Broody hen

[Tclloyd0812]

For some if not all the eggs she has are on day 18 maybe one or two day 17. She acquired a few more the second day and I dated them. I however again haven't handled them at all this time. Now the one thing I found odd this time was occasionally I'd go out to see a broken egg and her beak was wet. I'm assuming she broke unviable eggs? The first time she went broody I only gave her 4 and all 4 hatched. So this experience is new to me. Anyone have experience with this? I asked my neighbor whom has had chickens for a long time ans he was perplexed on this himself.

If she is sitting on too many eggs for the type of hen she is she may would break them either accidentally or possibly on purpose.
Not sure about her breaking them because she knows they aren't viable since I've heard both sides of that argument.

 

[Driley62]

The hen is not going to abandon the nest because you touched the eggs. As long as you don't damage the eggs you should not harm them but there is nothing you can do to make anything better. I leave them alone figuring I do less harm by staying out of the broody hens' way.

I killed a chick once by lifting a hen to see what color of chicks she hatched. Sometimes chicks crawl up under the feathers or under the wings. When I picked the broody up I crushed a chick that was under the wing. I'll still pick a broody hen up if I have a need, but it has to be a need, not just curiosity. And I'm careful.

I figured she didn't abandon them. But last time she was broody I was still working(currently out for surgery) so I nearly never seen her off nest the entire time especially when it came to the last few days. I just did however did handle them with as close to hatch nowto regroup them and to decipher which eggs I had marked and which ones I had not but made sure to replace them exactly how they laid in the box but all grouped instead of spread out. While she was out another girl jumped in that box and laid an egg today. Every Day I go out I be sure to count what she has under her to collect any eggs that will sit there unnecessarily and ultimately be wasted or kill the chance of an egg she's sat on the whole time.

 

[Driley62]

If she is sitting on too many eggs for the type of hen she is she may would break them either accidentally or possibly on purpose.
Not sure about her breaking them because she knows they aren't viable since I've heard both sides of that argument.

Shes an australorp mix she's not huge but she's only a tad smaller I mean tad smaller(maybe a pound) than my RIR. When I researched about broody hens I was told standard size hens can successfully hatch 12 at one time. So I gave her 12 to sit on...now I'm down to 5 or 6.

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Shes an australorp mix she's not huge but she's only a tad smaller I mean tad smaller(maybe a pound) than my RIR. When I researched about broody hens I was told standard size hens can successfully hatch 12 at one time. So I gave her 12 to sit on...now I'm down to 5 or 6.

Wow! You started out with 12 and now only have 5 or 6???? Is this because she's eating them?

It's a good number for her and she could probably even sit on up to 15 or 16, my bantam Phoenix hen sat on 12 just fine, but she never pecked at the eggs.

 

[Driley62]

Wow! You started out with 12 and now only have 5 or 6???? Is this because she's eating them?

It's a good number for her and she could probably even sit on up to 15 or 16, my bantam Phoenix hen sat on 12 just fine, but she never pecked at the eggs.

Yeah started with 12. Idk if he was eating them all or breaking them unintentionally. One night I did see her beak was wet and discovered a broken egg. So I immediately assumed she was breaking bad eggs. It could also be other girls going in and breaking eggs too. I've seen that happen before.