Broody Hen

[rmonge00]

Hello,

I have a hen that has just gone broody and I would love to see her hatch some chicks. There are only 5 eggs under her at the moment - can I put eggs from other hens under there as long as it is done in the first couple of days? Should I separate her into a different part of the coop?

Thanks!

Ryan

 

[sumi]

Ideally you should give her all the eggs over a 1-2 day period. From my experience eggs hatch over a 2 day period and after that the hen wants to get up and walk around with her chicks. If you add eggs say, 3 days after she started sitting on the original 5, there is a chance she'll want to get up before the later eggs hatched.

 

[rmonge00]

OK. New dilemma. So I go out to the coop this morning another hen (lets call her the unbroody hen) is on the eggs, so I move her off and one of the eggs is broken and another is on the floor of the coop, away from the rest. The broody hen is roaming around, looking irritated. The unbroody hen was also milling around. I eventually (after 1/2 an hour) - waved the unbroody hen away from the coop and as soon as I did that, the broody hen went back to her nesting place. Is the unbroody hen being a bully? Is there any hope for the eggs left under the broody hen? What should I do, now and in the future?

Thanks for the advice...

Ryan

 

[sumi]

You are going to have to block the broody's nest so the non broody hens can't get to her. Hens like laying on nests that have eggs in them already. I'd suggest blocking her nest and open it later in the afternoons so the broody can get up for a little bit. They can get off the eggs for quite long periods without harming the unborn chicks, so don't worry if she takes her time. Then when she goes back you block it again. Don't worry if she doesn't get up every day. Some hens will go 3 days without taking a break.