 5 1day, another the next, and one 4 days after the 1st, which died due to injury from all the nest activity,
we took out the last egg at this time and found it to be infertile. we think the kids had slipped in extra eggs, hence the late hatcher and the one we assumed was infertile, the one that hatched a day late was laid in the clutch on day 3 when the broody left them cold. this was our only black chick like her mum;

so really eggs are quite hardy,  i did read, about our goose, that fresher eggs hatch quicker than older ones. which rings true with our black chick having 2 days shorter incubation period.
you dont know how old your eggs were, all you can do is wait, if theyre already a day late and dont hatch in a couple of days then i would worry.

note, some auto incubaters auto turn the eggs and stop turning them 2 days before hatch, please be careful taking out eggs as the chicks will be moving into hatch position , and if you do, try to return them unturned.

I see, hopefully they'll still hatch then. No the door is closed on her seperate area of the coop, she won't go out herself so I lift her out twice a day (which I've stopped doing today.) And hopefully I haven't disturbed them too much whilst lifting them out.

 

[chuckachucka]

Beth77 I hope the eggs hatch. When they start cheeping in the eggs its quite loud so you should be able to hear it. However they can cheep quite a lot then go quiet for ages which is normal. If you heard cheeping last night then at least one has broken through the membrane into the air sac. After this I've heard it can take in excess of 24 hours for them to start zipping out of the shell. One of my chicks took 34 hours from internal cheeping to hatching out. Like Selsley said the temperature and humidity should be fine. Did you do the sniff test? Any bad eggs may have a bit of a smell after so long under the hen. As long as the eggs were healthy and fertile from the breeder then they should be coming soon. Good luck!

 

[Beth77]

Beth77 I hope the eggs hatch. When they start cheeping in the eggs its quite loud so you should be able to hear it. However they can cheep quite a lot then go quiet for ages which is normal. If you heard cheeping last night then at least one has broken through the membrane into the air sac. After this I've heard it can take in excess of 24 hours for them to start zipping out of the shell. One of my chicks took 34 hours from internal cheeping to hatching out. Like Selsley said the temperature and humidity should be fine. Did you do the sniff test? Any bad eggs may have a bit of a smell after so long under the hen. As long as the eggs were healthy and fertile from the breeder then they should be coming soon. Good luck!

Great, I'll remember that, hopefully they'll start cheeping soon. It was a couple of night ago I heard it but it was very faint. I smelled them yesterday and they all seem to be fine It's my first time hatching so hopefully everything goes well!

 

[Chickenlover406]

we are in the second 'broody' episode from one of our buff orpingtons....sigh....we don't have a rooster, so there is no chance for the eggs to hatch, but she doesn't know that!  We collect the eggs during the day so she is just sitting on litter.  I remove her from the nest as many time as I can, but who knows how long it will take to break her.  the first time she went broody, it took 6 weeks!


my favorite part is when I open the nest box door and she puffs up and makes the horrible shrieking sound at me.  /img/smilies/lau.gif   


I'll try to get a pic of her all puffed up tomorrow!

The best thing to do if you want her to get out of her broody stage is to fill a water bottle up with water , freeze it , then put it underneath the broody hen . It's supposed to cool off the hen and make her forget about chicks .

 

[chicken19]

Day 22. Still no pip. Should I make an artificial pip?