Broody Hen Thread!

[abserbean]

Totally my fault, I was saying it wrong. I've been doing complex long division with my 10 yr old, my brain is fried!

 

[ChickyChickens]

Totally my fault, I was saying it wrong. I've been doing complex long division with my 10 yr old, my brain is fried!

Hahaha! It's fine!!

 

[A6chickenhome]

Does anyone know about how long a truly broody hen will get off her nest to eat etc.? 5 min, 15, 30?

 

[ChickyChickens]

Does anyone know about how long a truly broody hen will get off her nest to eat etc.? 5 min, 15, 30?

It all depends on the hen!!

 

[ChickyChickens]

Oh, and

 

[A6chickenhome]

It all depends on the hen!!

In colder seasons, if the eggs get chilled will they stop developing?

 

[fisherlady]

Does anyone know about how long a truly broody hen will get off her nest to eat etc.? 5 min, 15, 30?

As ChickyChickens said... it depends on the hen, though I will add a couple of other factors.

the hen may stay out longer on some days because she feels the need to dust bath or if she is bothered by other flock members and gets scared away from the coop for a short while, and my hens stay off of the nest much longer during hot weather months than they tend to in cold weather months.

On average I would say 15 minutes is normal, one hour is probably about as long as I've seen with my hens and it was during warm weather and there was no problem with the hatches involved.

 

[fisherlady]

In colder seasons, if the eggs get chilled will they stop developing?

They will slow down if left for an extended period of time, but unless the temps are freezing out it would have to be quite a while.... the surface chills much faster than the embryo.

 

[A6chickenhome]

As ChickyChickens said... it depends on the hen, though I will add a couple of other factors.

the hen may stay out longer on some days because she feels the need to dust bath or if she is bothered by other flock members and gets scared away from the coop for a short while, and my hens stay off of the nest much longer during hot weather months than they tend to in cold weather months. 

On average I would say 15 minutes is normal, one hour is probably about as long as I've seen with my hens and it was during warm weather and there was no problem with the hatches involved. 

Thanks! I have a broody on some eggs right now(my first) and, because Its fall, I didn't expect her to leave the nest for more than just a few minutes. It is 80 here today but no humidity so to me it feels cool.

 

[PD-Riverman]

Okay, stoopid question....which day counts as Day 1? The day we put them under the hen or 24 hours later then count from there?

LOL---let me straighten this out-----How many hours are in a day? 24

If I set my eggs today at 10 am--at 11 am they will have been in there for 1 hr, 12 noon----2 hours, 6pm---8 hours----12 midnight 14hours----9am the next morning--23 hrs----Yea---almost 1 day----10 am---24 hours "Huston We Have reached Day 1!!!! LOL

Now if your regular hen eggs in the Incubator are aways hatching on day 17,18 and day 19----your incubator is a little to hot---no mater what the thermostat says. ALL my 32 hens I set this season on regular chicken eggs always hatched on day 20 and 21 for regular chicken eggs----I know their Heat is set just Right---LOL.