Broody Hen Thread!

[julie0477]

Hello everyone. Is this still a live thread? Questions about broody hen:

I obtained four full grown Buff Orpingtons from a neighbor with a rooster approximately 8 weeks ago. Six days ago, my best layer went broody. Since I want chicks I asked the neighbor if he could swap me a few fertile eggs for what I assume are no longer fertile eggs (since it's been eight weeks since she was last around the rooster). He hasn't come through, but she's been sitting dutifully on her eggs.

Questions:
Could the eggs possibly still be fertile?

Will it be a problem if she just sits the cycle out on these eggs and I throw them away after 21 days (approximately) since I don't want to break her. (And since I'd like to see if these might be fertile).

If he does have some eggs today or tomorrow, should I just swap them out and will she sit on them long enough for them to hatch,--since almost a week has gone by in her cycle already?

Thanks, Janice

The chances those eggs are fertile are very slim. They can produce fertile eggs 2-4 weeks after being with a rooster. I don't think 8 weeks would be possible. If you swap the eggs out, of course every hen is different, but my bet is she will see them thru. That is exciting though. I hope you get some eggs for her! If you are having trouble getting eggs from him you might check with some chicken owners on craigslist that might be selling hens, chicks, etc. or even on your local BYC thread in Where Am I Where Are You? to see if they have any fertile eggs available. I hope it works out!

 

[bejam]

Thanks! I'll look for other neighbors online.

 

[kukupecpec]

Dust bathing with the babies



And taking her serama baby out for the first time!

 

[Gen9]

[COLOR=008080]Hi, A few years back I had a flock of Marans.....Davis lines...............They were the broodiest hens I  have ever owned.........[/COLOR]
[COLOR=008080]and wonderful mothers........sometimes I would have three hens nesting together and then co- raising their chicks.........[/COLOR]

Wow! I have no idea what specific type of Marans I have. Wish I did! All I know is that a couple are blue x black Marans & one blue Marans x barred rock

 

[MommaBee]

Our Sweet Penelope hatched out 6 lil fluff balls a few weeks ago. I am just now getting around to taking pics but I thought these turned out so sweet. They are already feathering out, but we are quite proud of her lil brood.

 

[Leah21]

Yes,you will want to separate the hens somehow because if not when the chicks hatch the momma hens will fight over them and it can get pretty ugly so for the better of the hens and chicks I would separate the nests of them for best results and congrats on the broodies.

Thank you! I worked out there today and I have put up a partition where they can still be close but can't hurt any of the other ones chicks...just in case.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Hello everyone. Is this still a live thread? Questions about broody hen:

I obtained four full grown Buff Orpingtons from a neighbor with a rooster approximately 8 weeks ago. Six days ago, my best layer went broody. Since I want chicks I asked the neighbor if he could swap me a few fertile eggs for what I assume are no longer fertile eggs (since it's been eight weeks since she was last around the rooster). He hasn't come through, but she's been sitting dutifully on her eggs.

Questions:
Could the eggs possibly still be fertile?

Will it be a problem if she just sits the cycle out on these eggs and I throw them away after 21 days (approximately) since I don't want to break her. (And since I'd like to see if these might be fertile).

If he does have some eggs today or tomorrow, should I just swap them out and will she sit on them long enough for them to hatch,--since almost a week has gone by in her cycle already?

Thanks, Janice

Broody hens will sit longer than necessary to hatch eggs; I read somewhere up to 5 weeks. No, they don't mind eggs being swapped out...they'll just give you an evil eye and pull the eggs under them. They can't tell it wasn't theirs in the first place.

So you have some time to get eggs. I've swapped out up to 2 weeks into a brood, but prefer to do it sooner as some of my broodies tend to quit sooner than others.

It's best to swap at night. Be sure to mark the fertile eggs. And I agree, 8 weeks is too long to be fertile. It would be unlikely, and in summer, infertile eggs kept at warm temperatures for 21 days....can turn into a stinky rotten mess.

Good Luck
Lady of McCamley

 

[MommaBee]

Broody hens will sit longer than necessary to hatch eggs; I read somewhere up to 5 weeks. No, they don't mind eggs being swapped out...they'll just give you an evil eye and pull the eggs under them. They can't tell it wasn't theirs in the first place.

So you have some time to get eggs. I've swapped out up to 2 weeks into a brood, but prefer to do it sooner as some of my broodies tend to quit sooner than others.

It's best to swap at night. Be sure to mark the fertile eggs. And I agree, 8 weeks is too long to be fertile. It would be unlikely, and in summer, infertile eggs kept at warm temperatures for 21 days....can turn into a stinky rotten mess.

Good Luck
Lady of McCamley

Just to add to your point, the pictures above are of my speckled Sussex. She sat on eggs for 4 weeks before I bought her some fertile eggs. She lets me swap them out, gave me the stink eye (like you said) but as I gave her the new ones she gladly took them and used her beak to roll them under her breast. (this was in full daylight and after we moved her to a new nest) It was the cutest darn thing I have seen in a while. She sat for 3 more weeks until they hatched. That is a total of 7 weeks of sitting! It was her first time to go broody too. I am sure this is not every case though.

 

[AVintageLife]

Wish I had the answer for you.............My broody just would not quit......kept stealing eggs and hiding them........LOL
But my guess would be leave her the extra time as long as she is eating and drinking. good luck

Thank you! She's a sweet girl but also very stubborn lead hen. That's her in my avatar with her six chicks she hatched this summer. She is a very good broody but it's just too late in the year for me to have another batch of chicks to deal with flock-wise. We will just have to see how it goes.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Thank you! She's a sweet girl but also very stubborn lead hen. That's her in my avatar with her six chicks she hatched this summer. She is a very good broody but it's just too late in the year for me to have another batch of chicks to deal with flock-wise. We will just have to see how it goes.

I had one like that too...that just wouldn't stop wanting to brood since a more dominant hen chased her off the nest and stole the fertile eggs from her. But she was a first time brooder and not confident to stay with the same nest thereafter.

So she sulked, and she sulked in the main coop switching different nests of infertile eggs. As I didn't want to discourage her from the idea of brooding with harsh measures I began to simply pick her up from the box whenever I was out in the yard (usually a couple of times a day). I would gently stroke her and then set her down in the main yard next to some really, really nummy treats. At first she was annoyed, but ooooh those WERE her favorite treats. I kept repeating this over the next week and I began to see her out more and more until she was looking for me and the treat bucket.

It may have just been she was just getting done brooding, but I really do believe it helped to break her brood. Anyway, it might be worth a try.

Lady of McCamley